Will Waterman

Human Biology 156 – L. Frolich

Major Topic 2 Unit 2
Exercise Physiology Lab

Introduction:

In this lab, I’m going to drink 8 ounces of coffee, run for 30 seconds, and
meditate. I’m going to calculate my metabolic changes by taking my pulse, respiratory
rate, and blood pressure (systolic and diastolic). Through studying how the body and how
cells work, I’m hypothesizing that drinking coffee and running will increase my
metabolic rates, and mediating is going to decrease my rates.

Hypothesis:

The three activities I chose:

(1) Drinking 8 ounces of coffee.

(2) Running for 30 seconds.
(3) Meditating for 5 minutes.

Drinking Coffee: I hypothesize that my metabolic rates will increase with the
consumption of caffeine. I think as my body is sped up, and my cellular metabolism is
sped up, I believe that my heart rate will increase, my BP will increase, and my
respiratory rate will increase.

Running: This seems like the simplest to hypothesize about. As my body’s muscles will
be working hard and requiring more oxygen, my heart rate will increase, my respiratory
rate will increase, and my BP will increase, as my heart will be pumping faster and
harder. Since the cells in my muscles will be creating ATP for the cells to function, the
need for oxygen will increase. There will also be a need to get rid of the carbon dioxide
(metabolic waste), which will coincide with an increased respiratory rate.

Meditating: I think by mediating - and calming the mind and body (we won’t get into
spirit in this) - I will decrease my metabolic rates. By sitting (decreasing muscle usage),
closing my eyes (decreasing nerve and brain stimulation), and clearing my mind (also
decreasing nerve and brain stimulation), I will use less energy and have less reactions to
my surroundings, therefore lowering my metabolic rates.
Materials and Methods:

Drinking Coffee

Running

Meditating

Baseline Metabolic Data:

Blood Pressure:
(1) Systolic: 131.4
(2) Diastolic: 70.8
Pulse: 56.6
Respiratory Rate: 8

Activities Data:
 PULSE RESPIRATION BP BP
RATE SYTOLIC DIASTOLIC
Drinking 8 oz. 63.4 10 133.8 71.4
of coffee over
15 minutes
Running for 30 62 16.6 157 81.3
seconds:
Meditating for 62 6.6 127.6 73
5 minutes:

Will's Metabolic Changes

157
160

127.6
140 133.8
131.4
120

100
62 81.3 73
62
80 63.4 Baseline
71.4
Coffee
60 56.6 70.8 Running
Meditating
40 16.6 6.6

Meditating
10
20
Running
8
0 Coffee

1 Baseline
2
3
(1) Pulse 4
(2) Respiratory Rate
(3) BP (Systolic)
(4) BP (Diastolic)

Interpreting the Data:

As predicted in my hypothesis, my metabolic rates increased when running and

drinking coffee and decreased when meditating.
Interestingly, my diastolic blood pressure decreased when drinking coffee. Could
this be because it is some type of vasodilator? I took my blood pressure a few times at the
15 minute mark (after gathering my metabolic rates three times during the 15 minutes) to
make sure I wasn’t taking my blood pressure incorrectly; my diastolic was definitely
lowered. Other than this, my heart rate, systolic blood pressure, and respiratory rates were
increased.
When running, as my muscles were working overtime, and my lungs were
working overtime trying to deliver oxygen and expel carbon dioxide, my metabolic rates
were increased.
 Finally, when meditating, my metabolic rates decreased dramatically (not quite to
baseline, see errors in technique). Other than maintaining homeostasis – i.e. digesting
what few snacks I had in my stomach, breathing normally, etc. – I wasn’t doing anything
(well, our bodies are doing quite a bit to maintain homeostasis, but I won’t get into that in
more detail)!

Problems with Technique:

By drinking coffee at the beginning of the two hours that I collected my data, I
definitely upped my metabolic rates. This was my first error!
My second error was I meditated fairly shortly after running, and my body was
definitely still trying to expel the above average amount of carbon dioxide in my body, as
well as cool my blood, since I was still slightly sweaty.

Conclusion:

It was quite a bit of work taking my metabolic rates, specifically the blood
pressure, while doing a bunch of different activities. However, it’s very interesting to
change the homeostasis of the body and try to quantify the changes.
For me, the most interesting activity was meditating. Although I had an error in
my data collecting, as I would have liked to meditate at my baseline rates, meditating
after running was quite interesting. Calming the mind and body is a fascinating process in
itself. Creating such a dramatic change in the body – after asking the muscles, lungs, and
circulatory system to change dramatically, and then changing again toward the opposite
pole – is fascinating, to say the least.
Running definitely spiked my rates! If I were to do this again, I’d definitely
meditate at my baseline rates, to see if I could drop even further from my resting
homeostasis.