When he heard the splash, Dan thought a hungry crocodile was approaching. Like a knee-jerk reflex he demonstrated what s known as the fight or flight response. The fight or flight response is an automatic and adaptive reaction many animals have to danger. Acting beyond his control, Dan s body responded to the stress of a frightening situation. Together, this reaction leaves you breathless, with a pounding thud in your chest, and sometimes even wet pants.
Stress is just one of several factors that increase the pulse rate.
During exercise, the body tries to get more oxygen to the muscles. Getting more oxygen to muscles means that the heart has to work overtime. When your heart works hard, you have a rapid pulse and your heart pumps more blood with each beat. In physically fit, chapati-fueled, endurance athletes like us, the actual heart size also increases. Thus, you can say we are a big-hearted team.