"Exploring the Relationship between Daily

Exercise Duration and Resting Heart Rate:

Formative assessment
IB math AA report
Grade 11
Konyssova Kamila
 Introduction
The main aim of this report is to examine and analyze the relationship between the duration of
exercise per day and resting heart rate. The purpose of this study is to investigate how physical
activity might affect an individual's resting heart rate. Resting heart rate, which represents the number
of times the heart beats per minute at rest, serves as an indicator of cardiovascular health.

I selected these variables to better understand and highlight the importance of the correlation between
physical activity and cardiovascular health. Since my father told me that the healthier and better
physically you are, the lower your resting heart rate, I have been interested in how my daily physical
activity affects the state of my heart health . He outlined that lower heart rate is healthy and important
for your body state. That is the former reason why I selected this topic of investigation. By
investigating the relationship between exercise duration and resting heart rate, I aim to gain insights
into the potential impact of regular physical activity on heart health. In order to implement this
investigation I will use mathematical approaches such as representing my data with a scatter plot
diagram, finding the best fit line and calculating Pearson’s correlation product coefficient. These
calculations and representations of gathered data will help me better understand the relationship
between variables. I chose one’s exercise duration per day as an independent variable to investigate
the effects of even small amounts of physical activity on the heart rate. Whereas, resting heart rate was
selected as the dependent variable because it serves as an indicator of the overall efficiency and health
of the cardiovascular system.

In the subsequent sections of this report, I intend to outline the methodology used to collect and
analyze data, present outcomes and discuss their implications. I will also explore limitations
encountered during the investigation process and evaluate reliability of the results.

Methodology, representation and analysis

I gathered 20 samples for both variables - dependent and independent. To get data I used convenience
sampling as it is the most accessible and easy way to generate a sample. To conduct a convenience
sample to find a correlation between daily exercise duration (in minutes) and resting heart rate (beats
per minute) I surveyed 20 people who workout or play some type of sport everyday so the results
would be as accurate as possible. The sampled data is presented in the following table:

Table 1. Daily exercise duration and resting heart rate of ISA students and teachers
Daily Exercise Duration (in minutes) (x) Resting Heart Rate (beats per minute) (y)

30 90

35 88

20 85

25 82

30 80

35 78

40 75
 40 85

50 70

55 70

60 73

70 69

80 105

90 64

45 98

15 105

100 61

60 71

90 68

120 61

Next step is the transformation of data. As it is shown in the scatter plot diagram below, the samples
were transformed into scatter plots in order to clearly see the correlation between two variables. In the
graph below I drew the best fit line by passing through the mean point of x and y, and making sure
that the number of points below and above is balanced.

Graph 1. Scatter plot with best fit line without using technology.
Graph 2. Scatter plot with the best fit line using technology

x̄ = 54.5
ȳ = 78.65

Best fit line: y = -0.266x + 93.137

Residual 1: 105 - 67.5 = 37.5

According to calculations and representation of the data the correlation between variable x (daily
exercise duration) and variable y (resting heart rate) is moderate and negative which means that the
bigger daily exercise duration the lower will be the resting heart rate. The inverse relationship
between two variables is proven and can be clearly identified. Also, the residuals of the line were
calculated by using the equation: actual y value − predicted y value.

Conclusion

In consideration of the method of convenience sampling used, I ran an analysis using the data
collected on daily activity duration and resting heart rate to examine the connection between these
variables. The quantity of daily activity and resting heart rate were found to be negatively correlated,
according to my research. We evaluated the correlation coefficient to quantify this relationship; it was
roughly -0.6, indicating a relatively moderate inverse association between the two variables. We were
able to forecast resting heart rate based on exercise time via the best fit line that the linear regression
analysis produced. The equation for the best-fit line was y = -0.266x + 93.137, where x is the length
of the workout and y is the resting heart rate. The R-squared value of 0.36 showed that exercise
duration could account for around 36% of the variance in resting heart rate. To better understand the
central tendency of the data, I also computed the mean exercise time (52.5 minutes) and the mean
resting heart rate (79.2 beats per minute). Last but not least, by looking at the residuals, I saw the
discrepancies between the actual data points and the values projected by the best fit line, which
revealed information about how accurately the line suited the data. One of the residuals came out to be
relatively small, which can serve as an evidence of calculation reliability and accuracy. However, due
to potential flaws in data values brought on by methodological constraints, the data and calculations
are not entirely accurate. For example, the second residual is 37.5 which can be considered large and
therefore prove the presence of inaccuracies.

Reflection

The primary aim of this report was to identify the relationship between the duration of exercise per
day and resting heart rate which was successfully achieved. In order to achieve the results I conducted
several mathematical calculations and methods of data analysis. The overall process of the
investigation was quite challenging, especially collecting data and conducting surveys. The
convenience sampling that was used for this investigation was generally effective, however, it limited
the reliability of the results because it did not consider representatives from all possible age groups.
Also, the results are not sufficient to the full extent because the number of samples was limited to 20
which is not enough data available to fully support the conclusion. To sum up, the investigation met
all expectations, the aim was satisfied, calculations are relatively correct and reliable, however,
limitations of methodology made calculations less reliable.