THE USE OF RATINGS OF PERCEIVED EXERTION (RPE) TO ESTIMATE FIXED BLOOD LACTATE CONCENTRATIONS DURING INCREMENTAL CYCLE ERGOMETER EXERCISE1230

The aim of this study was to examine differences in the ability of high active (HA) and low active (LA) individuals to utilise RPE to accurately estimate exercise intensities corresponding to 2.0, 2.5 and 4.0mM blood lactate concentration. Subjects (n=20) were matched for age, body mass and gender, placed into experimental groups based on regular physical activity levels, and completed a continuous incremental cycle ergometer protocol consisting of 4 minute stages. At the completion of each workload, heart rate, blood lactate, central, local and overall RPE (Borg 15 point scale) were recorded. ANOVA revealed that despite significant differences between the 2 experimental groups for heart rate (HA=156.4±2.4 BPM, LA=142.9±2.93 BPM, p<0.05)) no significant difference existed for overall RPE (HA=15.77±0.4, LA=14.08±0.5) at exercise intensities corresponding to 4.0mM blood lactate condition. There was a consistent yet non significant difference between groups for local RPE and a significant difference for central RPE corresponding to 4.0mM blood lactate. The data suggests that there is a difference between high and low active individuals for RPE values corresponding to given blood lactate concentrations. These differences may be related to relative exercise intensity corresponding to given blood lactate concentrations.