Abstract
This study examined the effects of different intensities of jogging warm-up on the run test (run time to exhaustion), heart rate, and rate of perceived exertion (RPE) during exercise. We further evaluated heart rate variability before and after the warm-up and run test. Six healthy well-trained male college runners (5,000-m personal record, mean of 15 min 20 s ± 22 s) participated in two experimental conditions (a randomized crossover design): 15-min warm-up of moderate intensity of 55–60 heart rate reserve (%HRR); 15-min warm-up of high intensity 70–75 %HRR. After 15 min of warm-up, the participants performed the run test. RPE was assessed during the warm-up and run test on the Borg scale (6–20). The run time to exhaustion and HR during exercise did not differ significantly between the warm-ups of moderate and high intensities; however, RPE showed variation over time in both conditions. Reaching an RPE of 14 was delayed in the warm-up of moderate intensity than that of high intensity in four of six (66.7 %) participants. Nonetheless, with a greater reactivation of the root mean square of successive differences as the cardiac parasympathetic nervous system from after the warm-up to before the run test in the warm-up of moderate intensity, the RPE reached 14 faster in the subsequent exercise.
