We thank the authors of the Letter to the Editor for their interest in our recent publication in The Journal of Physiology, where we examined cardiac responses – ventricular strain and cardiac troponin – to two acute bouts of prolonged constant-load exercise of different intensities and duration but matched for total work. The exercise intensities we selected straddled the gas exchange threshold (GET), which we used as a non-invasive estimate of the onset of blood lactate accumulation, or lactate threshold. The GET is an important exercise intensity descriptor as it demarcates the boundary between the moderate and heavy exercise intensity domains (Whipp, 1996). Our primary conclusions from this study were that the magnitude and time course of exercise-induced cardiac perturbations are intensity dependent. Nicolò et al. (2016b) question our methodological approach of matching the exercise bouts for total work completed and, consequently, our conclusions drawn from the results of the study. The authors propose matching exercise bouts based on perceived effort (‘isoeffort’), rather than total work, as a superior approach that will provide clearer outcomes.