Are Heart Rate and Rating of Perceived Exertion Effective to Control Indoor Cycling Intensity?

Rafael Peixoto,Fredric Goss,Hélio Furtado,Tiago Moreira,Victor Machado Reis,Nuno Garrido,José Vilaça-Alves,Rui Canário-Lemos

doi:10.3390/ijerph17134824

Abstract

Indoor cycling’s popularity is related to the combination of music and exercise leading to higher levels of exercise intensity. It was our objective to determine the efficacy of heart rate and rating of perceived exertion in controlling the intensity of indoor cycling classes and to quantify their association with oxygen uptake. Twelve experienced males performed three indoor cycling sessions of 45 min that differed in the way the intensity was controlled: (i) oxygen uptake; (ii) heart rate; and (iii) rating of perceived exertion using the OMNI-Cycling. The oxygen uptake levels were significantly higher (p = 0.007; μp2 = 0.254) in oxygen uptake than heart rate sessions. Oxygen uptake related to body mass was significantly higher (p < 0.005) in the oxygen uptake sessions compared with other sessions. Strong correlations were observed between oxygen uptake mean in the oxygen uptake and rating of perceived exertion sessions (r =0.986, p < 0.0001) and between oxygen uptake mean in the oxygen uptake and heart rate sessions (r = 0.977, p < 0.0001). Both heart rate and rating of perceived exertion are effective in controlling the intensity of indoor cycling classes in experienced subjects. However, the use of rating of perceived exertion is easier to use and does not require special instrumentation.

Highlights

The practice of indoor cycling (IC) is a very common group activity in gyms and health clubs.One of the goals of the practice of IC is to improve some parameters, for example, body composition, a decrease in body mass, in fat free mass, an improvement in muscle mass, a decrease in body perimeter, a decrease in resting heart rate (HR), and an improvement in oxygen uptake (VO2 )
Higher levels of VO2 rel were observed in the VO2 session compared with the HR session and the rate of perceived exertion (RPE) session (p = 0.001 and p = 0.04, respectively)
The present results suggest RPE and HR self-regulate exercise intensity during an intensive interval method with trained subjects: both methods (HR and RPE) resulted in VO2 that was lower than in the VO2 session

Summary

Introduction

The practice of indoor cycling (IC) is a very common group activity in gyms and health clubs.One of the goals of the practice of IC is to improve some parameters, for example, body composition, a decrease in body mass, in fat free mass, an improvement in muscle mass, a decrease in body perimeter (ex. calf, thigh, abdominal, chest, and arm size), a decrease in resting heart rate (HR), and an improvement in oxygen uptake (VO2 ). The practice of indoor cycling (IC) is a very common group activity in gyms and health clubs. One of the goals of the practice of IC is to improve some parameters, for example, body composition, a decrease in body mass, in fat free mass, an improvement in muscle mass, a decrease in body perimeter In order to maximize the benefits and minimize the risks, controlling intensity in IC classes is very important. In these classes, intensity control can be carried out through heart rate (% of maximum or reserve), metabolic equivalents, oxygen uptake, power output, and rate of perceived exertion (RPE) [1]. Besides the variations of the intensity of the exercise [4,5], there are multiple factors that can

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