A detailed quantification of differential ratings of perceived exertion during team-sport training

Objectives: To investigate the application of differential ratings of perceived exertion (dRPE) to team-sport training. Design: Single cohort, observational study. Methods:Twenty-nine professional rugby union players were monitored over a six-week intensified training period. Training sessions were classified as: high-intensity intervals, repeated high-intensity efforts, speed, skill-based conditioning, skills, whole-body resistance, or upper-body resistance. After each session, players recorded a session rating of perceived exertion (sRPE; CR100®), along with differential session ratings for breathlessness (sRPE-B), leg muscle exertion (sRPE-L), upper-body muscle exertion (sRPE-U), and cognitive/technical demands (sRPE-T). Each score was multiplied by the session duration to calculate session training loads. Data were analysed using mixed linear modelling and multiple linear regression, with magnitude-based inferences subsequently applied. Results: Between-session differences in dRPE scores ranged from very likely trivial to most likely extremely large and within-session differences amongst dRPE scores ranged from unclear to most likely very large. Differential RPE training loads combined to explain 66–91% of the variance in sRPE training loads, and the strongest associations with sRPE training load were with sRPE-L for high-intensity intervals (r = 0.67; 90% confidence limits ±0.22), sRPE-B for repeated high-intensity efforts (0.89; ±0.08) and skill-based conditioning (0.67; ±0.19), sRPE-T for Speed (0.63; ±0.17) and Skills (0.51; ±0.28), and sRPE-U for resistance training (whole-body: 0.61; ±0.21, upper-body: 0.92; ±0.07). Conclusions: Differential RPE can provide a detailed quantification of internal load during training activities commonplace in team sports. Knowledge of the relationships between dRPE and sRPE can isolate the specific perceptual demands of different training modes