Transcript

HELEN:

So Tom is just finishing the second part of this experiment. He's been sitting down resting for around five minutes. Have you enjoyed your rest, Tom?

TOM:

Definitely. Thank you.

HELEN:

Excellent.

So as we saw when Tom was lying on the floor earlier on, when the five minutes are up, we need to measure his respiration rate and his pulse. And we need to repeat those measurements for one minute three times over so that we can find an average.

So let's just show you how we're going to take his pulse right now sitting down.

So Tom, can you find your pulse? Are you still alive?

TOM:

Take two fingers. Place it round about the thumb. And you will start feeling the pulse. Hopefully I'm still alive. And then press lightly. And then start counting as it's going through.

So I can feel the pulse, one, two, three, four... ...64, 65, 66.

I've counted them for a minute. And I write down my details. A 66 pulse rate in a minute in the table. And I've finished that part.

HELEN:

And then you're going to repeat that another two times, Tom.

TOM:

Yep.

HELEN:

Just so that we've got two more measurements.

So when you've measured your pulse rate three times, we then need to move on to measure your respiration rate.

So Tom, have you reset the stopwatch ready for a minute?

TOM:

I have, Hellen. Yeah.

HELEN:

Excellent. So Tom, over to you to explain your respiration measurement.

TOM:

Before I start the measurement I'm here counting my breath of the minute.

Also, I can't talk at the same time. As I start the timer, I will count the breaths.

HELEN:

So Tom is now counting in his head the breaths. It's a pretty difficult thing to do to count your breaths. So if somebody happens to be around, one of your children, your partner, a friend, sometimes it's really helpful that they're watching you, and counting how many times your chest is rising and falling as you do this.

Often when we think consciously about how much we're breathing, our breathing rate can speed up or slow down.

So Tom, that's the end of the minute. How many breaths did you count?

TOM:

30. I counted 30. So I can write that down into the table again now that I've finished it.

HELEN:

And now you're going to repeat that measurement again two more times.

TOM:

Indeed.

HELEN:

Excellent.

OK. And when you've done that, that's the second part of the experiment completed. So now we're going to move on to the exercise part of the experiment.