Each time your heart beats it pushes blood through the arteries which you can feel as a pulse

Try this experiment to find out how much faster your heart beats after exercise, either by yourself or with a friend.

1. First take your pulse before you begin any exercise. To do this find your pulse on the inside of your wrist or the side of your neck and count how many times it beats in a minute and record the result. This is called your resting pulse.

2. Now do a small amount of exercise e.g. jump up and down 20 times or run round the garden. Record the amount of exercise. Take your pulse again and record the result. Wait until your pulse returns to its resting rate.

3. Repeat step 2 several times increasing the amount of exercise each time.

Remember always to record the amount of exercise alongside the pulse rate and to wait each time until your pulse returns to its resting rate before you start on more exercise.

Here is an example of how one child used a spreadsheet to record her results.