The Effects of Running Up Stairs
And Holding the Plank on Your Heart
Reason and Research Behind Your Project
We experimented to see whether or not running up and down the stairs would make Franklin's (Person A) heart beat faster then holding a plank. The first thing Franklin did was run up and down the stairs for 30 seconds, then he felt his heartbeat at his neck standing up for a minute. After feeling his heartbeat, he waited thirty seconds then felt his heartbeat again for a minute to see if it went back to normal. He then repeated this two other times, and then did the same steps with the plank three times.
Information
-Hypothesis: If a person runs up and down the stairs, then the heart rate will increase more than holding a plank and will recover in two minutes.
-Independent Variable: Exercise type and how long a person exercises.
-Dependent Variable: Heart Rate.
-Control: Person A's Heart Rate.
-Constants: Person A, the stairs, holding the plank for 30 seconds, running up and down the stairs for 30 seconds, the stopwatch, the place we measure the heartbeat (neck), and measuring the heartbeat standing up.
Data Table 1 with Averages
Person A's heart rate was an average of 70.6 Beats per Minute (BPM) at the neck while standing up.
Data Table 2
This is a data table of Person A's exercise information. Every time Person A's heart rate was taken was at the neck while standing up.
Data Table 2 Averages
This is Person A's averages:
Average heart rate after stairs: 139 BPM
Average recovery time from stairs: 183 seconds
Average heart rate after plank: 112 BPM
Average recovery time from plank: 124 seconds
Stairs
Person A is running up and down the stairs for 30 seconds three times.
Plank
Person A is holding the plank position for 30 seconds three times.
Pulse
Person A is feeling the pulse on the neck while standing up.
Conclusion
As originally hypothesized, if a person runs up and down the stairs, then the heart rate will increase more than holding a plank and will recover in two minutes. As shown from the data and information, Person A's heart rate did go up more running up and down the stairs then holding the plank. In fact, Person A's heart rate going up and down the stairs went up an average of 27 BPM more than holding the plank. However, Person A's running up and down the stairs average recovery time to get the heart rate back to normal took much longer then 2 minutes. After running up and down the stairs for 30 seconds, Person A's heart rate took an average of 183 seconds (3:03 minutes) while the average heart rate recovery time for holding the plank was 124 seconds (2:04 minutes). So, it took a much longer time for the heart to recover for running up and down the stairs then hypothesized, but it just went to show that running up and down the stairs works the heart harder. The scientific reasoning behind this is that when running, the body requires more oxygen. When you run, your body breathes faster and heavier to get more oxygen so it can spread it around to the muscles and be used for Aerobic Respiration. With Aerobic Respiration, it uses oxygen to create 36 ATP to be used as energy, so you can run without getting tired. However, as the body keeps working, or in this case running, it doesn't have enough time for Aerobic Respiration, so it begins to create energy without oxygen, called Anaerobic Respiration. This causes the the cycle to create only 2 ATP, and that is why the body gets tired, and why the heart beats faster: so it can send the energy around the body and the oxygen to the muscles to keep moving. When the body holds the plank, it doesn't use as many muscles as running, so it can send the oxygen to the muscles for a longer period of time. As well because of this, the body can continue Aerobic Respiration longer so your body doesn't get as tired.
Bibliography in MLA Format
Doggett, Laronna. "The Effects of Exercise on Heart Rate." Coppell High School. Coppell.
5 March 2014. Lecture/Lab.