Author(s): YU, H., YANG, Y., XU, G., YAN, C., LI, X., ZHAI, H., LI, M., Institution: SICHUAN UNIVERSITY OF SCIENCE AND ENGINEERING, Country: CHINA, Abstract-ID: 303

INTRODUCTION:
Ratings of perceived exertion (RPE) are widely used in physical education (PE) to monitor and regulate exercise intensity [1]. However, in intermittent team sports such as soccer, fluctuating activity patterns may challenge students’ ability to accurately perceive underlying physiological demands, particularly in authentic classroom settings. This study examined the relationship between perceived and physiological exercise intensity across multiple secondary school soccer PE lessons, with particular emphasis on overall trends and individual dominant perception patterns.
METHODS:
This study adopted a school-based observational design with repeated measurements conducted during regular secondary school physical education lessons. Thirty secondary school students (14 boys, 16 girls; age 15.5 ± 0.5 years) participated in four regular soccer PE lessons. Heart rate (HR) responses were continuously monitored throughout each lesson using Polar wrist-worn heart rate monitors. Exercise intensity was quantified as the percentage of maximal heart rate (%HRmax), calculated using an age-predicted maximal heart rate, and as the distribution of time spent in five predefined HR intensity zones. Overall perceived exertion was assessed immediately after each lesson using the Borg 6–20 RPE scale. Valid heart rate and RPE data were obtained from 17 to 25 students per lesson. Associations between perceived and physiological exercise intensity were examined using Spearman’s rank correlation coefficients. To explore individual perception tendencies across lessons, a dominant-pattern analysis was performed, classifying students as underestimating, accurately estimating, or overestimating exercise intensity. The study was approved by the local institutional ethics committee, and written informed consent was obtained from all participants and their guardians (approval number: EC-2025-08).
RESULTS:
Across the four lessons, mean %HRmax values remained relatively stable (59–63%), indicating consistently moderate physiological exercise intensity. In contrast, mean RPE values increased progressively across lessons, from 10.55 ± 3.25 in the first lesson to 12.56 ± 3.51 in the fourth lesson, suggesting a growing divergence between perceived and physiological intensity at the group level. No significant associations were observed between RPE and %HRmax in any lesson (r = 0.02–0.12, all p > 0.05). At the individual level, dominant-pattern analysis revealed substantial variability in perceptual accuracy. Only 21.7% of students consistently perceived exercise intensity accurately, whereas overestimation emerged as the most prevalent dominant pattern (34.8–39.1%), followed by mixed patterns and underestimation.
CONCLUSION:
Overall, students tended to overestimate exercise intensity during secondary school soccer PE lessons, as reflected by increasing perceived exertion despite stable moderate physiological demands. Importantly, dominant-pattern analysis demonstrated that overestimation was the most common individual perception pattern across lessons rather than a lesson-specific effect. These findings suggest that reliance on RPE alone may be insufficient for monitoring exercise intensity in intermittent PE contexts and highlight the pedagogical value of integrating objective heart rate monitoring to support more accurate intensity regulation and individualized instruction in school-based physical education.