Preferred exertion across three common modes of exercise training

The use of self-selected intensities of exercise may increase adherence to exercise programs by allowing the participant more freedom to choose activities that are enjoyable. How-ever, self-selected intensities may vary across exercise modes, and participants may not choose an intensity that is ade-quate to produce health benefits. The purpose of this study was to determine influence of exercise mode on self-selected exercise intensities. Eighteen subjects (12 men and 6 women) between the ages of 18 and 25 participated in this study. Preferred intensity tests were performed for 3 modes of ex-ercise (treadmill, cycle ergometer, and stairstepper). V̇O2 val-ues were obtained continuously and 1-minute averages were recorded at minutes 5, 10, 15, and 20 for each submaximal test. Comparisons were made using a repeated-measures analysis of variance (mode, time, mode 3 time). Scheffe’s F test was used to test simple effects. There was a significant increase in the relative V̇O2 for all 3 modes of exercise across the 20-minute trials (p 5 0.0001). Relative V̇O2 (%V̇O2peak) increased from 52.20 to 64.71 % for cycle exercise, 43.27 to 63.25 % for the treadmill, and 47.16 to 61.17 % for stairstep-ping. The average relative V̇O2 for the cycle ergometer (60.40 6 15.55%) was significantly higher (p 5 0.02) than both the treadmill (53.65 6 18.36%) and stairstepper (54.66 6 11.98%). Relative heart rate (HR) (%HRR) for the stairstep-per (80.21 6 9.67%) and the cycle ergometer (80.03 6 10.59%) were significantly higher than the treadmill (74.77 6 13.13%) (P 5 0.0003). There were no significant differences in rating of perceived exertion (RPE) among the 3 modes of exercise. Similar RPE values were reported for the stairstep-per (12.79 6 2.97), cycle ergometer (12.57 6 2.90), and the treadmill (12.50 6 2.87). The results indicate that subjects allowed to choose exercise intensity by self-selection chose work rates that were within the moderate range of American College of Sports Medicine guidelines of 50–85 % V̇O2max for treadmill, cycle ergometer, and stairstepping exercise