A Comparison of the Degree of Perceived Exertion by Participants In Nordic Walking and Level Walking at Equal Levels of Relative Exercise Intensity

Crossmark: check for updates

Authors

  • Katsuyuki TOKINOYA Graduate School of Comprehensive Human Sciences, University of Tsukuba, Ibaraki 305- 8574, Japan
  • Koji SUGIYAMA Department of Health and Physical Education, Faculty of Education, Shizuoka University, Shizuoka 422-8529, Japan
  • Yuta SUZUKI Graduate School of Health and Physical Education, Faculty of Education, Shizuoka University, Shizuoka 422-8529, Japan
  • Momoko ENDO Graduate School of Comprehensive Human Sciences, University of Tsukuba, Ibaraki 305- 8574, Japan
  • Hajime OHMORI Faculty of Health and Sport Sciences, University of Tsukuba, Ibaraki 305-8574, Japan

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.17140/SEMOJ-2-131

Keywords:

Nordic walking, Relative intensity, Perceived exertion, OMNI scale

Abstract

It has been reported that the perceived exertion in level walking (LW) is the same with or lower than that of nordic walking (NW), although the exercise intensity of NW is higher than LW. Based on this fact, it could be expected that absolute intensity, the speed, should differ if the relative intensity, measured using V ̇ O2 level, is the same in both types of walking. This study aimed to clarify the levels of perceived exertion between NW and LW when their V ̇ O2 levels are equivalent. The subjects were eight healthy young males who exercise regularly. They performed three tests: an incremental test to obtain their regression formula between the V ̇ O2max and the speed, the submaximal exercise test of NW (the NW condition) at 40% of each subject’s V ̇ O2max speed, and LW test (the LW condition) at the speed we substituted the value of V ̇ O2 provided in the NW condition into the regression formula. They conducted a
six-minute exercise in each condition. Measurements included percentage of V ̇ O2 , heart rate reserve (%HRR), and perceived exertion (OMNI scale) of their upper limbs, lower limbs, and whole body. Although there was no significant difference in V ̇ O2 and %HRR, there was in speed, with the subjects walking faster in the LW condition (p<0.01). No significant difference was found between the conditions on the OMNI scale of their whole body and lower limbs, but the NW condition produced significantly higher values than the LW condition for their upper limbs (p<0.01). The results suggested that the same exercise intensity can be obtained at a slower speed in NW, and higher exertion was perceived only in their arms in NW, with no difference in their lower limbs or whole body.

References

International Nordic Walking Federation (INWA). Web site. http://inwa-nordicwalking.com/about-us/what-is-nordic-walk-ing/. Accessed September 30, 2015.

ErnstAH and Gerald S. Energy expenditure and comfort during nordic walking with different pole lengths. J Strength Cond Res. 2009; 23(4): 1187-1194. doi: 10.1519/JSC.0b013e31819f1e2b

Saunders MJ, Hipp GR, Wenos DL, Deaton ML. Trek-king poles increase physiological responses to hiking with-out increased perceived exertion. J Strength Cond Res. 2008; 22(5):1468-1474. doi: 10.1519/JSC.0b013e31817bd4e8

Schiffer T, Axel K, Uwe H, Brigitte H, Wildor H, Heiko KS. Physiological responses to nordic walking, walking and jogging. Eur J Appl Physiol. 2006; 98(1): 56-61. doi: 10.1007/s00421- 006-0242-5

Sugiyama Koji, Kawamura M, Tomita H, Katamoto S. Oxy-gen uptake, heart rate, perceived exertion, and integrated elec-tromyogram of the lower andupper extremities during level and Nordic walking on a treadmill. J Physiol Anthropol. 2013; 32(2): 1-9. doi: 10.1186/1880-6805-32-2

Polechonski J, Mynarski W, Nawrocka A. Applicability of pedometry and accelerometry in the calculation of energy expenditure during walking and Nordic walking among women in relation to their exercise heart rate. J Phys Ther Sci. 2015; 27(11): 3525-3527. doi: 10.1589/jpts.27.3525

Barberan-Garcia A1, Arbillaga-Etxarri A, Gimeno-Santos E, et al. Nordic walking enhances oxygen uptake without increas-ing the rate of perceived exertion in patients with chronic ob-structive pulmonary disease. Respiration. 2015; 89(3): 221-225. doi: 10.1159/000371356

Pellegrini B, Peyré-Tartaruga LA, Zoppirolli C, et al. F. Ex-ploring muscle activation during Nordic walking: A compari-son between conventional and uphill walking. PLoS One. 2015; 10(9): e0138906. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0138906

Figard-Fabre H, Fabre N, Leonardi A, Schena F. Physiological and perceptual responses to nordic walking in obese middleaged women in comparison with the normal walk. Eur J Appl Physiol. 2010; 108(6): 1141-1151. doi: 10.1007/s00421-009-1315-z

Cunha FA, Midgley AW, Monteiro WD, Farinatti PTV. Influ-ence of cardiopulmonary exercise testing protocol and resting VO assessment on %HR , %HRR, %VO and %VO R rela-2 max 2max 2 tionships. Int J Sports Med. 2010; 31(5): 319-326. doi: 10.1055/ s-0030-1248283

Pedro JM, Alejandro SL, Fernanda SM, Robert JR, Nuria G. Reliability and validity of the OMNI-vibration exercise scale of perceived exertion. J Sports Sci Med. 2012; 11: 438-443. Web site. http://www.jssm.org/vol11/n3/11/v11n3-11text.php. Ac-cessed March 7, 2016

Braneh JD, Pate RR, Bourque SP. Moderate intensity ex-ercise training improved cardiorespiratory fitness in wom-en. J Womens Health Gend Based Med. 2000; 9: 65-73. doi: 10.1089/152460900318984

John W, Michael RT, Michael JD, Thomas K, Steadman JR. Effects of walking poles on lower extremity gait mechanics. Med Sci Sports Exerc. 2001; 33(1): 142-147. Web site. http:// www.formosasound.com.tw/Research/file%20D.pdf. Accessed March 7, 2016

Je-Myung S, Hae-Yeon K, Ha-Roo K, Bo-In K, Ju-Hyeon J. Comparison of the effects of walking with and without nordic pole on upper extremity and lower extremity muscle activation. J Phys Sci. 2013; 25(12): 1553-1556. doi: 10.1589/jpts.25.1553

Schneider DA, Tom MM, Greg CG. Plasma catecholamine and blood lactate responses to incremental arm and leg exercise. Med Sci Sports Exerc. 2000; 32(3): 608-613. Web site. http:// journals.lww.com/acsm-msse/pages/articleviewer.aspx?year= 2000&issue=03000&article=00009&type=abstract. Accessed March 7, 2016.

Popov DV, Vinogradova OL. Comparison of the aero-bic performance of leg and arm muscles in cross-country ski-ers. Fiziol Cheloveka. 2012; 38(5): 508-513. doi: 10.1134/ S0362119712050106

Wang J, Zhou S, Bronks R, Graham J, Myers S. Effects of supervisedtreadmill-walking training on strength and endurance of the calf muscles of individuals with peripheral arterial dis-ease. Clin J Sport Med. 2006; 16(5): 397-400. doi: 10.1097/01. jsm.0000244604.70542.b2

Downloads

Published

2016-04-07

How to Cite

Katsuyuki TOKINOYA, Koji SUGIYAMA, Yuta SUZUKI, Momoko ENDO, & Hajime OHMORI. (2016). A Comparison of the Degree of Perceived Exertion by Participants In Nordic Walking and Level Walking at Equal Levels of Relative Exercise Intensity. Sports and Exercise Medicine , 2(1), 1–6. https://doi.org/10.17140/SEMOJ-2-131

Issue

Vol. 2 No. 1 (2016): Volume 2 Issue 1 2016

Section

Articles

License

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

All content published in Sports and Exercise Medicine (SEM) is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (CC BY 4.0). This license allows anyone to copy, distribute, transmit, and adapt the work — including for commercial purposes — provided appropriate credit is given to the original author(s) and source.