Metabolic Lab

Introduction:


The principle of this lab is to see how our body and cardiovascular system will react as I perform different activities. I decided to do activities which I already normally do, this way the results and findings might be more meaningful to me in the future. Since I generally exercise three to four times a week, taking circulatory measurements after working out, would easily fit with my daily/weekly routine. The three activates I will perform are stretching, running, and kicking a martial arts dummy.


Hypothesis:
Since all three of my activates are doing something more then sitting on the couch I will make a general hypothesis stating: the metabolic data I collect for each activities will be different then the baseline data I will use as comparison. My understanding of the material so far in this unit tells me when I am active my pulse, breathing and blood pressure should increase to some degree or another. If I take running for instance, my heart rate should increases as my muscles need more oxygen to keep pace. If the muscles require more oxygen, then my breathing rate should increase to get more oxygen in the lungs to increase the oxygen supply for the red blood cells to transport. If the muscles need more oxygen and my heart rate and breathing increase then the heart will be pumping faster to get more red blood cells to all the active muscles. This should cause and increase in both systolic and diastolic readings. The systolic reading is measuring the pressure of the blood cells against the lining of the arteries, so if more red blood cells are moving threw the arteries then more pressure should be applied to the artery lining and this should result in increased blood pressure readings.


Stretching:
I hypothesis stretching will show the least amount of change from the base line readings of the three activities. When I am stretching I am relaxed and breathing steadily threw my nose and out my month, very similar to when I am sitting down. Even though I am doing a form of physical activity I don’t think stretching will put enough strain on the muscles to need a dramatic increase in oxygen levels. So respiration rate, pulse and both systolic and diastolic rates should be about the same as my baseline data with only slight increases.


Kicking the Kung Fu dummy:
I suspect the act of kicking the dummy for ten minutes will cause an increase in the amount of oxygen my muscles will need. I hypothesis my pulse, respiration rate, systolic and diastolic rates will all increase after ten minutes of kicking. I expect my respiration rate to change only slightly from my normal breathing rate. The reason is like stretching when I kick the dummy I am keeping my breathing controlled and even though it is physical activity and I can work up a good workout form practicing on the dummy, I think it will take more then 10 minutes to accomplish a dramatic increase in respiration. So the hypothesis is pulse, systolic, and diastolic rate will increase a noticeable amount and respiratory rate will increase slightly.


Running:
I think running for ten minutes will give me the largest change in data from the baseline. When I run I am working harder then normal and I am not a very good runner. If I am working harder then normal my body is working hard to maintain an internal constant temp (homeostasis). The sweat indicates the body needs to get rid of the increase in temperature in some form and sweating is the best way to maintain body heat, and I can easily sweat a pool after just a few minutes of running. As I run my thigh muscles get tight and tired from the activity. If the muscles are getting tired from running and normally they are not tired or tight when I am just walking then my body must be working hard to keep them going and loosing the battle. I know the body is working harder because my respiratory rate increases as I run. If my breathing is increased then my pulse should also go up because the heart will be working overtime to get red blood cells and oxygen to the leg muscles. If the rest of my body is working hard then my blood pressure should be increasing significantly. My Hypothesis for running is you will see all four measurements increase by the largest numbers compared to the baseline data.


Methods:
In order to keep the data as consistent as possible I tried to do the same procedure each time for all three activities all five days. I performed the activates and took the body measurements on my days off where I could plan ahead and not have anything else interfere with my process. For my baseline measurements I would record the data about an hour after I first woke up in the morning. I did this because I figured when I first wake up my body would be at its most relaxing and consistent state and therefore I would get consistent readings on all five days. The next step was going to the park and starting the stretching activity. Each day I would do the same stretches in the same order for an average of about ten minutes. I brought my blood pressure monitor with me to record the systolic and diastolic data as soon as practical, normally within a few minutes of finishing the stretches. Next I would walk around and warm up for about 15 minutes or so between the time I did my stretching and started my run. I wanted a little time in between the two activities so any major jumps in the data from stretching would be back to normal prior to starting the run. I tried to consistently take my four readings as soon as possible when I finished ten minutes of running, again I had the blood pressure device right there so it was normally done with in a few minutes. The stretching and running were normally done late morning about 11am or so. I take martial arts classes in the evening so I would spend the rest of the afternoon doing whatever else there was to do and about an hour before my class started I would go outside with a stop watch and kick the kung fu dummy for ten straight minutes, again as with the stretching and running I tried to get the data recorded within a few minutes of completing the exercise. By following this procedure on all five days and doing as closely as possible the exact same activities I was hoping to minimize any additional variables there might be which could alter the data.


The equipment I used to take my blood pressure was a device my roommate had and came in very handy. It is a small self contained unit with a digital readout. The device is called a Omron Blood Pressure Monitor HEM-601 (see picture). For taking my pulse I used the carotid artery under the jaw on the neck (see picture). I felt for the artery and then counted the number of pulses for 30 seconds. After 30 seconds I took the number I had and multiplied it by 2, to give me the pulse for a full minute. I did this same procedure for measuring my respiratory rate, timed 30 seconds and counted the number of breaths, then multiplying by 2 to give me the number of breaths in a full minute. (The pictures with associated captions are on a separate blog entry at the end of this report.)


Analysis:
My hypothesis for predicting the results of my metabolic rates after certain activities was not entirely unproven, however it was not 100% confirmed either. The baseline data I think was very consistent and did set a good foundation for comparing the rest of the results. As you can see in the graph (next blog entry at end of this report) my hypothesis for how dramatically my metabolic rates would change when I did basic stretching was confirmed by the data I have. You can see the color representing stretching closely follows the baseline data and is only slightly higher on average, which is what I hypothesized. The color representing kicking was also very accurate to what I hypothesized would happen. All the metabolic data for stretching were confirmed to be higher then the baseline data. As I expend energy to kick the dummy my metabolic rates go up to keep my body in a higher gear of performance. This is exactly what I thought would happen and I was happy to see the data and graph reflect my initial hypothesis. The last activity for this lab was the one which resulted in data that was somewhat confounding. The initial pulse and respiration data confirmed the body was working harder then during times when the baseline data was taken. The problem I encountered was on more then one occasion the data I collected for systolic and diastolic pressure was less then the baseline data. I know my body was working harder then normal because my pulse and respiration rate were higher then normal. The systolic and diastolic pressure however do not back up that conclusion. My hypothesis for predicting the outcome of metabolic data for running was not proven and the actual results leave question to be answered.


Problems:
Here is some of the issues I encountered while trying to accurately get consistent metabolic rates. The primary issue is variables which may have an impact on the data but are hard to eliminate. Environmental impacts, my three activities were all performed outside and while some days were pleasant and warm other days were less then desirable. I believe changes in weather conditions could have an impact on the data, but since we are under time limitations I had to collect data on the specific days I was available. In general the average temperature while I was performing the activities were in the low 60’s. There were however two days where the weather was much colder and rainier, and I suspect this could have a specific impact on the running data. The second issue would be my diet. I think I have learned enough in this unit to say confidently depending on what I had eaten or did not eat prior to running and stretching could cause some changes in the data I would get. I know some foods would give me more energy before I went running and therefore have favorable results with the data, and opposite of this some foods, like that star bucks coffee and sausage sandwich I had one time before stretching and running many not have given my body the best chance for performing its best. The third reason I may have gotten conflicting data while running is everyone’s physiology is a little bit different then the next person. What consistently happens to one person every time they perform an activity may have a slightly different affect for someone else doing the same activity. The last possible problem which may have influence my data was the actual procedure for taking the systolic and diastolic measurements. As you can see in the picture when I was done running I used the bench and quickly took my blood pressure. The device and my wrist were both below my heart when the measurements were being taken. After I had collected all my data and was calculating the results my roommate decided he would try taking his blood pressure. He actually read all the directions and it turns out when taking your blood pressure your wrist should be at heart level. You can see in my picture my wrist is well below heart level. I do not know how much of an impact this procedure would make on my results but it might be a clue for the unreliable readings I had. These are just the primary concerns I had for the accuracy of the data I collected. There are probably a few others factors which could have influenced the data that I am not addressing.


Conclusion:
In conclusion I think the data still largely supports the general hypothesis stating when we expend energy to do activities the body and heart needs to work harder to get the blood and oxygen to all the right places. When we run or participate in vigorous athletic activates the body has to work overtime to keep up with our demands for energy. This will cause the heart to beat faster , your breathing to become more labored and your blood pressure to increase as the body works harder. As for the scientific method I learned a great deal about the different variables which can have adverse affects on the data you try to collect. If I was to do another experiment like this one I would want to do many more trials (like a one hundred) then just 5 to get better well rounded data. I would also say it would be more accurate to have another person take the metabolic measurements, maybe someone even trained in proper procedures. This way you could be sure to limit as many of the variables as possible to get accurate information and a reliable analysis of the data.