Exercise Physiology Lab Report Introduction Exercise is a critical part of the body's functioning.

In fact, exercise is so important that it is included in nutritional guidelines. According to the Center for Disease Control, adults are encouraged to get at least 150 minutes of moderate intensity exercise every week ("How much physical activity do adults need?"). This exercise is important for burning calories, maintaining a healthy weight, preventing cardiovascular disease, keeping muscles toned, and much more. Every human alive exercises throughout their life, whether it is by vacuuming and mowing the lawn, or by running a marathon. Since everyone participates in some form of physical activity, it is important to study the physiological changes that are associated with exercise. Athletes and coaches might find this information especially useful because athletes spend a lot of time exercising, and the coaches are the ones monitoring the athletes. It is essential for athletes and coaches to know some of the physiology behind exercise in order to know how much normal homeostatic levels can change before any type of exercise becomes unsafe. Some of the changes that occur in the body during exercise are body temperature, oxygen concentration, carbon dioxide concentration, blood pressure, heart rate, and hemoglobin saturation. The goal of the Exercise Physiology lab was to measure these changes in the body before, throughout, and after exercise in order to how exercise affects these homeostatic mechanisms (Waters and Tomicek). Before beginning the lab, we made predictions as to how each of these homeostatic mechanisms would change throughout the exercise. We hypothesized that heart rate would increase as the duration of exercise increased. The reasoning behind this is that during exercise, the heart needs to pump more blood in order to increase oxygen for the muscles. Another hypothesis that we made was that CO2 clearance would increase. We thought this because carbon dioxide is a waste product of respiration, and since there is more respiration occurring for energy production during exercise, there is more CO2 waste being made. Also, we hypothesized that O2 consumption would increase, because of a similar reason as carbon dioxide

clearance. Oxygen is a reactant for respiration, and since more respiration occurs during respiration, then more oxygen would be consumed. Next, we predicted that body temperature would increase because more respiration is occurring to produce energy during exercise, and some of this energy produced is lost as heat. As for hemoglobin saturation, we hypothesized that it would increase. The reasoning behind this was that the body is consuming more oxygen during exercise, and this oxygen is pulled off of hemoglobin, therefore decreasing the hemoglobin saturation. Finally, we predicted that Mean Arterial Pressure (MAP) would increase because more blood is being pumped through the blood vessels throughout exercise. Methods For this lab, we followed the procedure in the Physiology Lab Manual. We had three subjects that exercised while the rest of the class measured a variety of homeostatic mechanisms. Before beginning the exercise, the subjects had data collected about their height, weight, age, smoking status, and Resting Heart Rate (RHR). Heart rate was taken using the pulse oximeter device. All of this information was compiled to calculate each subject's Maximal Heart Rate (MHR) and Exercise Heart Rate (EHR). EHR was calculated as 80% of MHR, which was important in order to ensure the safety of the subject; anything beyond this point required us to stop the experiment. Resting measures were also taken for blood pressure, body temperature, tidal volume, hemoglobin saturation, respiratory rate, exhaled tidal CO2, and exhaled tidal O2 (Waters and Tomicek). We did not have a control in this subject, but rather the resting measures were used as the control and allowed us to make comparisons between the homeostatic mechanisms at rest and during exercise. Blood pressure was measured using a sphygmomanometer, body temperature was measured using a thermometer, tidal volume was measured using a spirometer, and hemoglobin saturation was measured using the same pulse oximeter that was used to measure heart rate. Respiratory rate, exhaled tidal CO2, and exhaled tidal O2 were all measured using a capnometer, and an additional oxygen analyzer was used for exhaled tidal oxygen. All resting measures were taken while the subjects were seated, and the resting period lasted three minutes. Each of the measures was taken twice

during this period, once at the start and once at the end of the three minutes. Next, the subject began exercise by running on the treadmill at 5 mph. Every three minutes, data was collected again for heart rate, hemoglobin saturation, tidal volume, respiratory rate, exhaled tidal CO2, and exhaled tidal O2. Data collection occurred while the subject continued to run on the treadmill. A subject monitor also recorded observations about the exercising subject, including skin color and how heavy the subject was breathing. The exercise phase of the experiment lasted until the subject monitor thought the subject was in distress or the subject's heart rate reached 80% of the MHR we calculated. At this point, the exercise ended and the six minute recovery period began. The subject immediately sat down and had blood pressure and temperature measured. The subject walked for three minutes, and then heart rate, hemoglobin saturation, tidal volume, respiratory rate, exhaled tidal CO2, and exhaled tidal O2 were measured. Finally, the subject sat for three minutes and all of the measures were taken once more (Waters and Tomicek). Some of the measures, like blood pressure and temperature, could not be measured throughout the exercise phase of the experiment because they would have required the subject to remain still. Carbon dioxide clearance and oxygen consumption were not directly measured in this experiment, but were calculated using the values for respiratory rate, exhaled tidal CO2(ETCO2), and exhaled tidal O2. The equation used to calculate CO2 clearance was: CO2 clearance = (ETCO2)*(tidal volume)*(respiratory rate). The equation used to calculate O2 consumption was: O2 consumption = (0.209 - O2 of exhaled air)*(tidal volume)*(respiratory rate). Also, systolic and diastolic blood pressures were measured and converted into Mean Arterial Pressure (MAP) using the equation MAP = [(2*Diastolic Pressure)+ Systolic Pressure]/3 (Waters and Tomicek).

Results

Changes in Heart Rate During Exercise

200 180 160 140 120 100 80 60 0 Heart Rate (bpm)

Rest

Exercise

Recovery

Series1 Series2 Series3

12

15

18

21

Time (mins)

Figure 1 This graph shows the changes in heart rate as beats per minute over the course of the experiment. Series 1 refers to subject 1, series 2 refers to subject 2, and series 3 refers to subject three. Data was collected every three minutes. Exercise began at minute 3. There is a hole in the graph at 15 minutes for subjects 2 and 3 because they stopped exercise earlier than subject 1. . Rest began at minute 12 for subjects 2 and 3.

2 CO2 Clearance (L CO2/min) 1.8 1.6 1.4 1.2 1 0.8 0.6 0.4 0

Rest

Changes in Carbon Dioxide Clearance During Exercise

Exercise Recovery

Series1 Series2 Series3

9 12 Time (mins)

15

18

21

Figure 2 This graph shows the changes in carbon dioxide clearance, measured in liters per minute, over the course of the experiment. Series 1 refers to subject 1, series 2 refers to subject 2, and series 3 refers to subject three. Data was collected every three minutes. Exercise began at minute 3. There is a hole in the graph at 15 minutes for subjects 2 and 3 because they stopped exercise at minute 12 instead of minute 15 like subject 1. Rest began at minute 12 for subjects 2 and 3.

0.55 0.5 0.45 0.4 0.35 0.3 0.25 0.2 0.15 0.1 0.05 0 0

Changes in Oxygen Consumption During Exercise

Rest Exercise Recovery

Series1 Series2 Series3

9 12 Time (mins)

15

18

21

Figure 3 This graph shows the changes in oxygen consumption (liters of oxygen per minute) over the course of the experiment. Series 1 refers to subject 1, series 2 refers to subject 2, and series 3 refers to subject three. Data was collected every three minutes. Exercise began at minute 3. There is a hole in the graph at 15 minutes for subjects 2 and 3 because they stopped exercise earlier than subject 1. Rest started at minute 12 for subjects 2 and 3.

O2 Consumption (O2/min)

Changes in Body Temperature During Exercise Body Temperature in Degrees Celsius Time Period (mins) Subject 1 Subject 2 Subject 3 Rest 0 36.2 38.1 36.1 3 35.9 36.2 37.9 Exercise 6 9 12 36.8 36.2 15 36.7 Recovery 18 36.1 35.6 36.7 21 35.7 36.1 36.4

Figure 4 This table shows the changes in body temperature, which was measured in degrees Celsius, throughout the duration of the experiment. There are blank spaces in the chart because we were not able to measure body temperature while the subject was exercising. Instead, the exercise measurement was taken immediately after exercise was completed. Subjects 2 and 3 completed exercise earlier than subject 1, so their recovery periods began after minute 12.

Changes in Hemoglobin Saturation During Exercise Hemoglobin Saturation (%) Period Time (mins) Subject 1 Subject 2 Subject 3 Rest 0 99 98 99 3 99 98 99 Exercise 6 98 98 99 9 83 99 89 12 99 91 97 15 97 Recovery 18 98 98 100 21 99 98 98

Figure 5 This table shows the changes in hemoglobin saturation, measured in percentage, over the course of the experiment. Hemoglobin saturation was measured every three minutes. Exercise began after minute three. Subjects 2 and 3 stopped exercise after minute 12, so their first measurements for hemoglobin saturation during recovery were actually at minute 15.

Changes in Mean Arterial Pressure During Exercise Mean Arterial Pressure in mmHg Period Time (mins) Subject 1 Subject 2 Subject 3 Rest 0 81 77 91 3 76 77 93 Exercise 6 9 12 15 80 97 90 Recovery 18 89 85 97 21 79 83 89

Figure 4 This table shows the changes in MAP throughout the duration of the experiment. MAP was not directly measured; instead, systolic and diastolic blood pressures were measured and converted into MAP. There are blank spaces in the chart because we were not able to measure blood pressure while the subject was exercising. Instead, the exercise measurement was taken immediately after exercise was completed. Subjects 2 and 3 completed exercise earlier than subject 1, so their recovery periods began after minute 12.

As seen in Figure 1, there was a rapid increase in heart rate when exercise began, and then heart rate gradually increased throughout the rest of the exercise period. There was a significant fall in heart rate between the time exercise ended and the first recovery measurement was taken. By the end of the recovery period, the subjects still had not returned to their original resting heart rates. As seen in Figure 2, carbon dioxide clearance had an upward trend throughout the exercise period. There was a lot of individual variation between the three subjects, but the levels of carbon dioxide clearance at the end of exercise were higher than at the beginning of exercise for all three subjects. After exercise ended, carbon dioxide clearance decreased during recovery. The results for oxygen consumption (Figure 3) were slightly more consistent than carbon dioxide clearance. Overall, it appears as though oxygen consumption increased during the rest period, decreased rapidly at the start of exercise, and then tapered off and stayed pretty stable for the rest of the experiment. However, subject 1 showed an increase in oxygen consumption just after exercise ended. As for the changes in body temperature, the results did not show any significant trends over the course of the experiment. It appears as though there may have been a slight increase during the exercise period and a slight decrease during the recovery period, but there were no major changes. The results for hemoglobin saturation (Figure 5) also did not show any major changes during exercise. Overall, there was a slight decrease in hemoglobin saturation during exercise and then a slight increase during the recovery period for all three subjects. As seen in Figure 6, Mean Arterial Pressure tended to increase during the exercise period and at the beginning of the recovery period. However, it then began to decrease later in the recovery period, and by the end of the experiment had mostly returned to normal. Discussion After performing the Exercise Physiology lab, some of our results supported the hypotheses while others did not. We hypothesized that heart rate would increase as the duration of exercise increased, and our results strongly supported this hypothesis. There was an increase in heart rate as soon as exercise heart rate, and then heart rate decreased in the recovery period. We expected to see these results because

during exercise, the muscles need to make a lot more energy (in the form of ATP) in order to keep the body moving. Cellular respiration is the body's way of creating energy, and oxygen is one of the required substances for respiration. Since oxygen is carried in the blood, and the heart pumps the blood, we expected heart rate to increase so that more oxygen would be delivered to the muscles. Similar to heart rate, we hypothesized that oxygen consumption would increase with exercise. More oxygen is needed in the blood to be delivered to the muscles, so more oxygen would need to be consumed. When exercise begins, tidal volume and respiratory rate increase so that more air is breathed into the body, and as a result oxygen consumption increases (Martini, Nath, and Bartholomew). However, our results did not support this hypothesis; the data showed an overall trend of decreased oxygen consumption throughout exercise. One possible error that could explain why our results were not what we expected is that the subjects were not exhaling all of their air into the tube that connected to the oxygen analyzer on the capnometer. If some of the air escaped from the tube, then the oxygen content measured might be inaccurate. Also, it is possible that the person running the capnometer/oxygen analyzer machine did not let the oxygen analyzer calibrate to the proper value for atmospheric oxygen before taking the measurements, which could have led to error. Our results did, however, weakly support the hypothesis for carbon dioxide clearance. During exercise, more energy is being produced by the mitochondria in the muscles, and more respiration is occurring. Carbon dioxide is a waste product of respiration, so if more respiration occurs, then more carbon dioxide is produced. The body rids itself of this carbon dioxide by clearing it out of the lungs through exhalation (Martini, Nath, and Bartholomew). Therefore, carbon dioxide clearance theoretically should increase during exercise. Our results showed an overall upward trend in carbon dioxide clearance over time, but this trend was somewhat weak. Similar to the error in oxygen consumption, we may have had stronger results for carbon dioxide clearance if we made sure that all of the exhaled air entered the collection tube, and none of it escaped. Next time this lab is done, it could be improved by having the subject breathe into a facemask with a tube attached, so that less of the carbon dioxide would escape into the atmosphere without being measured. The results for hemoglobin saturation moderately supported out hypothesis that the percentage of saturation would decrease throughout exercise. Oxygen is transported

through the blood on hemoglobin, and since the muscles are taking that oxygen from the hemoglobin during exercise, the hemoglobin molecules become less saturated with oxygen. We were in a rush when collecting data and may not have waited long enough for the reading on the pulse oximeter to stabilize before measuring hemoglobin saturation, which may have been a reason that our results did not strongly support the hypothesis. We hypothesized that temperature would increase during exercise because when respiration occurs, some of the energy produced is lost as heat. This heat then travels to the surface of the skin to be released, which would increase measure of body temperature (Martini, Nath, and Bartholomew). Our results showed a weak increase in temperature, but there may have been some error if the subject was not completely still while temperature was being measured. Finally, our results for MAP moderately supported our hypothesis that MAP would increase during exercise. Since the heart rate increases during exercise to deliver more oxygenated blood to the muscles, there is a larger volume of blood traveling through the vessels, which increases blood volume (Waters and Tomicek). We did not see very significant changes in MAP, but it did seem to somewhat increase during exercise. A possible error might have been that the room was too noisy to accurately hear the sounds of Korotkoff when measuring blood pressure. In the future, there should be a rule that the room must be silent when blood pressure is being taken. Overall, this lab has some real world applications that can be applied to people who exercise, especially coaches and athletes. When athletes are training and at practices, they are constantly pushing their bodies to the limit, but it is important for this training to be safe. Heart rate monitors are now small devices that can be easily put on the finger to read, so they would be very easy to carry around. If athletes calculated their upper level for safe exercise heart rate and brought a heart rate monitor to practice, it would be easy to know when they were exercising too strenuously. If coaches gave athletes breaks throughout practice to check their heart rates, this could be a great way to make sure that athletes are pushing themselves, but not putting too much stress on the heart. Therefore, the data from this Exercise Physiology lab could be applied in the real world to make sure athletes are healthy while exercising.

Works Cited "How much physical activity do adults need?" Physical Activity. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 3 Mar. 2014. Web. 20 Apr. 2014. <http://www.cdc.gov/physicalactivity/everyone/guidelines/adults.html>. Martini, Frederic, Judi Nath, and Edwin Bartholomew. "The Muscular System." Fundamentals of Anatomy & Physiology. 9th ed. Harlow: Pearson, 2014. 368. Print. Waters, John, and Nanette Tomicek. Physiology Laboratory Manual. 1st ed. Plymouth: Hayden McNeil, 2014. Print.