Use of real-time cadence to prescribe aerobic physical activity intensity and its comparison with existing methods

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to determine the effectiveness of physical activity intensity prescription using real-time cadence on achieving the required intensities for health benefits. Forty adults (18-65�years) participated in the study. The intensity prescriptions included Rating of Perceived Exertion, Talk Test, Heart Rate, and Real-Time Cadence. The participants performed a 2-min trial for both moderate- and vigorous-intensity according to each prescription. Atri-axial accelerometer was used as criterion measure. After completion of the trials, participant's preference for the prescriptions was assessed by three domains (e.g., understanding, performing, maintaining). The compliance and achievement rates of RC were calculated and compared to other prescription methods. Coefficient of Variance was used to evaluate the extent of variation of intensity during the trials. Higher compliance rates were found in both moderate- (92.1%) and vigorous-intensity (94.9%) when using RC. When using RC, most participants (92.5%) were able to achieve the targeted moderate-intensity, but not for vigorous-intensity although a significant difference was found between the two intensities (p�<�.001). Overall, RC was the most favoured method in all three domains. RC is a promising tool to prescribe moderate-intensity of physical activity for health benefits but still needs to be refined on prescribing vigorous-intensity.