Relationship Between External Training Load and Session Rating of Perceived Exertion Training Impulse in Elite Sprinters

Int J Sports Physiol Perform. 2024 Jun 11;19(8):792-797. doi: 10.1123/ijspp.2023-0341. Print 2024 Aug 1.

Abstract

Purpose: To quantify the change in session rating of perceived exertion training impulse (RPE-TRIMP) that may occur in response to increased running distance at 3 running velocity ranges in elite sprinters.

Methods: We monitored training load in elite sprinters (women: n = 7; men: n = 11) using wearable Global Positioning System technology and RPE-TRIMP for a total of 681 individual training sessions during a 22-week competition-preparation period. Internal training load was operationalized by RPE-TRIMP, and external training load was operationalized by distance covered in 3 velocity ranges. A linear mixed-effects model with athlete as a random effect was fit to RPE-TRIMP with total distance covered at ≤69.99% (low-velocity running [LVR]), 70% to 84.99% (high-velocity running [HVR]), and 85% to 100% (very-high-velocity running [VHVR]) of individual maximum velocity.

Results: Increased running distance in all 3 velocity ranges (LVR, HVR, and VHVR) resulted in a significant (P < .001) increase in RPE-TRIMP. Coefficients (95% CIs) were .10 (.08-.11) for LVR, .23 (.18-.28) for HVR, and .44 (.35-.53) for VHVR. A 50-m increase in running distance covered in the LVR, HVR, and VHVR velocity ranges was associated with increases in RPE-TRIMP of 5, 11.5, and 22 arbitrary units, respectively.

Conclusions: Internal training load, calculated as RPE-TRIMP, increased with increases in total distance covered in the LVR, HVR, and VHVR velocity ranges (P < .001). RPE-TRIMP can be a practical solution for monitoring global training-session load in elite sprinters.

Keywords: athlete monitoring; exercise training; psychophysiological response; workload.

MeSH terms

  • Adult
  • Competitive Behavior / physiology
  • Female
  • Geographic Information Systems*
  • Humans
  • Male
  • Perception* / physiology
  • Physical Conditioning, Human* / methods
  • Physical Exertion* / physiology
  • Running* / physiology
  • Young Adult