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Devi Dinghoor
Bio 202:03 Lab
February 16, 2015
The Effects Exercising has on Blood Pressure

Introduction

Blood pressure increases as our heart is working harder. When the heart is
contracting, the systolic pressure is being measure; however, when the heart is relaxing the
diastolic pressure is being measured. During exercise, the systolic pressure will rise because the
heart is working harder to deliver more blood so that the muscles have enough oxygen to carry
out the activity. Although the systolic pressure rises, the diastolic pressure remains constant or
will decrease a little. Our blood pressure will differ based on age, and the amount of exercise an
individual does, but the normal blood pressure is 120/80 mm hg (Adam, 2015). There are a few
options to maintain healthy a blood pressure; one way to do so is become physically active.
Individuals who wish to maintain their blood pressure should be doing physical activities at last
two hours and 30 minutes a week. Physical activities such as power walking or running are
examples of exercises that can help lower ones blood pressure (CDPC, 2014).
Therefore, the purpose of this experiment is to test effects blood pressure has on young
females who exercise regularly compare to those who do not exercise at all. To be consider a
regular exerciser, one must do some type of physical activity at least 20 minutes 3 days per week.
It is hypothesize that females who do not exercise will have a similar diastolic pressure, but a
higher systolic pressure compare to those who do exercise.
Methods:
A total of thirteen females with ages ranging from 18 to 22 participated in this
experiment, however, subjects who has heart problems was not able to take part in this
experiment. Groups of 4 was formed to perform specific tasks are assigned to each person.
Everyone in the group had their blood pressure and pulse taken at baseline. Then, each subject in
the group did the Harvard step test once, using a 12-inch step for five minutes. First, the subject
put one foot on the bench, and then stepped up with the other foot so that both feet are on the

platform and continued to step down with one foot, then the other. The subject must have their
backs and legs straighten when they step up on the bench. The speed to stepping up and down
will be Up-2-3-4 for 2 seconds repeatedly until the five minutes are up. If the subject isnt able
to continue up to five minutes, he or she was allowed to stop, but must have their blood pressure
and pulse recorded. After the five minutes is up, the blood pressure of the subject was taken
using a sphygmomanometer on the left arm. Then each subjects had to take his/her pulse. It was
then recorded. Three minutes after the subject has finished the Harvard step, the subjects blood
pressure and pulse was taken again and recorded. Results of the experiment are stated on the
graph in figure 1.1. A t-test was done on excel to calculate the variance of the systolic blood
pressure in exercisers versus non-exercisers at baseline and three minutes after the exercise. The
average of the exercisers and non-exercisers was also done using excel.
Results:
160
140
120
100
80
Systolic Blood Pressure (mm hg)
60
40
20
0

Baseline
After 3 Minutes

Systolic Blood Pressure of Subjects at Baseline & After Three Minutes

Figure 1.1

119
118
118
118
Systolic Blood pressure (mm hg) 118
Exerciser

Non-exerciser
118
117
117
117

Average Systolic Pressure of Exercisers vs. Non-exercisers

Figure 1.2

As shown in figure 1.1, exercisers and non-exercisers had a low systolic blood pressure
during baseline. However, after the three-minute recovery period, systolic blood pressure raised
for everyone, but it was still under 120 mm hg for the majority of the exercisers and the nonexercisers.
A T-test was done using excel to detect whether there was a variance in my results. The
average systolic blood pressure of exercisers (114 6) was not significantly lower (P= 0.3) than
the average systolic blood pressure of non-exercisers (115 3) at baseline. While, the average
systolic blood pressure for exercisers (127 9) was also not significantly lower (P = 0.2) than the
average systolic blood pressure for non-exercisers (120 5) after three minutes of the activity.

The average systolic blood pressure of exercisers was not significantly different (p= 0.3) at
baseline compare to exerciser and non-exercisers (p=0.2) after 3 minutes.
Discussion:
It was hypothesize that females who dont exercise will have a different systolic blood
pressure from those who do exercise. It was found that exercisers and non-exercisers had a
similar systolic blood pressure during baseline. Their systolic blood pressure was less than 120
mm hg, because the participants are young adolescents. However, during the recovery period,
non-exercisers had a different blood pressure from exercisers. The non-exercisers still had a low
systolic blood pressure, while some of the exercisers also had a low systolic blood pressure, but
others did not. The reason some of the participants who do exerciser had a high blood pressure
after recover period is because BMI correlates with blood pressure.
According to a study done in Iran, it was found that females between the ages of 15 to 64
who had a high BMI had high blood pressure. The mean standard deviation systolic blood
pressure was 123.920.0 and 121.217.7 mmHg (P<0.001) for females. It stated that the mean
systolic pressure rose with the age and BMI in females (Peymani et al, 2012). Even though we
did not measure the BMI of each subject, it was determined that the exercisers who had a high
blood pressure after recover were the tallest in our lab course, therefore, their BMI would be
higher than the rest of the exercisers, which would result in a high systolic blood pressure as
well.
Even though my hypothesis was proven wrong, there could be errors that affected our
experiment. A subject in my group did mention that she had caffeine before coming to class,
which can spike her blood pressure up really (Sheps, 2014). To improve the experiment, we

could have exclude her out of the experiment or redo the experiment another day, but warn
people to not have caffeine before the experiment. Also, age group can affect our results in the
experiment. Some subjects might be older, than others younger. Subjects who are younger will
have a lower systolic blood pressure. To improve this part of the experiment, we could have
found out everyones age so that we can include that in the experiment.

Reference
Adams, D. H. (2015, February). Blood Pressure during Exercise. In New Health Guide.
Retrieved February 28, 2015, from http://www.newhealthguide.org/Blood-PressureDuring-Exercise.html
Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDCP). (2014, July 7). Preventing High Blood
Pressure: Healthy Living Habits. In Center for Disease Control and Prevention. Retrieved
from http://www.cdc.gov/bloodpressure/healthy_living.htm
Peymani, P., Heydari, S. T., Ahmadi, S. M., Sarikhani, Y., Joulaei, H., Moghadami, M., &
Faramarzi, H. (2012). The Prevalence of High Blood Pressure and Its Relationship with
Anthropometric Indicators; a Population Based Study in Fars Province, IR Iran.
International Cardivascular Research Journal, 42-43.
Sheps, S. G. (2014, August 5). How does Caffeine Affect Blood Pressure?. Mayo Clinic.
Retrieved from http://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/high-bloodpressure/expert-answers/blood-pressure/faq-20058543