Excel Project

Project

The Excel Project was about a research study on the effectiveness of a particular workout program being conducted by a large fitness center. 1000 participants of both genders and different age groups were part of the study. To assess the effectiveness of this particular workout the heart rate was measured at the start of the 15 minutes workout, at one minute intervals during workout, and at one minute intervals during the 5 minute cooldown phase after the workout was finished

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For the maximum cardiovascular benefit, it is important that the participants reach a particular target heart rate, which is a certain percentage number of their maximum heart rate. Therefore, it was examined whether the participants reached these target rates. Moreover, the owner required to be flexible to choose different target heart rates being based on different percentage numbers.

Another aspect the owner wantsed to investigate is the percentage by which the heart rate increased from the start of the workout program till the maximum heart rate was reached.

Graphic 1: "AvgIncrease" pivot table

Finally, in order to visualize the data and the results two Pivot charts had to be created as those make it much easier for the manager(s) of the fitness center to get an overview about the research study and its implications.

Skills

During the project I learned different skills. First, of all I had to learn how to apply the knowledge I gained in the previous week to a practical real-life example. So the transmission from comprehension to action had to be made. Furthermore, I learned how to create clear excel sheets that are user-friendly. I got to know how to adjust the size of columns and rows and how to make a print-out look good. In addition, I practiced using basic and more complicated functions like the if-function for example. Finally, by creating Pivot tables I learned how to easily prepare visual and clear tables to present the main points of a research study. 

All in all, the project helped me to learn how to upgrade basic Excel sheets, and to become more secure and efficient in handling Excel.

Graphic 1 by Nina Maria Scherl.