Monday, February 18, 2008

What I Found Out...


Well, it sure has been a while since I have posted. Somehow my life got so busy that I wasn't even checking my own blog site.
Anyway, I thought I would just jot some information down regarding my heart rate monitor experience.
I invited faculty members to wear an exercise heart rate monitor during the the work day. I had thirty teachers sign up. They were very enthusiastic. I only have 15 monitors so I ran the testing on two dates. Mixed in with the teachers I had one Vice Principal and a school secretary.
All of the candidates filled out their pulse as many times during the day as possible. They also recorded when they felt stressed, told me the activity they were doing at the time of the pulse check, and if they had any caffeine. The results were interesting, and the teachers were fascinated with what they learned about themselves. Most teachers hovered around 78 beats per minute. There were a couple of outliers though. One of the teachers realized that her heart rate was really high during the day. She followed up with her general practitioner and she found out there is something going on with her heart (it is speeding up at random times during the day). She is having more tests done and will let me know exactly what is going on. Many of the other teachers realized that they need to bring exercise back into their lives. Over 10 of the candidates involved have joined a gym and or hired personal trainers. They told me that wearing the heart rate monitor gave them incentive to "get moving" again, and that it made them realize that they were not happy with the way their readings came out.
I also gave each participant a two-page document on what all the readings meant, and what different things they can do with a heart rate monitor. Two of the teachers went out and bought their own monitors for their new exercise regime.
So, in summary, I am really glad that I did this experiment! It was a lot of fun for me, and I was really glad to see the high interest level. I am also glad that this experiment has motivated a handful of people to take matters into their own hands and re-start an exercise program. I also am very thankful that the one teacher whose heart rate was really high went to a professional and found out why her heart rate was abnormally high.
All in all, it turned out great. Thanks to all those who participated!!


Image Credit: www.recipestoday.com