That Escalated Quickly-Planning to Ignore RPE Can Backfire

Area of Science:

• Exercise Science
• Sports Psychology
• Psychophysiology

Background:

• Ratings of Perceived Exertion (RPE) are key metrics in exercise science, correlating with physiological measures and acting as a performance limiter.
• Psychological factors influence RPE, but self-regulation's impact on RPE during static muscular endurance tasks remains under-explored.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate if if-then planning (implementation intentions) can down-regulate RPE and enhance performance in static muscular endurance tasks.
• To examine the effects of a specific if-then plan on RPE, pain perception, and endurance performance.

Main Methods:

• 62 female students were randomized into an if-then planning or control group for a static ring-holding endurance task.
• Participants reported RPE and pain every 25±10s; performance was measured by time to failure and contact errors.

Main Results:

• No significant differences in endurance time or performance quality were found between groups.
• Implementation intention participants showed significantly greater increases in RPE and higher peak RPE during the latter half of the task compared to controls.
• A similar, though less pronounced, pattern was observed for perceived pain.

Conclusions:

• Self-regulation of RPE is possible using if-then plans, as evidenced by altered RPE trajectories.
• Contrary to expectations, if-then planning led to higher RPE, suggesting potential ironic effects that may negatively impact performance by increasing attention to exertion.