Relationship between perceived exertion during exercise and subsequent recovery measurements

Area of Science:

• Exercise Physiology
• Sports Science
• Human Performance

Background:

• Post-exercise recovery reflects the internal training load.
• The role of metabolic and autonomic recovery markers in representing training load is not well-established.
• Rating of Perceived Exertion (RPE) is a recognized measure of homeostatic stress during exercise.

Purpose of the Study:

• To determine which of four recovery measurements best correlates with RPE.
• To investigate the association between RPE and metabolic/autonomic recovery markers post-exercise.

Main Methods:

• Thirty-six trained and untrained participants completed a standardized treadmill exercise bout.
• Measurements included expired respiratory gases and heart rate (HR) during exercise and 1-hour recovery.
• Calculated recovery metrics: excess post-exercise oxygen consumption magnitude (EPOC_MAG), EPOC time constant (EPOCτ), 1-minute HR recovery (HRR_60s), and HR recovery time constant (HRRτ).

Main Results:

• RPE was significantly associated with HRR_60s (r=-0.69), EPOCτ (r=0.52), and HRRτ (r=0.43).
• No significant association was found between RPE and EPOC_MAG.
• HRR_60s demonstrated the strongest correlation with RPE among the investigated recovery measures.

Conclusions:

• One-minute heart rate recovery (HRR_60s) shows potential as a simple indicator of the homeostatic stress from a standardized exercise bout.
• HRR_60s may help represent inter-individual differences in exercise-induced stress across varying fitness levels.
• Further research could validate HRR_60s as a practical tool for monitoring training load.