Choosing Exercise Cadence on the Outdoor Stepper for Various Exercise Intensity

Abstract

Public parks and gardens are gaining numerous outdoor fitness equipment (OFE), easily accessed by the public. Most people use this equipment without any guidance and thus there is a need for basic guidelines on how to use the equipment. This study offers a practical guideline for exercising on one of the most widely used pieces of OFE, the outdoor stepping machine (OSM). Thirty-four healthy adults (nine females, 25 males) participated in workouts of three separate stepping exercises at different intensities, controlled by stepping cadence. At each 5-minute phase, rated perceived exertion (RPE), oxygen consumption (VO2), metabolic equivalent of task (MET) and heart rate (HR) were measured. Corresponding MET values of exercise cadences were calculated to be 5.3 at 80 steps.min−1, 6.0 at 96 steps.min−1 and 6.6 at 112 steps.min−1. Mean values for RPE at each stepping cadence were 9.1 (very light), 11.9 (moderate) and 14.8 (difficult), respectively. In conclusion, when the ACSM’s guidelines for indoor stepper machine (ISM) were taken as a reference, 80 steps.min−1 were suitable for warm-up, 96 and 112 steps.min−1 were appropriate for moderate exercise. People exercising on OSMs could easily use the cadence or the RPE scale as a guideline to exercise at the desired intensity.