The effects of low vs. high rating of perceived exertion clamp exercise on performance, neuromuscular, and muscle oxygen saturation responses in females

This study examined the time course of changes in force, relative to critical force (CF), electromyographic amplitude (EMG AMP), neuromuscular efficiency (NE), and muscle oxygen saturation (SmO ), as well as time to task failure (TTF) and performance fatigability (PF) during isometric handgrip holds to failure (HTF) anchored to the rating of perceived exertion (RPE) at 3 and 7. Ten females completed pre-test maximal voluntary isometric contractions (MVICs), submaximal HTF at four percentages of MVIC, an HTF at RPE = 3 and 7, and post-test MVICs. Analyses included paired samples t-tests, repeated measures ANOVAs and planned comparisons. TTF was not different between RPE 3 (540.4 ± 262.1 s) and 7 (592.2 ± 299.6 s), but PF for RPE 7 (42.1 ± 19.1%) was greater than RPE 3 (33.5 ± 15.4%) (p