Arm vs. combined leg and arm exercise: Blood pressure responses and ratings of perceived exertion at the same indirectly determined heart rate

Pre-participation screening is very important for prescribing andpractising exercise safely. the aim of this study was to investigateboth ratings of perceived exertion (rpe) and blood pressureresponses in two different types of exercises with matchingduration and indirectly determined working heart rate (hr).participants were 23 male students, who were generally healthybut sedentary. the time course of their rpe and blood pressureduring a 50-minute work-out session on an arm crank ergometerand a cross trainer were compared. rm-anova showed both ahigher rpe (p < 0.001) and diastolic blood pressure (dbp) (p <0.001) response to the arm exercise that were shown significantlycorrelated (r = 0.883; p = 0.008). linear regression analysis(p = 0.001) confirmed the ability to predict the time course ofdbp by knowing the rpe on the arm crank ergometer. even ifpeople use the recommended relative intensity, the hr methodis not always safe for health without pre-participation screeningbecause exercise characteristics can negatively influence physiologicalresponses. the hr method could be substituted by therpe method.