DOI of the published article https://doi.org/10.1016/j.psychsport.2023.102396
Rating of perceived effort but relative to what?
A comparison between imposed and self-selected anchors
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.51224/SRXIV.203Keywords:
Rating of perceived effort (RPE), maximal voluntary contraction (MVC), Anchoring procedureAbstract
Purpose: Collecting reliable and valid rating of perceived effort (RPE) data requires properly anchoring the scales’ upper limits (i.e., the meaning of 10 on a 0–10 scale). Yet, despite their importance, anchoring procedures remain understudied and theoretically underdeveloped. Here we propose a new task-based anchoring procedure that distinguishes between imposed and self-selected anchors. In the former, researchers impose on participants a specific task as the anchor; in the latter, participants choose the most effortful task experienced or imaginable as the anchor. We compared the impact of these conceptually different anchoring procedures on RPE. Methods: Twenty-five resistance-trained participants (13 females) attended a familiarization and two randomized experimental sessions. In both experimental sessions, participants performed non-fatiguing and fatiguing isometric maximal voluntary contraction (MVC) protocols with the squat followed by the gripper or vice versa. After each MVC, participants reported their RPE on a 0–10 scale relative to an imposed anchor of the performed task (e.g., gripper MVCs anchored to a gripper MVC) or to a self-selected anchor. Results: In the non-fatiguing condition, imposed anchors yielded greater RPEs than self-selected anchors for both the squat [on average, 9.4 vs. 5.5; Δ(CI95%)=3.9 (3.2, 4.5)] and gripper [9.4 vs. 3.9; Δ=5.5 (4.7, 6.3)]. Similar results were observed in the fatiguing condition for both the squat [9.7 vs. 6.9; Δ=2.8 (2.1, 3.5)] and gripper [9.7 vs. 4.5; Δ=5.2 (4.3, 5.9)]. Conclusions: We found large differences in RPE between the two anchors, independent of exercises and fatigue state. These findings provide a basis for further development and refinement of anchoring procedures and highlight the importance of selecting, justifying, and consistently applying the chosen anchors.
Metrics
References
Faulkner J, Eston R. Perceived Exertion Research in the 21st Century: Developments, Reflections and Questions for the Future. J Exerc Sci Fit. 2008;6(1):1-14.
Chen MJ, Fan X, Moe ST. Criterion-related validity of the Borg ratings of perceived exertion scale in healthy individuals: a meta-analysis. J Sports Sci. 2002;20(11):873–99.
Kasai D, Parfitt G, Tarca B, Eston R, Tsiros MD. The use of ratings of perceived exertion in children and adolescents: A scoping review. Sports Med. 2021;51(1):33–50.
Lea JWD, O’Driscoll JM, Hulbert S, Scales J, Wiles JD. Convergent Validity of Ratings of Perceived Exertion During Resistance Exercise in Healthy Participants: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis. Sports Med Open. 2022;8(1):1-19.
Borg G. Borg’s Perceived Exertion and Pain Scales. Champaign: Human Kinetics. 1998. p. 44-52.
Robertson RJ, Noble BN. Perception of physical exertion: methods, mediators, and applications. Exerc Sport Sci Rev. 1997;25(1):407-52.
Scherr J, Wolfarth B, Christle JW, Pressler A, Wagenpfeil S, Halle M. Associations between Borg’s rating of perceived exertion and physiological measures of exercise intensity. Eur J Appl Physiol. 2013;113(1):147–55.
Emanuel A, Rozen Smukas II, Halperin I. The effects of lifting lighter and heavier loads on subjective measures. Int J Sports Physiol Perform. 2020;16(2):176–83.
Schwartz H, Har-Nir I, Wenhoda T, Halperin I. Staying physically active during the COVID-19 quarantine: exploring the feasibility of live, online, group training sessions among older adults. Transl Behav Med. 2021;11(2):314–22.
Boxman-Zeevi Y, Schwartz H, Har-Nir I, Bordo N, Halperin I. Prescribing intensity in resistance training using rating of perceived effort: A randomized controlled trial. Front Physiol. 2022;13:891385.
Tiggemann CL, Pietta-Dias C, Schoenell MCW, et al. Rating of perceived exertion as a method to determine training loads in strength training in elderly women: A randomized controlled study. Int J Environ Res Public Health [Internet]. 2021;18(15):7892. doi:10.3390/ijerph18157892.
Buskard ANL, Jacobs KA, Eltoukhy MM, et al. Optimal approach to load progressions during strength training in older adults. Med Sci Sports Exerc. 2019;51(11):2224–33.
Parfitt G, Evans H, Eston R. Perceptually regulated training at RPE13 is pleasant and improves physical health. Med Sci Sports Exerc. 2012;44(8):1613–8.
Yu H, Sun C, Sun B, Chen X, Tan Z. Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of the Relationship between Actual Exercise Intensity and Rating of Perceived Exertion in the Overweight and Obese Population. Int J Environ Res Public Health [Internet]. 2021;18(24):12912. doi:10.3390/ijerph182412912.
van Waart H, Stuiver MM, van Harten WH, et al. Effect of Low-Intensity Physical Activity and Moderate- to High-Intensity Physical Exercise During Adjuvant Chemotherapy on Physical Fitness, Fatigue, and Chemotherapy Completion Rates: Results of the PACES Randomized Clinical Trial. J Clin Oncol. 2015;33(17):1918–27.
Zourdos MC, Klemp A, Dolan C, et al. Novel Resistance Training-Specific Rating of Perceived Exertion Scale Measuring Repetitions in Reserve. J Strength Cond Res. 2016;30(1):267–75.
Day ML, McGuigan MR, Brice G, Foster C. Monitoring exercise intensity during resistance training using the session RPE scale. J Strength Cond Res. 2004;18(2):353–8.
Abbiss CR, Peiffer JJ, Meeusen R, Skorski S. Role of Ratings of Perceived Exertion during Self-Paced Exercise: What are We Actually Measuring? Sports Med. 2015;45(9):1235–43.
Colado JC, Furtado GE, Teixeira AM, Flandez J, Naclerio F. Concurrent and Construct Validation of a New Scale for Rating Perceived Exertion during Elastic Resistance Training in The Elderly. J Sports Sci Med. 2020;19(1):175–86.
Gearhart RE, Goss FL, Lagally KM, Jakicic JM, Gallagher J, Robertson RJ. Standardized scaling procedures for rating perceived exertion during resistance exercise. J Strength Cond Res. 2001;15(3):320–5.
Halperin I, Emanuel A. Rating of perceived effort: methodological concerns and future directions. Sports Med. 2020;50(4):679–87.
Steele J. What is (perception of) effort? Objective and subjective effort during task performance. PsyArXiv [Internet]. 2020; doi:10.31234/osf.io/kbyhm.
Pageaux B. Perception of effort in Exercise Science: Definition, measurement and perspectives. Eur J Sport Sci. 2016;16(8):885–94.
Robertson R. Perceived Exertion for Practitioners: Rating Effort With the OMNI Picture System. 1st ed. Champaign: Human Kinetics; 2004. p. 26-27.
Lagally KM, Costigan EM. Anchoring procedures in reliability of ratings of perceived exertion during resistance exercise. Percept Mot Skills. 2004;98:1285–95.
Haile L, Gallagher M, J. Robertson R. Perceived exertion scaling procedures. Perceived exertion laboratory manual: from standard practice to contemporary application. Springer; 2015. p. 43–54.
Noble BJ, Robertson RJ. Perceived Exertion. Champaign: Human Kinetics. 1996; 78 p.
Gearhart RF, Becque MD, Hutchins MD, Palm CM. Comparison of memory and combined exercise and memory-anchoring procedures on ratings of perceived exertion during short duration, near-peak-intensity cycle ergometer exercise. Percept Mot Skills. 2004;99(3 Pt 1):775–84.
Gearhart RF. Ratings of perceived exertion and oxygen consumption during maximal, graded, treadmill exercise following different anchoring procedures. Eur J Sport Sci. 2008;8(1):35–40.
Lamb KL, Eaves SJ, Hartshorn JEO. The effect of experiential anchoring on the reproducibility of exercise regulation in adolescent children. J Sports Sci. 2004;22(2):159–65.
Pincivero DM, Lephart SM, Moyna NM, Karunakara RG, Robertson RJ. Neuromuscular activation and RPE in the quadriceps at low and high isometric intensities. Electromyogr Clin Neurophysiol. 1999;39(1):43–8.
Robertson RJ, Goss FL, Boer NF, et al. Children’s OMNI scale of perceived exertion: mixed gender and race validation. Med Sci Sports Exerc. 2000;32(2):452–8.
Robertson RJ, Goss FL, Dube J, et al. Validation of the adult OMNI scale of perceived exertion for cycle ergometer exercise. Med Sci Sports Exerc. 2004;36(1):102–8.
Pincivero DM, Coelho AJ, Campy RM. Perceived exertion and maximal quadriceps femoris muscle strength during dynamic knee extension exercise in young adult males and females. Eur J Appl Physiol. 2003;89(2):150–6.
Hollander DB, Durand RJ, Trynicki JL, et al. RPE, pain, and physiological adjustment to concentric and eccentric contractions. Med Sci Sports Exerc. 2003;35(6):1017–25.
Zamunér AR, Moreno MA, Camargo TM, et al. Assessment of Subjective Perceived Exertion at the Anaerobic Threshold with the Borg CR-10 Scale. J Sports Sci Med. 2011;10(1):130–6.
Hutchinson MJ, Kouwijzer I, de Groot S, Goosey-Tolfrey VL. Comparison of two Borg exertion scales for monitoring exercise intensity in able-bodied participants, and those with paraplegia and tetraplegia. Spinal Cord. 2021;59(11):1162–9.
Loenneke JP, Balapur A, Thrower AD, Barnes JT, Pujol TJ. The perceptual responses to occluded exercise. Int J Sports Med. 2011;32(3):181–4.
Naclerio F, Larumbe-Zabala E. Loading Intensity Prediction by Velocity and the OMNI-RES 0-10 Scale in Bench Press. J Strength Cond Res. 2017;31(2):323–9.
Simão R, Farinatti P de TV, Polito MD, Maior AS, Fleck SJ. Influence of exercise order on the number of repetitions performed and perceived exertion during resistance exercises. J Strength Cond Res. 2005;19(1):152–6.
Leyk D, Gorges W, Ridder D, et al. Hand-grip strength of young men, women and highly trained female athletes. Eur J Appl Physiol. 2007;99(4):415–21.
Günther CM, Bürger A, Rickert M, Crispin A, Schulz CU. Grip strength in healthy caucasian adults: reference values. J Hand Surg Am. 2008;33(4):558–65.
Brady CJ, Harrison AJ, Comyns TM. A review of the reliability of biomechanical variables produced during the isometric mid-thigh pull and isometric squat and the reporting of normative data. Sports Biomech. 2020;19(1):1–25.
Bates D, Mächler M, Bolker B, Walker S. Fitting linear mixed-effects models using lme4. J Stat Softw. 2015;67(1):1–48.
Searle SR, Speed FM, Milliken GA. Population marginal means in the linear model: an alternative to least squares means. Am Stat. 1980;34(4):216–21.
Pincivero DM, Gear WS. Quadriceps activation and perceived exertion during a high intensity, steady state contraction to failure. Muscle Nerve. 2000;23(4):514–20.
Lagally KM, Robertson RJ, Gallagher KI, Gearhart R, Goss FL. Ratings of perceived exertion during low- and high-intensity resistance exercise by young adults. Percept Mot Skills. 2002;94:723–31.
Zabala M, Peinado AB, Calderón FJ, Sampedro J, Castillo MJ, Benito PJ. Bicarbonate ingestion has no ergogenic effect on consecutive all out sprint tests in BMX elite cyclists. Eur J Appl Physiol. 2011;111(12):3127–34.
Hureau TJ, Ducrocq GP, Blain GM. Peripheral and Central Fatigue Development during All-Out Repeated Cycling Sprints. Med Sci Sports Exerc. 2016;48(3):391–401.
Wittekind AL, Micklewright D, Beneke R. Teleoanticipation in all-out short-duration cycling. Br J Sports Med. 2011;45(2):114–9.
Downloads
Posted
Versions
- 2023-01-26 (3)
- 2022-10-02 (2)
- 2022-09-30 (1)
Categories
License
Copyright (c) 2022 Tomer Malleron, Itai Har-Nir, Andrew D. Vigotsky, Israel Halperin
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
