Physiological Measurements Required
Assessment 2: PHYSIOLOGICAL MEASUREMENTS
Description
Monitoring physiological changes in the body can be used to assess and measure healthy performance as well as to evaluate reduced performance due to ageing or poor health.
It is relatively easy to measure characteristics of the cardio-respiratory system such as
• Pulse rate
• Blood pressure
• Breathing rate
During this investigation we will monitor changes in the cardio-respiratory system before and after exercise
Tasks
For this practical you should work in groups of three or four
1 Taking your resting pulse rate
All members of the group should take & record their resting pulse rate. Take your pulse for 30 seconds and then calculate pulse rate for a minute.
Resting pulse rate=
2 The Harvard step test
One member of the group should volunteer to be the subject for this test.
During this test the other members of the group will be responsible for taking
The subject's
• Pulse rate by counting the radial pulse
• Breathing rate by counting breaths
• Blood pressure by using the semi-automatic sphygmomanometer
2.1 The subject should be seated. The subject's resting pulse rate, Breathing rate
and Blood pressure should be measured & results recorded.
2.2 The subject should then do step-ups at the rate of 30 per minute for every 5
minutes. On member of this team should note exactly how long the exercise
took place.
2.3 The subject then sits
Pulse and breathing
One minute after the exercise stops the pulse and breathing should be counted for 30 seconds and the result noted.
This should be repeated at 2 minutes, 3 minutes. 4 minutes and so on until the pulse has returned to the resting rate.
Blood pressure
Blood pressure should be taken at regular timed intervals and both systolic and diastolic Blood pressure noted along with the exact time of the systolic reading.
2.4 Aerobic efficiency and fitness can be estimated using the following formula
Index = (Duration of exercise in seconds) x100 =
2(Sum of first three pulse counts in recovery)
Norms
below 55 = poor
55-64 = low average
65-79 = average
80-89= good
90+= excellent
Record and plot graph of your results. Comment on your subject's aerobic efficiency and fitness
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Solution Preview
First, some general comments on your subject's fitness: their resting blood pressure, 122/71, is pretty much ideal. They appear to be in good cardiovascular health, although their resting pulse rate is a little higher than normal (88). 22 breaths/minute is also normal.
Now, when someone excercises their muscles will use up more oxygen. To provide the extra oxygen the heart will beat faster. The more efficiently their muscles use oxygen (the more fit they are), the less additional oxygen they will need for the excercise. Also, the more fit they are the faster they will recover from excercise, and this ...
Solution Summary
The physiological measurements required are examined. The sum of the first three pulse counts in recovery are given.