Published in:
01-06-2014 | Original Article
Prediction of peak oxygen uptake from differentiated ratings of perceived exertion during wheelchair propulsion in trained wheelchair sportspersons
Published in: European Journal of Applied Physiology | Issue 6/2014
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Purpose
To assess the validity of predicting peak oxygen uptake (\( {\dot{\text{V}}}{\text{O}}_{{\text{2peak}}}\)) from differentiated ratings of perceived exertion (RPE) obtained during submaximal wheelchair propulsion.
Methods
Three subgroups of elite male wheelchair athletes [nine tetraplegics (TETRA), nine paraplegics (PARA), eight athletes without spinal cord injury (NON-SCI)] performed an incremental speed exercise test followed by graded exercise to exhaustion (\( {\dot{\text{V}}}{\text{O}}_{{\text{2peak}}}\) test). Oxygen uptake (\( {\dot{\text{V}}}{\text{O}}_2\)), heart rate (HR) and differentiated RPE (Central RPEC, Peripheral RPEP and Overall RPEO) were obtained for each stage. The regression lines for the perceptual ranges 9–15 on the Borg 6–20 scale ratings were performed to predict \( {\dot{\text{V}}}{\text{O}}_{{\text{2peak}}}\).
Results
There were no significant within-group mean differences between measured \( {\dot{\text{V}}}{\text{O}}_{{\text{2peak}}}\) (mean 1.50 ± 0.39, 2.74 ± 0.48, 3.75 ± 0.33 L min−1 for TETRA, PARA and NON-SCI, respectively) and predicted \( {\dot{\text{V}}}{\text{O}}_{{\text{2peak}}}\) determined using HR or differentiated RPEs for any group (P > 0.05). However, the coefficients of variation (CV %) between measured and predicted \( {\dot{\text{V}}}{\text{O}}_{{\text{2peak}}}\) using HR showed high variability for all groups (14.3, 15.9 and 9.7 %, respectively). The typical error ranged from 0.14 to 0.68 L min−1 and the CV % between measured and predicted \( {\dot{\text{V}}}{\text{O}}_{{\text{2peak}}}\) using differentiated RPE was ≤11.1 % for TETRA, ≤7.5 % for PARA and ≤20.2 % for NON-SCI.
Conclusions
Results suggest that differentiated RPE may be used cautiously for TETRA and PARA athletes when predicting \( {\dot{\text{V}}}{\text{O}}_{{\text{2peak}}}\) across the perceptual range of 9–15. However, predicting \( {\dot{\text{V}}}{\text{O}}_{{\text{2peak}}}\) is not recommended for the NON-SCI athletes due to the large CV %s (16.8, 20.2 and 18.0 %; RPEC, RPEP and RPEO, respectively).