RELATIONSHIPS AMONG HEART-RATE, LACTATE CONCENTRATION, AND PERCEIVED EFFORT FOR DIFFERENT TYPES OF RHYTHMIC EXERCISE IN WOMEN

Objective: Exercise training intensity for aerobic conditioning is typ ically established by heart rate (HR), oxygen uptake, or rating of per ceived exertion (RPE). Recent research, however, suggests that the opt imal training intensity may be more appropriately established from mea surements of blood lactate concentration ([La]), This study examined t he relationships among three of these training intensity variables-HR, RPE, and [La]-for six modes of rhythmic exercise. Design: Ten healthy women subjects underwent a 4-week habituation period to become famili ar with the RPE scale and exercise on a treadmill, cycle ergometer, ro wing ergometer, Airdyne, stairstepper, and cross-country skiing simula tor. Following habituation, each subject underwent graded discontinuou s exercise testing on each mode. HR was measured during the last minut e of each 4-minute stage. Immediately after each stage, RPE was reques ted and blood was collected for analysis of [La]. Data were analyzed w ith repeated measures ANOVA. Results: For given RPE values, the treadm ill induced higher (p <.05) HR values compared with the cycle and rowi ng ergometers, and the cycle ergometer induced lower (p <.05) HR value s compared with the treadmill, Airdyne, stairstepper, and cross-countr y skiing simulator. The relationships of [La] with RPE were similar am ong modes except for the crosscountry skiing simulator, which induced a lower (p <.05) [La] for a given RPE. Conclusions: Since the relation ships of HR and [La] with RPE are not the same for all forms of rhythm ic exercise that use a large muscle mass, we conclude that mode specif icity should be considered when prescribing aerobic exercise.