Effects of Exercise on the Heart: A Comparison of Athletes and Non-Athletes
Introduction:
In this day and age of technological advancements and variation of food options, the benefits of exercise are broadcasted far and wide. Comparisons of having an active lifestyle versus living a sedentary life yield many results on its impact to health, life, and the human body. Many studies have been done regarding the effects of repetitive participation in vigorous physical activities and the changes in the human body, especially in respects to the cardiovascular system and the observed changes of myocardial structure and function (Baggish & Wood 2011). But what is the impact of these changes? It is well known that exercise benefits the heart which, as important as it is, is a muscle and thus can be strengthen. However, exactly what changes occur and what do they imply?
To attempt to answer this question, this experiment used an electrocardiogram (EKG) to obtain a graphical representation of the resting heart rate of two extremities of the physical activity spectrum: athletes, who exercise rigidly, vehemently, and over a lengthy period of time, and non-athletes, who don’t exercise much or at all. This experiment sought to test the null hypothesis that exercise has no effect on the cardiovascular system, hence that there is no difference between an athlete 's and a non-athlete 's heart in order to observe if there are any changes. The alterative hypothesis was that exercise does have an effect on the cardiovascular system and so there is a difference between the heart of an athlete and that of a non-athlete. Methods and Materials: Before beginning the experiment, all participants were asked to fill out a short demographic survey online. The survey asked standard questions such as age, height, weight, gender and physical state as well as other questions regarding factors that might affect the experiment 's results like coffee intake of the day, diet, and extent of physical activity like if they play or played sports, if they exercise and if so how many times a week, etc. After the survey was completed, they were asked to submit it. Through this process the data was to remain anonymous and electronically sent to an aggregated database to further protect identities. The actual portion of the experiment involved setting up an EKG sensor and connecting it to the Vernier computer interface. …show more content…
In order to measure the heart rate (HR), data was collected using the LoggerPro computer program. Following the setup, the participants were asked to attach three fresh electrode tabs to both their arms. One patch was placed on the inside of the right wrist, another on the inside of the upper right forearm, and the third tab on the inside of the upper left forearm. Then the EKG clips were attached to the tabs: the green clip to the right forearm, the black clip to the right wrist, and the red clip to the left forearm. Once the clips were in place, the participants sat in a relaxed position in a chair with their forearms resting on their legs, palm side up. Immediately afterwards, the data was collected using LoggerPro. However, before beginning the actual experimental data collection, a test run was done and promptly discarded to ensure the program was running well and for the participant to know was to expect. Results: The aggregated data base for analyzing the heart with the EKG is shown in Figure 1. Several intervals were measured, but for this experiment, the focus was on the HR. The HR was measured in beats per minute (bpm) by dividing 60 seconds by the RR-interval, which is the time between beats. Since the aim of this experiment was to observe the HR of athletes and non-athletes, the Athlete demographic category was chosen so as to display the pertaining information. The total sample size of the participants who took the EKG test was 496 and the data collected yielded a mean of 74.47 and a standard deviation of 13.695 (Figure 2). From the 496 participants, 68 were athletes and 204 were not, the remaining 224 responded in the survey that they were athletes in the past. For the sake of this experiment, those who were athletes in the past were not
Introduction:
In this day and age of technological advancements and variation of food options, the benefits of exercise are broadcasted far and wide. Comparisons of having an active lifestyle versus living a sedentary life yield many results on its impact to health, life, and the human body. Many studies have been done regarding the effects of repetitive participation in vigorous physical activities and the changes in the human body, especially in respects to the cardiovascular system and the observed changes of myocardial structure and function (Baggish & Wood 2011). But what is the impact of these changes? It is well known that exercise benefits the heart which, as important as it is, is a muscle and thus can be strengthen. However, exactly what changes occur and what do they imply?
To attempt to answer this question, this experiment used an electrocardiogram (EKG) to obtain a graphical representation of the resting heart rate of two extremities of the physical activity spectrum: athletes, who exercise rigidly, vehemently, and over a lengthy period of time, and non-athletes, who don’t exercise much or at all. This experiment sought to test the null hypothesis that exercise has no effect on the cardiovascular system, hence that there is no difference between an athlete 's and a non-athlete 's heart in order to observe if there are any changes. The alterative hypothesis was that exercise does have an effect on the cardiovascular system and so there is a difference between the heart of an athlete and that of a non-athlete. Methods and Materials: Before beginning the experiment, all participants were asked to fill out a short demographic survey online. The survey asked standard questions such as age, height, weight, gender and physical state as well as other questions regarding factors that might affect the experiment 's results like coffee intake of the day, diet, and extent of physical activity like if they play or played sports, if they exercise and if so how many times a week, etc. After the survey was completed, they were asked to submit it. Through this process the data was to remain anonymous and electronically sent to an aggregated database to further protect identities. The actual portion of the experiment involved setting up an EKG sensor and connecting it to the Vernier computer interface. …show more content…
In order to measure the heart rate (HR), data was collected using the LoggerPro computer program. Following the setup, the participants were asked to attach three fresh electrode tabs to both their arms. One patch was placed on the inside of the right wrist, another on the inside of the upper right forearm, and the third tab on the inside of the upper left forearm. Then the EKG clips were attached to the tabs: the green clip to the right forearm, the black clip to the right wrist, and the red clip to the left forearm. Once the clips were in place, the participants sat in a relaxed position in a chair with their forearms resting on their legs, palm side up. Immediately afterwards, the data was collected using LoggerPro. However, before beginning the actual experimental data collection, a test run was done and promptly discarded to ensure the program was running well and for the participant to know was to expect. Results: The aggregated data base for analyzing the heart with the EKG is shown in Figure 1. Several intervals were measured, but for this experiment, the focus was on the HR. The HR was measured in beats per minute (bpm) by dividing 60 seconds by the RR-interval, which is the time between beats. Since the aim of this experiment was to observe the HR of athletes and non-athletes, the Athlete demographic category was chosen so as to display the pertaining information. The total sample size of the participants who took the EKG test was 496 and the data collected yielded a mean of 74.47 and a standard deviation of 13.695 (Figure 2). From the 496 participants, 68 were athletes and 204 were not, the remaining 224 responded in the survey that they were athletes in the past. For the sake of this experiment, those who were athletes in the past were not