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This article reviews the historical development of aerobic conditioning. The many physiological effects of aerobic conditioning are presented including the effects on cardiovascular, muscular, and neuromuscular health leading to increased physical endurance and increased lifespan. Aerobic exercise prescription follows the frequency, intensity, time, and type, as well as the volume and progression principles. Frequency recommendations are at least 3 d/wk and 3 to 5 d/wk appears to be conducive to meeting overall physical activity recommendations. Intensity determination is based on several methods that include heart rate methods, ratings of perceived exertion (Borg and OMNI), the talk test, and the counting talk test. Time recommendations include at least 150 to 300 minutes a week of moderate-intensity aerobic activity, 75 to 150 minutes a week of vigorous-intensity aerobic physical activity, or an equivalent combination of moderate- and vigorous-intensity aerobic activities. Type recommendations include any aerobic activities involving major muscle groups used in a continuous or intermittent manner. Volume recommendations include >500 to 1000 metabolic equivalent minutes per week and approximately 150 min/wk of moderate-intensity activity. Progression recommendations include the gradual advancing of the exercise duration, frequency, and intensity, making sure that the progressions allows for the best adherence to aerobic exercise on an ongoing basis. The benefits of aerobic exercise have been shown to be important for every aspect of living a healthy lifestyle across the age span, particularly for aging adults, adults with chronic conditions, and adults with disabilities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Context: Prescription of exact doses and adherence to home exercise are always an issue for patients as well as for health-care professionals. Talk test (TT) is a subjective tool for exercise prescription that can be easily implemented in home settings. However, its validity and reliability are not established among patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM). Study Setting and Design: Observational study conducted at the outpatient department of civil hospital, Panchkula. Subjects and Methods: Fifty T2DM patients underwent exercise testing on a treadmill. Speaking comfort, heart rate, and rating of perceived exertion (RPE) level were noted at the completion of each stage of the modified Bruce protocol. Heart rate reserve (HRR) was calculated using the formula HRR = HRmax − HRrest. Statistical Analysis Used: Spearman's rho test was used to explore the correlation among the study variables. Results: At a moderate level of exercise, the correlation is significant between HRR and TT (r = −0.514; P = 0.020), but the correlation between HRR-RPE is negligible (r = 0.293; P = 0.209). At a vigorous level of exercise, HRR is again correlated with TT (r = −0.539; P = 0.017), but the correlation between HRR and RPE is low (r = 0.439; P = 0.061). Conclusion: The study found that TT is correlated with HRR compared to RPE at a moderate level of intensity. Moderate–intensity exercises are the most common form of exercise prescribed to patients with T2DM. Therefore, it may be concluded that TT is a valid and reliable major of exercise prescription for patients with T2DM. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: When utilizing breathing for speech, the rate and volume of inhalation, as well as the rate of exhalation during the utterance, seem to be largely governed by the speech-controlling system and its requirements with respect to phrasing, loudness, and articulation. However, since the Talk Test represents a non-standardized form of assessment of exercise intensity estimation, this study aimed to compare the utterance rate and the estimated exercise intensity using a newly introduced time-controlled monosyllabic Talk Test (tMTT) versus a self-paced Counting Talk Test (CTT) across incremental exercise stages and examined their associations with the exercise physiological measures. Methods: Twenty-four participants, 10 males and 14 females (25 ± 4.0 yr; 160 ± 10 cm; 62 ± 14.5 kg) performed two sessions of submaximal cardiorespiratory exercise at incremental heart rate reserve (HRR) stages ranging from 40 to 85% of HRR: one session was performed with a currently available CTT that was affixed to a wall in front of the participants, and the other session was conducted with a tMTT with a 1-s inter-stimulus interval that was displayed from a tablet. In each session, the participants performed six stages of exercise at 40, 50, 60, 70, 80, and 85% HRR on a treadmill and were also asked to rate their perceived exertion based on Borg's 6 to 20 Rating of Perceived Exertion (RPE) at each exercise stage. Results: The newly designed tMTT significantly delineated all the six stages of incremental exercise (p ≤ 0.017), while CTT could only delineate exercise stages at 60, 80, and 85% HRR. However, in estimations of exercise intensity, the tMTT demonstrated only moderate associations with HRR and Borg's RPE, similarly to the CTT. Conclusion: If the purpose of exercise monitoring is to detect the intensity of light, moderate, and vigorous exercise intensity, the tMTT could be more universally applicable. However, due to its larger variability of speech rate across exercise intensities, the time-regulated approach may alter the speech breathing characteristics of the exercising individuals in other ways that should be investigated in future research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

BACKGROUND: Blood flow restriction combined with aerobic exercise has potential training benefits, and talk test is a convenient option for prescribing the exercise intensity. Whether the talk test can be applied to the blood flow restricted aerobic exercise depends on the reliability and validity of the talk test under blood flow restriction. OBJECTIVE: To explore the reliability and validity of talk test with blood flow restriction. METHODS: Twenty collegiate males participated in one maximum oxygen uptake test (Tmax) and three talk tests. The protocols for the three talk tests were the same, with the one equipped with a gas metabolizer (TT-gas) throughout the whole test process, and the other two following the standard procedure (TT-standard). In Tmax, the maximum oxygen uptake, ventilatory threshold and respiratory compensation threshold were examined. In TT-standard, the corresponding heart rate and rating of perceived exertion of the last positive stage, equivocal state and negative stage were examined. In TT-gas, the corresponding oxygen uptake, heart rate and rating of perceived exertion of all steps were examined. All the four tests were fully pressurized along the bandages on both thighs (40% arterial occlusion pressure). RESULTS AND CONCLUSION: The reliability of corresponding power of the last positive stage and negative stage measured by two TT-standard was high. The reliability of corresponding heart rate of the last positive stage, equivocal state and negative stage was high to very high. However, the reliability of corresponding rating of perceived exertion of the last positive stage, equivocal state and negative stage was low to medium. The correlation between corresponding oxygen uptake, heart rate and rating of perceived exertion of the last positive stage and ventilatory threshold was medium to high (R=0.47-0.63, P < 0.05). The correlation between corresponding oxygen uptake, heart rate and rating of perceived exertion of the equivocal state and ventilatory threshold is high to very high (R=0.63-0.84, P < 0.05). The correlations between corresponding oxygen uptake, heart rate and rating of perceived exertion of the negative stage and ventilatory threshold were medium (R=0.36, P > 0.05), very high (R=0.80, P < 0.01) and medium (R=0.52, P < 0.05), respectively. Except for corresponding heart rate of the last positive stage, there was no significant difference between corresponding oxygen uptake, heart rate and rating of perceived exertion of the last positive stage and equivocal state and ventilatory threshold values (P > 0.005). There was no significant difference between corresponding oxygen uptake and heart rate of the negative stage and respiratory compensation threshold (P > 0.005). To conclude, the talk test in aerobic exercise with blood flow restriction under 40% arterial occlusion pressure has high retest reliability and medium to high validity, which can effectively evaluate the intensity of ventilatory threshold, but cannot effectively evaluate the intensity of respiratory compensation threshold. Talk test can be a convenient and reliable option for monitoring low intensity during blood flow restricted aerobic exercise. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

PurposeWhen utilizing breathing for speech, the rate and volume of inhalation, as well as the rate of exhalation during the utterance, seem to be largely governed by the speech-controlling system and its requirements with respect to phrasing, loudness, and articulation. However, since the Talk Test represents a non-standardized form of assessment of exercise intensity estimation, this study aimed to compare the utterance rate and the estimated exercise intensity using a newly introduced time-controlled monosyllabic Talk Test (tMTT) versus a self-paced Counting Talk Test (CTT) across incremental exercise stages and examined their associations with the exercise physiological measures.MethodsTwenty-four participants, 10 males and 14 females (25 ± 4.0 yr; 160 ± 10 cm; 62 ± 14.5 kg) performed two sessions of submaximal cardiorespiratory exercise at incremental heart rate reserve (HRR) stages ranging from 40 to 85% of HRR: one session was performed with a currently available CTT that was affixed to a wall in front of the participants, and the other session was conducted with a tMTT with a 1-s inter-stimulus interval that was displayed from a tablet. In each session, the participants performed six stages of exercise at 40, 50, 60, 70, 80, and 85% HRR on a treadmill and were also asked to rate their perceived exertion based on Borg’s 6 to 20 Rating of Perceived Exertion (RPE) at each exercise stage.ResultsThe newly designed tMTT significantly delineated all the six stages of incremental exercise (p ≤ 0.017), while CTT could only delineate exercise stages at 60, 80, and 85% HRR. However, in estimations of exercise intensity, the tMTT demonstrated only moderate associations with HRR and Borg’s RPE, similarly to the CTT.ConclusionIf the purpose of exercise monitoring is to detect the intensity of light, moderate, and vigorous exercise intensity, the tMTT could be more universally applicable. However, due to its larger variability of speech rate across exercise intensities, the time-regulated approach may alter the speech breathing characteristics of the exercising individuals in other ways that should be investigated in future research.

Background: To validate the traditional talk test (TTT) and an alternative talk test (ATT; using a visual analog scale) in overweight/obese (OW-OB) patients and to establish its accuracy in determining the aerobic training zones. Methods: We recruited 19 subjects aged 34.9 ± 6.7 years, diagnosed with overweight/obesity (BMI 31.8 ± 5.7). Every subject underwent incremental cycloergometric tests for maximal oxygen consumption, and TTT in a randomized order. At the end of each stage during the TTT, each subject read out loud a 40 words text and then had to identify the comfort to talk in two modalities: TTT which consisted in answering "Yes," "I don't know," or "No" to the question Was talking comfortable?, or ATT through a 1 to 10 numeric perception scale (visual analog scale (VAS)). The magnitude of differences was interpreted in comparison to the smallest worthwhile change and was used to determine agreement. Results: There was an agreement between the power output at the VAS 2–3 of ATT and the power output at the ventilatory threshold 1 (VT1) (very likely equivalent; mean difference − 1.3 W, 90% confidence limit (CL) (− 8.2; 5.6), percent chances for higher/similar/lower values of 0.7/99.1/0.2%). Also, there was an agreement between the power output at the VAS 6–7 of ATT and the power output at the ventilatory threshold 2 (VT2) (very likely equivalent; mean difference 11.1 W, 90% CL (2.8; 19.2), percent chances for higher/similar/lower values of 0.0/97.6/2.4%). Conclusions: ATT is a tool to determine exercise intensity and to establish aerobic training zones for exercise prescription in OW-OB patients. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Retos: Nuevas Perspectivas de Educación Física, Deporte y Recreación is the property of Federacion Espanola de Asociaciones de Docentes de Educacion Fisica and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Although there is evidence supporting the benefit of regular exercise, and recommendations about exercise and physical activity, the process of individually prescribing exercise following exercise testing is more difficult. Guidelines like % heart rate (HR) reserve (HRR) require an anchoring maximal test and do not always provide a homogenous training experience. When prescribing HR on the basis of % HRR, rating of perceived exertion or Talk Test, cardiovascular/perceptual drift during sustained exercise makes prescription of the actual workload difficult. To overcome this issue, we have demonstrated a strategy for “translating” exercise test responses to steady state exercise training on the basis of % HRR or the Talk Test that appeared adequate for individuals ranging from cardiac patients to athletes. However, these methods depended on the nature of the exercise test details. In this viewpoint, we combine these data with workload expressed as Metabolic Equivalent Task (METs). We demonstrate that there is a regular stepdown between the METs during training to achieve the same degree of homeostatic disturbance during testing. The relationship was linear, was highly-correlated (r = 0.89), and averaged 71.8% (Training METs/Test METs). We conclude that it appears possible to generate a generalized approach to correctly translate exercise test responses to exercise training.

Background: Physical exercise is generally recommended as part of life style changes post stroke. Monitoring cardiovascular effects may help motivate patients for further exercise, and can be an instrument to assess intervention effects in clinical trials. In 1 of 4 stroke patients, the heart rate variability may challenge currently used cardiovascular monitoring. The Graded Cycling Test with Talk Test is a submaximal exercise test independent of heart rate variability, shown reliable for patients with cardiac disease.Methods: Patients diagnosed with lacunar stroke according to TOAST (Trial of Org 10172 in Acute Stroke Treatment) criteria performed an incremental exercise test on a stationary bicycle with a 15 W (watt) increase in workload every minute. Toward the end of each incremental step, the patients recited a standardized text passage and subsequently were asked: "Are you still able to speak comfortably?" The test was stopped when the patients were no longer able to speak comfortably. Two consecutive tests were performed separated by 1 hour rest.Results: Sixty patients completed the study. The intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC2.1) was as follows: .97 [95% CI: .95-.98] with only a minor measurement error: 12.9 W for groups of patients (standard error of measurement, SEM95) and 18.3 W for individual patients (smallest real difference).Conclusion: The "Graded Cycling Test with Talk Test" is feasible and reliable for monitoring exercise effects in patients with lacunar stroke. The high ICC2.1 and small measurement error suggest it to be a valuable outcome measurement in clinical practice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The talk test (TT) is subjective method to measure exercise intensity in costless and feasible manner, compared to sophisticated laboratory equipment. We attempted to investigate whether the TT was a valid method for evaluation of exercise intensity, by comparing with values derived from various physiologic markers during cardiopulmonary exercise testing on treadmill in healthy population. A total of 17 healthy subjects (12 males and 5 females) participated in this study. The TT was applied, which consisted of 3-stages difficulties demanding respiratory load while they performed the cardiopulmonary exercise testing on treadmill. In each of the TT stages, ergospirometric and psychophysiologic response marker were collected such as heart rate, oxygen consumption, respiratory exchange ratio, minute ventilation, carbon dioxide output, tidal volume, respiratory rate, and rating of perceived exertion of breathing. Statistical analyses revealed a significant difference of all dependent variables in each of three TT stages, comparing with the resting phase before the TT. The TT showed strong correlation coefficient with all variables except for rating of perceived exertion during the resting phase before the TT. According to increase of exercise intensity, all dependent variables showed a linear tendency with the stages of the TT. Our findings indicated that each of the TT stages was strongly correlated with ergospirometric variables as well as psychophysiologic response during cardiopulmonary exercise testing on treadmill. We suggested that the TT can be used to evaluate and prescribe exercise intensity of aerobic activity in cardiovascular and pulmonary rehabilitation settings., Competing Interests: CONFLICT OF INTEREST No potential conflict of interest relevant to this study was reported., (Copyright © 2023 Korean Society of Exercise Rehabilitation.)

Copyright of Brazilian Journal of Biomotricity is the property of Brazilian Journal of Biomotricity and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Background: Physical activity recommendations require accurate estimations of exercise intensity. Rating of Perceived Exertion (RPE) and talk test (TT) are 2 commonly recommended techniques to gauge intensity. It is not known whether these are valid to select an exercise intensity that would elicit a training effect for persons with spinal cord injury (SCI). Objective: To define the exercise intensity of each TT stage and RPE exercise intensity category and assess whether persons with paraplegia are able to use the TT to select a 'comfortable' exercise workload they could maintain for 15 minutes. Methods: Twelve participants with paraplegia completed 2 arm crank exercise tests on nonconsecutive days within 14 days. Test 1 was an incremental peak effort assessment. Test 2 was a 15-minute simulated exercise session at a participant-selected fixed workload. During each test, participants reported their RPE and performed a TT at 2-minute intervals. Results: The intensity of the first negative TT stage was vigorous (75 ± 15 %VO2R); at low and moderate intensities, perceived effort was greater than measured intensity; at vigorous and maximal intensities, perceived effort matched measured intensity. Individuals successfully used the TT to select an exercise workload they could maintain for 15 minutes. RPE, but not exercise intensity, increased during the 15-minute session. Conclusions: During arm crank exercise when speaking is not comfortable (ie, first negative TT), persons with paraplegia are exercising at vigorous intensity, which is sufficient to elicit training effects. During incremental peak exercise testing, RPE does not appear to accurately index low-moderate exercise intensities. During the simulated exercise session, RPE appeared to index peripheral fatigue. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of this study was to establish how ratings of perceived speech production difficulty (PSPD) during exercise of varying intensities are correlated with various physiological responses, in order to determine whether the PSPD is suitable for prescribing exercise training intensity. An incremental running test was performed to establish the subjects’ maximal oxygen consumption (&Vdot;O2max) and ventilatory anaerobic threshold (VAT). During the test, the subjects were asked to read a written text. The subjects graded their PSPD at each stage of the test using a 13-level PSPD scale. Throughout the test, various cardiopulmonary parameters were measured breath-by-breath. Regressions of &Vdot;O2, heart rate (HR), and pulmonary ventilation (&Vdot;E), all as percentages of their respective measured maximal values, plotted as a function of PSPD showed that the overall associations among those variables are strong and statistically significant (P<0.05). However, the individual variability within each relative &Vdot;O2, &Vdot;E or HR was found to be rather large. The subjects’ distribution in relation to their PSPD at the VAT scattered widely across the PSPD scale. These results indicate that estimating exercise intensity by measuring speech difficulty is not valid. Thus it may be assumed that the “talk test”, in its present non-standardized form, is a questionable substitute for the anaerobic threshold, HR, or for any other objective physiological measure for prescribing individual training exercise intensity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although there is evidence supporting the benefit of regular exercise, and recommendations about exercise and physical activity, the process of individually prescribing exercise following exercise testing is more difficult. Guidelines like % heart rate (HR) reserve (HRR) require an anchoring maximal test and do not always provide a homogenous training experience. When prescribing HR on the basis of % HRR, rating of perceived exertion or Talk Test, cardiovascular/perceptual drift during sustained exercise makes prescription of the actual workload difficult. To overcome this issue, we have demonstrated a strategy for "translating" exercise test responses to steady state exercise training on the basis of % HRR or the Talk Test that appeared adequate for individuals ranging from cardiac patients to athletes. However, these methods depended on the nature of the exercise test details. In this viewpoint, we combine these data with workload expressed as Metabolic Equivalent Task (METs). We demonstrate that there is a regular stepdown between the METs during training to achieve the same degree of homeostatic disturbance during testing. The relationship was linear, was highly-correlated (r = 0.89), and averaged 71.8% (Training METs/Test METs). We conclude that it appears possible to generate a generalized approach to correctly translate exercise test responses to exercise training.

The purpose of this study was to test the hypotheses (i) that interindividual variability in acute blood lactate responses during exercise at 65% of peak work rate (WR peak ; relative WR peak protocol (REL)) will predict variability in the chronic responses to exercise training and (ii) that exercising at an intensity that causes uncomfortable speech production (negative talk test (TT) stage (NEG)) elicits high acute blood lactate responses and large adaptations to training. Twenty-eight participants completed 4 weeks of exercise training consisting of REL (n = 14) or NEG (TT, n = 14). Fifteen additional participants were assigned to a no-exercise control group (n = 15). In REL, acute blood lactate responses during the first training session significantly predicted changes in peak oxygen consumption (r = 0.69) after training. TT resulted in consistently high acute blood lactate responses. REL and TT improved (p < 0.05) peak oxygen consumption, WR peak , and work rate at the onset of blood lactate accumulation (WR OBLA ). Despite nonsignificance, small to medium between-group effect sizes for changes in peak oxygen consumption, WR peak , and WR OBLA and a higher work rate, heart rate, rating of perceived exertion, and blood lactate during training at NEG support the potential superiority of TT over REL. When exercise is prescribed using a traditional method (a fixed percentage of WR peak ; REL), acute metabolic stress may partly explain the variance in the adaptations to training. In addition, TT elicited significant increases in peak oxygen consumption, WR peak , and WR OBLA , and although our small sample size limits our ability to confidently compare training adaptations between groups, our preliminary results suggest that future investigations with larger sample sizes should assess the potential superiority of TT over REL.

Exercise-based cardiac rehabilitation (CR) plays a vital role in improving function and preventing mortality of cardiovascular disease (CVD) patients. Outpatient (Phase II and III) CR is almost nonexistent in India because of several reasons such as time, cost, distance, education level, scarcity of resources and so forth. Cardiologists or cardiac surgeons can directly advise patients and their family members to do an optimal dose of exercise in low-resource settings, that is, rural, low-income, or low-educated patients. Talk test is a no-cost, subjective tool for exercise prescription which is gaining popularity in CR because of its simplicity. This brief descriptive review covers history, administration, physiological mechanisms, reliability and validity, and safety among cardiac patients along with limitations of the 'talk test'. This review also theoretically discusses how the talk test could be used in primary and secondary prevention of CVD. Finally, it advocates Indian CR team to use this simple validated tool as a self-monitoring tool of exercise intensity., (Copyright © 2018 Cardiological Society of India. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

[Purpose] This study examined how incremental cardiorespiratory exercise may affect the speech rate and Counting Talk Test (CTT)-estimated exercise intensity. [Participants and Methods] Twenty-four healthy adults performed the CTT while exercising on a treadmill at 6 stages of incremental exercise ranging from 40% to 85% of heart rate reserve (HRR). Each participant started walking on the treadmill at 3 to 4 km/h and 0% elevation to warm up. The increments of treadmill grades were adjusted until targeted heart rates corresponding to the percentages of HRR were reached. Then, the participants were asked to rate their perceived exertion while the treadmill grades were maintained for 2-minutes bouts of each exercise stage. At the last minute of the exercise stage, the CTT was performed within a single breath. [Results] The speech rates in the CTT appeared to vary significantly during exercise. Moreover, the CTT-estimated exercise intensity showed significant reductions at several exercise stages. [Conclusion] The CTT estimates exercise intensity semi-quantitatively throughout incremental exercise. However, moderate and vigorous intensities could not be significantly delineated by the current CTT method. This could be due to the variability in speech rates that were indicated as the exercise progressed.