Day #1 of heart research study

Today is the first day of the uOttawa heart rate research project. I went in early and they attached five EKG pads to my chest that connect to a recording box (Holter Monitor) which will record an electrocardiogram of my heart for 48 hours. An ECG for a normal heart look like this with the typical PQRST pattern of the heart wave.

I did a bit of quick math and they will have 172,800 data point at the end of research. They gave me replacement pads to user after taking a shower. Once the research is over I am hoping to post a graph of my daily hourly average heart rate. It is currently a mystery to me what it might look like. I know it will be very low when sleeping but during the day it is anybodies guess as to what my daily average heart is. Before I left the lab they did a check and were surprised that my resting heart rate is 50 beats per minute. This suggests that I'm in relatively good fitness. Rachel, a MSc student, is hoping to use the data to help doctors better prescribe exercise programs to weight-challenged individuals semi-fit and fit patients.

Tomorrow we have more fun as I get to jump on a treadmill and run as fast as I can before sliding off the back of the treadmill. In the tests I've done in the past they have a student at the end the treadmill to catch you from flying off and hitting the wall.