Effects of Altitude on Rate of Perceived Exertion for Breathing & Legs of Soccer Players Who Are Based at Sea Level
Results - RPE Breathe
RPE Breathe, altitude dependent on whether they are playing at sea level, low altitude or moderate altitude.
#On average, the RPE Breathe score is 56.8 at both low and sea-level altitudes, while it increases to 69.4 at moderate altitudes. This suggests that as altitude increases, participants perceive their breathing exertion to be higher
RPE Breathe altitude dependent - match day only, excluding training days.
| altitude_code | mean_rpe |
|---|---|
| sea | 79.6 |
| altitude | 86.2 |
needs updating foe sea versus altitude Match Day Only – RPE Breathe was observed at moderate altitudes, with an average score of 91.3. When including training days as well as match days, the mean RPE Breathe at moderate altitude was lower at 69.4. This suggests a notable increase in perceived exertion on match day at moderate altitude.
Repeated measures ANOVA with estimated marginal means and pairwise contrasts for RPE Breathe across altitude levels - Match day only
#reword and update The p-values from the pairwise comparisons indicate that none of the differences in RPE Breathe between altitude levels on match days are statistically significant. This suggests that, based on this dataset, altitude does not have a clear impact on perceived exertion during matches.
Scatter graph with correlation confidence interval for RPE Breathe depending on altitude for match day only.
The scattergraph reveals a trend where RPE Breathe increases as altitude rises on match day, with higher levels of perceived exertion observed at moderate altitude compared to sea level and low altitude. However, the p-values indicate that there is insufficient evidence to confidently conclude that altitude is responsible for the change in RPE Breathe, suggesting that the observed differences could be due to variability rather than a definitive effect of altitude.
RPE Breathe mean for players on the pitch - less than 70minutes versus overs 70minutes - Match Day Only
This analysis compares the mean RPE Breathe for players who spent less than 70 minutes on the pitch (<70 mins) versus those who played for 70 minutes or more (70+ mins) on match day, separated by different altitude levels (sea level, low altitude, and moderate altitude). The bar chart visualizes the differences in perceived exertion across these groups, with separate facets for each altitude level.
In moderate altitudes, players on the pitch for more than 70 minutes reported only a slightly higher mean RPE Breathe (91.6) compared to those on the pitch for less than 70 minutes (90.0).
Results - RPE Leg
RPE Leg, altitude dependent on whether they are playing at sea level, low altitude or moderate altitude.
| altitude_code | mean_rpe_leg |
|---|---|
| sea | 82.9 |
| altitude | 77.8 |
The mean RPE Leg values on match day were highest for players at sea level (60.1), followed by moderate altitude (58.9), and lowest for players at low altitude (50.5).
RPE Leg altitude dependent - match day only, excluding training days.
| altitude_code | mean_rpe_leg |
|---|---|
| sea | 82.9 |
| altitude | 77.8 |
On match day, the mean RPE Leg values were highest at moderate altitude (84.0) and sea level (82.9), with a slightly lower value at low altitude (74.8). These values were generally higher compared to the mean RPE Leg across all days, indicating that players experienced more leg exertion during match day activities at all altitudes. Overall there does not seem to be much difference between the altitudes regardless of whether it is a match day or not.
Repeated measures ANOVA with estimated marginal means and pairwise contrasts for RPE Leg across altitude levels - Match day data only.
| contrast | estimate | SE | df | p.value | lower.CL | upper.CL |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| altitude - sea | -4.25 | 3.85 | 25.38 | 0.28 | -12.18 | 3.67 |
All p-values are well above 0.05, so there are no statistically significant differences in RPE Leg across the altitude levels on Match Day. This suggests that the different altitude conditions do not have a strong effect on RPE for the legs.
Scattergraph with correlation confidence interval for RPE Leg depending on altitude for match day only.
The scattergraph shows a slight increase in RPE Leg as altitude decreases. However, the high p-values indicate that these differences are not statistically significant, suggesting that the observed trend is likely due to other variables rather than a true effect of altitude.
RPE Leg mean for players on the pitch - less than 70minutes versus overs 70minutes - Match Day Only
For players who were on the pitch for over 70 minutes, the moderate altitude had a mean RPE leg of 84.8, which was slightly higher than the mean RPE leg of 80.0 for players who were on the pitch for less than 70 minutes. This suggests only a slight difference in RPE Legs for those players on the pitch longer.
The scattergraph with a regression line demonstrates the correlation between RPE Breathe and RPE Leg on match day, showing the relationship between perceived breathing exertion and leg exertion during the game.
Although neither RPE Breathe nor RPE Legs at moderate altitude were statistically significant, there is a correlation between higher RPE Breathe and higher RPE Legs. While RPE Breathe tends to increase with higher altitude, this change is not statistically significant. However, RPE Legs does not show an increase as altitude rises.
Conclusion
While the data shows some trends (higher RPE Breathe with higher altitude and a correlation between RPE Breathe and RPE Legs), these findings are not statistically significant. Therefore, we cannot confidently conclude that altitude directly influences RPE Breathe or RPE Legs based on this data.