Ratings of perceived exertion

Participants were asked to rate the perceived exertion in their active muscles using the IES and Borg’s CR-10 scales, 50 s into each minute of the test. Participants were cued to give their ratings using the standardised questions: “How hard do you feel your leg muscles are working”. The participants were randomly assigned into one of two groups: Group 1 were asked to rate their perceived exertion using the IES first followed by the CR-10; group 2 rated using the CR-10 first and then the IES. The scales were in full view of the participant for the entire test, presented one above the other, either IES on top or CR-10 on top (Fig. 2) depending on group allocation. The scales were presented in this way, rather than side-to-side, to stop participants picking a rating on the first scale and then moving sideways to the corresponding value on the second scale, without consideration of differences in the two values.

RPE scales presentation formats.