Effect of Exercise on Blood Pressure and Pulse Rate - Essay Example

 Effect of Exercise on Blood Pressure and Pulse Rate Abstract Scientifically, there exists a close relationship between physical exercises and pulse rate and blood pressure. Whenever one is engaged in a physical exercise, several changes occur in the pulse rate and blood pressure mainly due to the metabolic reactions in the body. This paper reports on the analysis, interpretation of the results obtained after conducting an experiment on the short term and immediate effects of exercise on pulse rate and blood pressure. Introduction The influences of exercise on pulse rate and blood pressure can be scientifically ascertained by conducting an experiment. To find out more about the effects of exercise on pulse rate and blood pressure, an experiment was conducted. It was done by using two participants. Despite having the same age and gender, Person 1 is 24-year old male who is 5'7 tall and 140 pounds. On the other hand, Person 2 is a 24-year old male who is 5'10 tall and 195 pounds. To effectively study them, they were engaged in a mild exercise (10-minute walk) and vigorous exercise (10-minute jumping). By using appropriate materials, the pulse rate and blood pressure was measured before, during and after the experiment. The differences in the results were used to determine the effects of exercise on pulse rate and blood pressure. Materials While conducting this experiment, many materials were used. These included the a stop watch and digital pulse cuff and blood pressure which were of course used for recording the results to determine the changes in the blood pressure and pulse rate realized so far. The stop watch was used for measuring time. From the analysis of the results, it was established that the exercise had resulted into an increase in blood pressure as well as pulse rate. The more vigorous the exercise was, the more the change in pulse rate. Because of these changes, it took some time for everything to turn back to normal after the end of the experiment. Results From these findings, it is clear that physical exercise has a direct on the pulse rate of a human being. It is for this reason that the aforementioned changes were experienced when the experiment was carried out. However, as found out from the recordings, the degree of change in pulse rate directly depends on the intensity of the exercise that is conducted (Wohlfart and Farazdaghi 168). For instance, when the participants engaged in walking exercises, there was a slight change in their pulse rates. However, this was not the same when the participants got involved in more vigorous exercises such as jumping on a rope. Here, the pulse rate changed a lot. Therefore, it should be acknowledged that the intensity of the exercise is a significant factor that determines the effects of exercises on the pulse rates. Discussion Actually, the change in pulse rate had to occur because exercise made the body to pump more blood. As a matter of fact, whenever one is doing an exercise, the amount of pumps has to increase. As already highlighted, the exercise requires the pumping of more blood in the body. This is necessary because the exercise involves the use of muscles that require being active. Hence, when conducting an exercise, the energy from respiration is needed to help the body in managing the exercise. The energy which is got from glucose is then utilized in the elimination of carbon dioxide which if left to accumulate in the body, can be so harmful. All these are supposed to be transmitted through the blood. When it happens, a wave of pressure is generated to help in forcing the blood to flow through the arteries. It is therefore clear that exercise leads to an increase in pulse rate (Hall and Guyton 62). Since the body takes some time to respond and get back to its normalcy, the experiment had to take 6 minutes for the moderate and 20 minutes for the vigorous exercise for the full recovery time. Enough time is needed for a full and complete recovery to the normal levels. It was also established that exercises also influence the rate of blood pressure in the body. Since the ideal blood pressure should not be more than 120/80 mm Hg, the changes experienced during and after the exercise prove that exercises have a direct influence in blood pressure. When the results of the experiment were recorded, it was established that the diastolic and systolic blood pressure increased by 61% and 46% in that order. The sharp changes proved that exercise influence blood pressure. Such changes have to occur whenever an individual performs and exercise because they are caused by vasoconstriction of the arteries (Hansen et al. 7). Such changes are experienced because both the diastolic and systolic blood pressures fall below the normal rates. In fact, the changes lead to a decrease in diastolic and systolic pressures by 4% and 2% respectively. During such exercises, the heart needs to beat faster because it can be confronted with a situation that requires a flight or fight reaction (Froelicher; Myers 49). So, once such changes are experienced, impulses are transmitted to the brain which in turn responds by transmitting impulses to the heart to appropriately regulate the rte of blood pressure within the body. Conclusion In conclusion, this experiment demonstrates that exercise has a direct influence on the rate blood pressure and pulse rates. Once an individual is engaged in an exercise, these have to change in an appropriate manner in response to the change. However, the rate is not uniform because it is influenced by the intensity of the exercise performed. It can therefore be deduced that the relationship between exercise and pulse rate is directly proportional. Once a person is involved in a physical exercise, one’s pulse rate has to increase. However, the rate of increase can never be uniform at all times because it depends on the type of exercises one is engaged into. Works Cited Froelicher, Victor; Myers, Jonathan. Exercise and the Heart (fifth ed.). Philadelphia: Elsevier, 2006. Print. Hall, Arthur; Guyton, John. Textbook of medical physiology (11th ed. ed.). Philadelphia: W.B. Saunders, 2005. Print. Hansen, T. W. et al. "Predictive Role of the Nighttime Blood Pressure". Hypertension 57 (1): 2007. 3–10. Wohlfart, B,; Farazdaghi, G. "Reference values for the physical work capacity on a bicycle ergometer for men -- a comparison with a previous study on women". Clin Physiol Funct Imaging 23 (3): 166–70. Read More