ENDURANCE TRAINING AND PERCEIVED EXERTION (RPE) 1217

Relative intensity is considered a primary factor for RPE during exercise but whether training affects this relationship is not clear. This study examined RPE, HR and VO2 values obtained during steady-state cycle ergometer exercise at absolute (50W) and relative (60% and 80% VO2max) power outputs (PO) before and after training on 160 male (M) and 168 female(F) subjects aged 17-65 yrs in the HERITAGE Family Study. VO2max increased 14.7% in M and 18.0% in F. As there were no qualitative differences in their responses to submaximal exercise, data were combined.Table As expected, HR,% VO2max and RPE dropped significantly at 50W. The drop in RPE at 60% and 80% VO2max (9.4% and 5.9%, respectively) is greater than drops in HR and actual% VO2max at 60% (3.6% and 3.4%, respectively) and at 80% (1.5% and 1.2%, respectively). These data show that endurance training lowers the perception of effort at both absolute and relative PO.