Differentiated Ratings of Perceived Exertion and Selected Physiological Responses during Prolonged Upper and Lower Body Exercise

摘要

This study examined whether prolonged exercise employing upper or lower body muscle groups led to significant alterations in differentiated ratings of perceived exertion (diff RPE). Nine volunteer males performed 60 min of arm crank (AC) and cycle (CY) exercise at similar absolute (ABS) and at similar relative (REL) exercise intensities. There were no significant differences (P > 0.05) between AC and CY for oxygen uptake (VO2) during the ABS tests (about 1.60 1/min) or in percent ergometer specific peak VO2 during the REL tests (about 60%). Diff RPE included local RPE (muscle and joint exertion), central RPE (ventilatory and circulatory exertion), and overall RPE. During the ABS tests, the final means for all three diff RPE were lower (P < 0.05) for CY than AC exercise. No differences (P > 0.05) were found during the REL tests between AC and CY exercise for any of the diff RPE. Local RPE was generally higher than central RPE. Selected physiological responses accounted for more total variance in all diff RPE for AC than CY exercise. These data indicate that diff RPE may be more closely related to relative exercise intensity, and perceptual cues may be more readily monitored from smaller muscle masses such as the upper body.