1. Scaling Perceived Exertion

2. Psychophysiolgoy
Relationship between physical stimuli & perceptual responses
Relationship between body & mind

3. Exertional Mediators: Physiological
Respiratory / metabolic
Ventilatory
Peripheral
Acidosis
Non specific
Hormones

4. Exertional Mediators: Psychological
Emotion & mood
Cognitive function
Perceptual processes
Social or situational

5. Modern Approaches Direct assessment Scale sensations
Study sensory response
Scale sensations
Magnitude estimates of perceived exertion
Interindividual comparisons not possible
Catergory scaling
Interindividual comparisons

6. Borg (1961) 21-pt 1 2 3 Extremely light 4 5 Very light 6 7 Light 81 2
Extremely light 4
Very light 6
Light 8
Rather light 10
Neither light or laborious 12
Rather laborious 14
Laborious 16
Very laborious 18
Extremely laborious 20

7. 21 – pt Studies
Borg 1961: n = 12
Cycling at 100, 300, 900, 1200kpm/min
RPE not linear with HR or Power
Borg, Dahlstrom 1962: n = 28 (14 & 15)
Linear relationship with HR, PO
Borg, Linderholm 1967: n = 61 males (18 to 79)
HR declined with age at all Powers,
RPE equal or increased with age

8. Borg (1971) – 15 pt 6 7 Very, very light 8 9 Very light 10
11 Fairly light 12
13 Somewhat hard 14
15 Hard 16
17 Very hard 18
19 Very, very hard 20

9. Borg (1985) – 15 pt 6 No exertion at all 7 Extremely light 8
Very light 10
11 Light 12
13 Somewhat hard 14
15 Hard (heavy) 16
Very hard 18
19 Very, very hard
20 Maximal exertion

10. 15 – pt Studies
Borg (1971): Linear relationship between HR, Power and RPE
Noble et al. (1986): RPE is dependent on mode of exercise

11. Borg (1983) 10 - pt 0 Nothing at all 0.3
Extremely weak (just noticeable)
Very weak
1.5
Weak (light)
2.5
Moderate 4
Strong (heavy) 6
Very strong 8 9
Extremely strong
Maximal

12. 10 – pt Studies
Noble et al. 1983
Blood lactate and RPE increase similarly with quadratic trend
Muscle lactate increased with a cubic trend
HR increased linearly

13. Omni Scale Artist drew pictures: represent physical exertional state.
Stimulus given to subjects verbal description of made
6 verbal cues collected for adults (easy and hard) and 6 for children (tired).
Pictures & cues placed at equal intervals in 0 to 10.

14. Omni Adult Walking

15. Omni Adult Cycling

16. Uses of RPE

17. Perceptually Regulated Exercise Prescription
To define the cardio respiratory training zone
Regulate training intensity
Estimation – production paradigm
Production only paradigm

18. Perceptual Estimation-Production Prescription
RPE linked to clinical events during GXT
Two stage process:
ID target RPE estimated during a GXT
RPE is then produced during exercise

19. RPE Estimation RPE taken at GXT stages Max VO2 identified
E.g 70 & 85% max identified
Training RPE identified

20. RPE Production Client titrates exercise intensity
Related to high/low intensities on GXT
Overload is ‘natural’

21. Perceptual Production-Only Prescription
Recommended for normal subjects only
Identify ‘known’ intenstiy for benefit
CV training
Weight loss
Good evidence base for AnT
12 – 14
50 – 80%max

22. Examples of Other Scales
Clinical Subscales

23. The Angina Scale 1+ Light, barely noticeable 2+ Moderate, bothersome
3+ Severe, very uncomfortable
4+ Most severe pain ever experienced in the past

24. Gagge, Stolwijk, Hardy ACSM (1986) Comfortable sensation (1967)
2 Slightly uncomfortable
3 Uncomfortable
4 Very uncomfortable

25. Clinical Guidelines & applications

26. Classification of PA intensity Pollock et al. 1990 / ACSM 1995
Relative Intensity
Intensity
%VO2max
%HRmax
RPE
Very light
<30
<35
<10
Light
30-49
35-59
10 to 11
Moderate
50-74
60-79
12 to 13
Heavy
75-84
80-89
14 to 16
Very heavy
>85
>90
>16

27. RPE for Rehabilitation Borg 1998
Exercise should be started at 9 to 11
After a while progress to 13
When exercise is hard :15
it is too hard!!!

28. RPE for Cardiac patients Phase IV (BACR 2006)
Use of RPE during GXT
Use of RPE during the exercise sessions
Use of RPE at home-based activity in a recorded log:
frequency, duration, intensity, self monitoring of pulse rate
Warm-up at RPE 10 to 11 (that is “light”)
Main exercise program at RPE 12 to 15 (that is “somewhat hard” to “hard”)
In neuropathy use of RPE is recommended

29. RPE for Cardiac patients Phase IV (BACR 2006)
It is important not to rely on any single indicator of exertion levels, such as RPE or pulse rate.
Participants signs and symptoms responding appropriately to the activity:
Excessive breathlessness
Loss of quality of movement
Skin colour sweat rate

30. Clinical applications of RPE (ACSM 1997)
Disease
6-20 scale
OMNI scale
Myocardial infarction
11 to 16
4 to 7
CABG or PTCA
12 to 14
5 to 6
Valvular heart disease
11 to 14
Congestive heart failure
Cardiac transplant
Hypertension
11 to 13
4 to 5
Pulmonary disease

31. Task
What is the problem with exercise intensity and b-blockade?