THE VALIDITY OF SESSION-RATING OF PERCEIVED EXERTION METHOD FOR QUANTIFYING TRAINING LOAD IN TEAMGYM

Teamgym is a new and emerging closed-skill sport, which includes tumbling, trampette, and floor programs performed by teams ranging from 6 to 12 athletes. The purpose of this study was to verify the concurrent validity of the session-rating of perceived exertion ([RPE] session-RPE) to quantifying the internal training load (ITL) of tumbling, trampette, and floor training sessions using Edwards' summated heart rate (HR)-zone method as a criterion measure. Session-RPE was obtained with 2 different instruments (i.e., CR-10 Borg's scale and visual analog scale) multiplied by the training duration (minutes). Ten female teamgym athletes (age = 21.7 +/- 1.2 years; height = 164.9 +/- 6.6 cm; and body mass = 54.6 +/- 5.4 kg) participated in this study. High and significant correlations (r range: 0.77-0.85; R-2 range: 0.59-0.85; p, 0.01) were found between Edwards' HR and the session-RPE methods and between the 2 session-PE instruments (r range: 0.92-0.97; R-2 range: 0.85-0.94; p < .01). The significant (p < 0.05) differences emerged between training sessions indicate that session-RPE discriminates ITL in relation to various technical skills. Hence, session-RPE can be a useful and inexpensive tool to quantify ITL in teamgym, and coaches could use this instrument to monitor their periodization plan as experienced by the athletes.