The psychophysical and heart rate relationship between treadmill and deep-water running

The relationship between ratings of perceived exertion and heart rate attained during submaximal running tests on a treadmill and during deep-water running was investigated in 12 male subjects. Heart rate and rating of perceived exertion scores analysed by analysis of covariance tested the equality of adjusted means and parallelism of the slope of this relationship. No significant difference existed between the slopes of the regression equations established for treadmill running and deep-water running. A paired t-test performed across the adjusted group mean heart rates revealed a significant difference between the two conditions. While the slope of the heart rate to rating of perceived exertion regression equations remained similar, the mean heart rate was 17 beats per minute lower in the deep-water running condition than during the treadmill run.