Heart rate and blood pressure monitoring during physical activity and exercise allow early diagnosis of cardiovascular disease (CVD) and obesity. Plethysmography(PPG) has become popular worldwide for personal health monitoring systems. However, the accuracy of this technology in monitoring heart rate and blood pressure during activity is poorer than at rest. It limits their application. In this study, the performance of the wearable sensor and arm cuff blood pressure meter in measuring heart rate and blood pressure on the left arm is compared. Five healthy volunteers conducted the same exercise protocols, i.e., at rest, jump rope, treadmill walking, running (long run) and sprinting (short-run). The wearable sensor shows a mean absolute percentage error in 6.08 and Pearson coefficient in 0.61. Besides, the lowest range of 95 limit of agreement for diastolic blood pressure during treadmill run was found at 30.50. © 2020 IOP Publishing Ltd. All rights reserved.