Variations of perceived exertion in relation to heart rate responses in an international level race walkers before a 50-km race

Introduction. The ability to accurately control and monitor exercise intensity (EI) during training sessions plays a key role in planning the athletic season. This can be achieved by means of rating of perceived exertion (RPE) (Borg, 1998) and heart rate (HR) (Achten and Jeukendrup, 2003). Over the years several RPE- and HR-based methods have been proposed to quantify global EI. However, to date no study has been conducted with regards to race walking (RW). Thus, this case study aimed to investigate the typical RPE and HR seasonal variations of an international level race walker training for a 50-km race and to examine the relationship between RPE and HR to further confirm the use of RPE to assess EI during RW-specific training. Methods. Training data were collected during the competitive season 2009 (127 training sessions) consisting of four macrocycles of intense training interspersed by one week of tapering before the Italian 50-km championship. The Borg’s 6-20 RPE scale (Borg, 1998) was used to measure the athlete perception of effort referred to the whole training session. HR was recorded using a short-range telemetry system and expressed relative to the maximum value (%HRmax) of the athlete determined during an incremental maximal test. The relationships between RPE and %HRmax were analysed using Pearson’s product moment correlation. Statistical significance was set at P < 0.05. Results. The athlete completed the event in 4h 14min 02s (personal best time, 39min 48s slower than the World Record). The mean RPE was 11.1 (1.6), 13.1 (1.3), 13.2 (1.5), 12.4 (1.3) and 11.4 (1.0), 13.5 (0.8), 12.7 (0.4), 12.0 (1.5) for the training and tapering period, respectively. The mean %HRmax was 83.7 (2.0), 85.3 (4.6), 84.8 (4.1), 85.7 (3.8) and 83.0 (0.7), 85.7 (4.5), 84.8 (1.6), 85.4 (2.5) % for the training and tapering period, respectively. The correlation between the mean RPE and %HRmax showed a very large significant relationship (r = 0.74, P = 0.04). Discussion. The result found indicates that a very large and significant relation exists between RPE and HR. This finding is in line with previous studies which showed how RPE is correlated with many physiological variables, such as HR (Chen et al., 2002), and provides evidence which confirms that RPE can be considered a simple and valid method for quantifying the global EI during RW-specific training. References Achten J, Jeukendrup AE. (2003). Sports Med, 33, 517-538 Borg G. (1998). Borg’s perceived exertion and pain scale. Human Kinetics, Champaign, IL Chen MJ, Fan X, Moe ST (2002). J Sports Sci, 20, 873-899.