Abstract
The rating of perceived exertion (RPE) can be used to monitor the exercise intensity during laboratory and specific tests, training sessions, and to estimate the internal training load of the athletes. The aim of the present study was to develop and validate a specific pictorial perceived exertion scale for soccer players (indoor, field, and beach soccer) called GOAL Scale. The pictorial GOAL Scale (six drawings; 1 “low exertion” to 6 “exhaustion”) was validated for twenty under-17 soccer players (16.4 ± 0.68 years; 175.4 ± 9 cm; 66.4 ± 7.7 kg; % fat mass 12.4 ± 3.3). In the validation phase, the athletes were evaluated in a progressive protocol involving stimuluses of 3 min with 1 min for the rest into the stages until the voluntary exhaustion in Maximal Cardiopulmonary Effort Test (MCET), and in the Yo Yo Intermittent Recovery Test – Level 1 (Yo-Yo). The RPE identified by the GOL Scale, by the Borg Scale 6 – 20 and by the Cavasini Scale, as well as the heart rate (HR), perceptual of the heart rate (%HRmax) and the blood lactate concentration ([La]) were immediately evaluated after each stage of both tests. Spearman’s correlation coefficient (p < 0.05) was used. Construct scale validity was examined by regressing GOAL Scale against Borg Scale 6 – 20 and Cavasini Scale and concurrent scale validity was investigated by regressing GOAL Scale against HR, beats/min and blood lactate concentration (mmol/L) during two progressive tests. There was a significant correlation values of the GOAL Scale with Borg Scale (r = 0.93; r = 0.88), Cavasini Scale (r = 0.91; r = 0.90), %HRmax (r = 0.91; r = 0,86), HR (r = 0.87; r = 0.83) and lactate (r = 0.68; r = 0.83) during tests (Maximal Incremental Cardiopulmonary Test and Yo-Yo test, respectively). The results evidenced concurrent and construct validity of the GOAL Scale across a wide range of exercise intensity. The absence of verbal anchors makes the use of this instrument to soccer, futsal and beach soccer athletes of different languages and different literacy levels possible.
Highlights
The sports performance has been studied for researchers of different areas, once the systematic planning of athlete training programs is supposed to integrate physiological, biomechanical, nutritional, psychological and social dimensions (Mujika et al, 2018).From the physical perspective, the increase of athlete’s performance of different sports, including futsal, beach soccer, and field soccer athletes shows a straight relationship with the proper control of the training units, including volume, intensity, and density of training (Veugelers et al, 2016; Ribeiro et al, 2020)
These parameters can be analyzed by the physiological variables such as the oxygen consumption (VO2), the heart rate (HR), the ventilator anaerobic thresholds, blood lactate concentration (Bellotti et al, 2013), and by psychophysiological variables such as the ratings of perceived exertion (RPE) (Borg, 1962), the total quality recovery (McGuigan, 2017), Hooper index (Hooper and Mackinnon, 1995), and the questionnaire of training load evaluation in soccer (Rebelo et al, 2012)
The objectives of the present research were: (1) to elaborate a specific pictorial scale of the perceived exertion for soccer athletes called GOAL Scale; (2) to explore the association between the GOAL Scale and physiological indicators; (3) to explore the association between the GOAL Scale and the other constructs already validated for the RPE measurement (Borg RPE 6–20 and Cavasini Scale)
Summary
The sports performance has been studied for researchers of different areas, once the systematic planning of athlete training programs is supposed to integrate physiological, biomechanical, nutritional, psychological and social dimensions (Mujika et al, 2018).From the physical perspective, the increase of athlete’s performance of different sports, including futsal, beach soccer, and field soccer athletes shows a straight relationship with the proper control of the training units, including volume, intensity, and density of training (relation between total volume and session time) (Veugelers et al, 2016; Ribeiro et al, 2020). The measure of the parameters which indicate the intensity of effort in which the athletes are submitted during the routine of training is necessary These parameters can be analyzed by the physiological variables such as the oxygen consumption (VO2), the heart rate (HR), the ventilator anaerobic thresholds, blood lactate concentration (Bellotti et al, 2013), and by psychophysiological variables such as the ratings of perceived exertion (RPE) (Borg, 1962), the total quality recovery (McGuigan, 2017), Hooper index (Hooper and Mackinnon, 1995), and the questionnaire of training load evaluation in soccer (Rebelo et al, 2012). According to Impellizzeri et al (2005) the RPE is a variable frequently used in the soccer as well, as it makes it possible for coaches and physical trainers to evaluate the intensity of the exercises exerted in a training session
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