The present master's thesis aimed was investigate the changes in heart rate during climbing activities of different routes in the Geoss Advanture Park. In particular, we aimd to determine: (i) the impact of the requirements of each route on individuals heart rate responses (ii) whether the difficulty of the routes influences heart rate responses, and (iii) whether such form of recreation might be an effective strategy to maintain a healthy lifestyle.
Adventure parks are an increasingly popular form of recreaton. There are quite a few Adventure parks in Slovenia. The largest of them is Geoss Adventure Park. In the present study we tested 20 adults and 20 children of both sexes (parents and children). Heart rate measurements were continuously performed using Polar M400 sports watch. In line with the parks system all participants underwent the three routes in the same order from the easiest to the hardest.
Our data show that Heart rate responses gradually increases with incresing route difficulty. In absolute term, the heart rate responses of adults were significantly lower that that of children on all three routes. The obtained result do, however, indicate that climbing in the adventure parks does induce a significant metabolic demand (as reflected in significanly augmented heart rates) and thus represents a viable and atractive means for augmenting physical activity and inducing beneficial health adaptations.
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