Perceived exertion during resistance exercise by children.

Area of Science:

• Pediatric Exercise Science
• Sports Medicine
• Human Movement Studies

Background:

• Assessing perceived exertion in children during resistance training is crucial for safe and effective exercise prescription.
• Existing scales may not be adequately validated for use with young populations during strength training.
• Developing child-friendly tools is essential to monitor exercise intensity in pediatric populations.

Purpose of the Study:

• To examine the validity of a novel 11-point numerical and pictorial scale for measuring perceived exertion in children during resistance exercise.
• To determine if the new scale can accurately reflect varying exercise intensities in young individuals.
• To provide preliminary evidence for the utility of this scale in pediatric resistance training contexts.

Main Methods:

• Developed an 11-point scale with pictorial anchors representing different exertion levels.
• Recruited 26 children (mean age 10.1 years) for the study.
• Children performed resistance exercises (chest press, leg press) at 35%, 55%, and 75% of their one-repetition maximum (1RM).

Main Results:

• Perceived exertion showed a significant positive linear relationship with the percentage of one-repetition maximum (1RM) for both exercises (r = .70–.77).
• Perceived exertion significantly increased across all three exercise intensities (35%, 55%, 75% 1RM) for both chest and leg press.
• Children successfully used the scale to report their physical exertion levels during resistance exercise.

Conclusions:

• The new perceived exertion scale demonstrates preliminary validity for use with children during resistance exercise.
• The scale effectively differentiates between exercise intensities in young individuals.
• Further validation studies are recommended to confirm the reliability and applicability of this scale in diverse pediatric populations.