ACCURACY OF SELF-REPORTED HEART RATE AT ASSESSING EXERCISE HEART RATE DURING AEROBIC DANCE 1247

Abstract

Heart rate (HR) obtained via manual palpation is often used to monitor and adjust exercise intensity during aerobic dance (AD). Yet, little data exists evaluating the accuracy of palpated HR during this type of exercise. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to determine the accuracy of self-reported heart rates at assessing exercise HR during AD. Forty-five females aged 18-25 yrs ([horizontal bar over]x=20.9±1.7) volunteered to participate in an aerobic dance class while HR was obtained via manual palpation of the radial artery (Self-HR) and a heart rate monitor (Polar-HR) at predetermined intervals. Self-HR was recorded for 6, 10, and 15 seconds, with the recording period randomly assigned. Ratings of perceived exertion(RPE) using Borg's scale (6-20) were also recorded at each assessment period. Results indicated no significant difference between Self-HR and Polar-HR for the 6-second pulse count. However, significant differences in HR were noted for 10 and 15-second pulse counts as shown in Table 1. Results also indicated that periodically taken Polar-HR (162.2, 163.2, 164.3) and RPE (13.5, 13.9, 13.8) measurements were not significantly different from average exercise HR (160.7±14.2) and post-exercise RPE(14.2±2.3) values. Based on the results of this study, it was concluded that 1)College-aged females participating in AD may be better able to assess exercise HR using a shorter counting period, such as the 6-second pulse count and 2)Intermittent Polar-HR and RPE measurements can provide a good indication of the overall exercise intensity of an AD class.