Jogging up a few flights of stairs or chasing your kids around the backyard can easily cause your heart rate and respiration to increase. In these types of situations, heart rate and respiration changes are typically harmless and often correct themselves with a few minutes of rest.

Using a heart rate monitor while on the treadmill is an effective way to improve the quality of your workout. Whether your goal is to lose weight or improve your aerobic endurance, a heart rate monitor gives you accurate information regarding the effect of exercise on your heart.

When a pregnant woman experiences bradycardia, or slow heart rate, it can have negative consequences for her health and that of her unborn child. Fortunately, access to pregnancy health care can often prevent and even resolve any medical issues related to slow maternal heart rate.

Your resting heart rate is how many times your heart beats in a minute while your body is completely at rest. Your beats per minute will increase as soon as your body becomes active. To strengthen your heart, you need to regularly engage in activities that raise your heart rate for an extended period of time.

A heavy heart rate, bounding heart or a rapid heart rate is a serious medical concern. Minimal exertion can sometimes cause a heavy heart rate when you are suffering from an underlying medical condition.

Your heart rate can be affected by your emotional state, physical activity and the foods you eat and drink. You may notice that after drinking a cup of coffee or eating certain foods, your heart begins to beat more rapidly. Keep a record of these instances.

The normal resting heart rate for a one-to-three-year-old is 70 to 110 beats per minute, according to the Kids Health website. Doctors consider a heart rate higher than 110 beats per minute to be elevated.

Maximum heart rate is the highest heart rate you reach during exercise. According to the Mayo Clinic, the maximum pregnancy heart rate recommended by the American Congress of Obstetricians and Gynecologists was once 140 beats per minute. As of November 2010, however, ACOG does not outline specific heart-rate numbers.

If you feel as though your get-up-and-go got up and went, or find yourself winded with little effort and your heart racing during light activity, this could be due to a number factors which influence fatigue and energy levels.

While regularly giving your heart a workout helps it work more efficiently, working your heart too hard can be dangerous and can result in chest pain, lightheadedness, shortness of breath and even heart palpitations, according to the American Heart Association.

Your body responds to everything you do to it. For example, raising your arms may cause a noticeable drop in heart rate even in perfectly healthy individuals. A decrease in heart rate when raising your arms is a normal response to change in venous return. Normal cardiac physiology is responsible for this phenomenon.

Posture is the position in which you hold your body upright against gravity while standing, sitting or lying down, according to the Cleveland Clinic. Heart rate is the measurement of the number of times your heart contracts or beats in one minute. Your posture has an effect on your heart rate.