Temporal Robustness Of The Srpe Method Of Monitoring Training

METHODS: Nineteen participants (26.8 ± 7.9 years) were recruited for this study. Eligibility included participants running at least 30 minutes a day, three times a week. Participants were required to visit the EMU Running Science Laboratory on two separate occasions. During the initial visit, participants completed a VO2max test on a treadmill. Participants ran at a self-selected speed while grade increased 2% every two minutes until volitional exhaustion. Following the VO2max test, participants were shown how to use a GPS sports watch and instructed to run three days a week for at least 30 minutes for two weeks. After two weeks, participants returned for their second visit and predicted 5k time was recorded from the GPS sports watch. Participants then completed a 5k race time trial on a 200m indoor track (measured 5k). A paired samples t-tests was used to compare predicted 5k to measured 5k (p < 0.05). RESULTS: Three participants were excluded due to failure to return for the second visit. The remaining 16 participants (5 female, 11 male) had an average VO2max of 54.0±9.1 ml/kg/min, height of 172.9±7.0cm, and weight of 69.5±9.0 kg. There was a significant difference between measured 5k race time (25.3±4.7min) and predicted 5k race time (21.1±2.5min) indicating that the GPS watch underpredicted 5k time. CONCLUSION: The GPS sports watch underpredicted 5k time by approximately four minutes. The prediction from the GPS sports watch was based on factors such as speed, heart rate, and distance measured while participants wore the watch for two weeks. Failure to accurately measure heart rate at the radial pulse, inaccuracy associated with GPS, and varied training intensity while wearing the watch could explain some of the error.