The Reliability of a Pain-Based Pacing Strategy during Cycle Ergometry

Abstract

The intensity of aerobic exercise is typically prescribed as a percent of V†O2 peak and/or heart-rate reserve or VO2 reserve. Perceptions of muscle pain increase as a function of exercise intensity, contribute to perceptions of effort, and may provide an important source of intensity-related information to athletes. In addition, it has been hypothesized that for populations with pathological conditions, such as peripheral vascular disease (PVD), muscle pain is more salient than other perceptions of effort. PURPOSE: To determine the reliability of cycling performance using a pain-based pacing strategy. METHODS: Eleven college-aged males performed 3 bouts of submaximal exercise on a cycle ergometer on separate days. Each bout consisted of a 5 minute warm-up at 50 watts, a 3 minute transition period, and 15 minutes of self-paced exercise. Following the transition period, subjects were instructed to cycle at an intensity that elicited a moderate level of pain in the quadriceps (a “3” on a 0 to 10 pain scale) and to maintain that pain level for the remaining 15-min of the test. Participants were blinded to ergometer power output, but were allowed to freely adjust power output in order to maintain quadriceps pain at a “3”. Distance, power output, V†O2, heart rate, and RPE were recorded every 3 minutes. Reliability was assessed using an intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC) and a repeated-measures ANOVA was used evaluate means among the 3 testing bouts. RESULTS: No significant differences were observed between bouts for any dependent variable (p≥0.05). Distance cycled (0.979), power output (0.946), V†O2 (0.914), heart rate (0.86) and RPE (0.86) all exhibited high day-to-day reliability. CONCLUSIONS: Pain-based pacing leads to reliable exercise performance during cycle ergometry. The use of pain-based pacing in clinical populations such as PVD and those with chronic pain conditions could help the development of more efficacious exercise programs in clinical population who may be limited by pain.