Perceived exertion related to heart rate and blood lactate during arm and leg exercise

Abstract

To compare some psychophysiological responses to arm exercise with those to leg exercise, an experiment was carried out on electronically braked bicycle ergometers, one being adapted for arm exercise. Eight healthy males took part in the experiment with stepwise increases in exercise intensity every 4 min: 40-70-100-150-200 W in cycling and 20-35-50-70-100 W in arm cranking. Towards the end of each 4 min period, ratings of perceived exertion were obtained on the RPE scale and on a new category ratio (CR) scale:heart rate (HR) and blood lactate accumulation (BL) were also measured. The responses obtained were about twice as high or more for arm cranking than for cycling. The biggest difference was found for BL and the smallest for HR and RPE. The incremental functions were similar in both activities, with approximately linear increases in HR and RPE and positively accelerating functions for CR (exponents about 1.9) and BL (exponents 2.5 and 3.3 respectively). When perceived exertion (according to the CR scale) was set as the dependent variable and a simple combination of HR and BL was used as the independent variable, a linear relationship was obtained for both kinds of exercise, as has previously been found in cycling, running, and walking. The results thus give support for the following generalization: For exercise of a steady state type with increasing loads the incremental curve for perceived exertion can be predicted from a simple combination of HR and BL.

Validity and reliability of the session RPE method for monitoring exercise training intensity

“…As such, we interpret the present data as supporting the validity of the Session RPE method as an alternative method of monitoring exercise training. The present data are comparable with previous studies 2,3,19,20,22 which have shown RPE to be a valid and reliable measure of momentary exercise intensity. We chose not to measure blood lactate responses during either incremental or constant intensity exercise, which is the other widely accepted objective method of measuring exercise intensity.…”

“…2,3,19,20,22 At that time, limited objective data were presented in support of the validity of the technique, on the basis of both heart rate (HR) and blood lactate responses. In the subsequent decade, several papers have used the Session RPE method in a variety of settings and have demonstrated its value relative to quantifying exercise training intensities 4,7,8,9,16,17,23 and as the intensity component of larger schemes of evaluating training programmes.…”

Reabilitação cardiovascular de portadores de cardiopatia isquêmica submetidos a tratamento clínico, angioplastia coronariana transluminal percutânea e revascularização cirúrgica do miocárdio

“…Based on the maximum heart rates observed in the exercise test, the target zone was calculated at between 60 and 80% of the maximum heart rate for aerobic exercises. For exercise intensity control, the Borg rating of perceived exertion scale 13 was used in addition to the target heart rate and the patients were advised to exercise with mild to moderate intensity, corresponding to levels 11 to 13 of the scale, so that they would remain only mildly breathless. The aerobic component of the physical conditioning sessions was supplemented by warm-up, stretching and cool-down activities.…”

Diretrizes

“…Alterações da musculatura esquelética incluem acúmulo de lactato em cargas baixas, redução do tamanho mitocondrial e capacidade oxidativa, atrofia de fibras tipo I, apoptose e respostas metabólicas inapropriadas 613 . Nesses pacientes, o treinamento físico aumenta a capacidade funcional máxima e submáxima, e a magnitude deste aumento é similar e adicional àquela obtida com terapia farmacológica.…”