Does the Timing of Measurement Alter Session-RPE in Boxers?

Marco C Uchida; Luis F M Teixeira; Vladmir J Godoi; Paulo H Marchetti; Marcelo Conte; Aaron J Coutts; Reury F P Bacurau

Does the Timing of Measurement Alter Session-RPE in Boxers?

J Sports Sci Med. 2014 Jan 20;13(1):59-65. eCollection 2014 Jan.

Authors

Marco C Uchida¹, Luis F M Teixeira², Vladmir J Godoi³, Paulo H Marchetti⁴, Marcelo Conte⁵, Aaron J Coutts⁶, Reury F P Bacurau⁷

Affiliations

¹ Faculty of Physical Education, State University of Campinas , Campinas, Brazil.
² Faculty of Physical Education - UNIFIEO , Osasco, Brazil.
³ Faculty of Physical Education, Anhanguera Educational , Sorocaba, Brazil.
⁴ Methodist University of Piracicaba , Piracicaba, Brazil ; Faculty of Physical Education, YMCA , Sorocaba, Brazil.
⁵ Faculty of Physical Education, Anhanguera Educational , Sorocaba, Brazil ; School of Physical Education of Jundiaí , Jundiaí, Brazil.
⁶ Faculty of Health, University of Technology Sydney , Sydney, Australia.
⁷ School of Arts, Sciences and Humanities, University of São Paulo , São Paulo, Brazil.

PMID: 24570606
PMCID: PMC3918568

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to compare the influence of measuring the overall session rating of perceived exertion (session-RPE) at 10 vs. 30 minutes following exercise. Eight boxers completed three different standardized training sessions of different intensities (easy, moderate and hard) in a matchedpairs, randomized research design. Exercise intensity was assessed during each bout by measuring heart rate, blood lactate concentration and session-RPE. To assess the effect of measurement timing on session-RPE, RPE data were collected either 10 or 30 minutes post-exercise. There was no significant effect of measurement time on session-RPE values following easy (10 minutes: session-RPE = 1.3 ± 1.0 Arbitrary Unit (AU), %Heart Rate Reserve (HRR) = 49.5 ± 11.1, and ∆Blood lactate = -2.3 ± 16.3%; 30 minutes: session-RPE = 1.7 ± 1.0 AU, %HRR = 51.3 ± 10.8, and ∆Blood lactate = 0.7 ± 25.2%), moderate (10 minutes: session-RPE = 2.7 ± 1.6 AU, %HRR = 67.2 ± 10.8, and ∆Blood lactate = 2.2 ± 19%; 30 minutes: session-RPE = 2.5 ± 0.9 AU, %HRR = 67.2 ± 5.9, and ∆Blood lactate = 24.5 ± 17.1%) and hard (10 minutes: session-RPE = 5.7 ± 1.0 AU, %HRR = 88.1 ± 6.3, and ∆Blood lactate = 146.3 ± 87.9%; 30 minutes: session-RPE = 5.8 ± 1.9 AU, %HRR> = 83.3 ± 8.0, and ∆Blood lactate = 91.6 ± 39%) sessions. In conclusion, our findings suggest that session-RPE can be used in boxing training routines across a range of intensities and accurate measurements can be determined as early as 10 minutes after exercise. Key PointsIt is difficult to quantify and monitoring the external training load in martial arts (e.g. Aikido, Kung Fu, Judo) and physical combat sports (e.g. Boxing, Muay Thai), session RPE method appears to be a reliable method to quantifying training load in those sports.For many athletes it is impractical to wait 30 minutes after training session to provide a session-RPE. The present findings show that collecting ses-sion-RPE measures at 10 min following exercise ses-sions of various intensities (i.e. easy, moderate, and hard) provide similar values as if taken 30 min fol-lowing the session.Our data have significant practical benefit and fur-ther support the practical usefulness of session-RPE for measuring internal training load in sport.

Keywords: boxing; combat sports; exercise intensities; internal load; lactate; perceived exertion.