Rating of Perceived Exertion, RPE
How you can use effort to guide your workouts.
Welcome to The Spotter!
I am Nolan Vannata. This newsletter is a part of my mission to make health, fitness, and nutrition content that is evidence-based, digestible, practical, and accessible.
What is rating of perceived exertion (RPE)?
RPE is a subjective measure of how much effort something requires. There are multiple ways to measure RPE, such as the Borg scale that uses a range of 6-20.
A scale of 6-20 was created because of its parallel to minimum and maximum heart rates being from ~60 to 200. I personally don’t use this scale because heart ranges aren’t always from 60-200, and I have never heard a scale of 6-20 used in any other situation. I prefer an RPE scale of 1-10.
You have likely rated many things on a similar scale, so you are already familiar with this. How funny was that movie on a scale of 1-10? On a scale of 1-10, how good was that gymnastics routine? This pasta is good, I give it a 9 out of 10!
When it comes to exercise, you can ask yourself the same thing: On a scale of 1-10, how much effort does this require?
The graph above provides relevant RPE descriptions for aerobic exercise, but what about resistance training?
This shows an RPE scale based on repetitions in reserve (RIR). By thinking of how many more reps you could have done on a given exercise, you subtract that number from 10.
I would like you to consider using RPE to measure and gauge your exercise intensity. Even with how much data we can collect with wearable technology, I will present a strong case for the use of effort-guided exercise.
You should use RPE during exercise for 3 reasons:
RPE adjust for variability in performance capacity
It provides a signal for progress
It emphasizes “controlling the controllables”
RPE adjusts for variability in performance capacity
Do you feel amazing every single time you exercise? If so, I would love to talk with you since you are truly one of a kind. If you are like me and every other person I have met, you have workouts where you feel great, awful, and everything in between.
You are a whole person, not just a sack of physiology. You will have good and bad days. Usually, you can tie it to something like the quality of your workday, how well you slept, whether or not you were properly fueled for your workout, etc. Although, I have personally had many workouts that went surprisingly well under bad circumstances. On the other hand, I have had some rough workouts that should have gone a lot better.
Using RPE automatically adjusts for how you feel during your workout. Let’s look at an example using resistance training:
Weight-based intensity: Leg press: 4 sets of 6 reps, 150 pounds
RPE-based intensity: Leg press: 4 sets of 6 reps, RPE 7
In the weight-based intensity scenario, 150 pounds might feel too hard or too easy depending on how you feel on that day. If you got a bad night of sleep and had to skip a meal because work was so busy, 150 pounds might have been too much, and 120 pounds would have been a better weight that day.
In the RPE-based intensity scenario, you might start with 150 pounds because that’s what you normally do, but aiming for a specific effort level allows you to think, “Hey, I feel pretty good. I’m going to add 10 pounds today.”, or “Wow, 150 pounds feels heavier than normal. 135 pounds is probably a better idea.”
This becomes even more valuable in a scenario such as outdoor running. Here is another example:
Pace-based intensity: 3 x 1 miles, 8-minutes per mile
RPE-based intensity: 3 x 1 miles, RPE 8
Not only can you have an “off” day, but your environment can influence how stressful a certain pace is. 8-minutes per mile on a track when it’s 50 degrees (10 degrees C) and sunny is significantly easier than 8-minutes per mile in a hilly area in 90-degree heat. The use of RPE auto-adjusts for these variables.
RPE allows us to track progress
Progress is not limited to the measurement of weights, reps, or speed. RPE can be a valuable tool to track your progress. In order to improve your fitness, you must apply more stress than what your body is used to. This is called the law of progressive overload. You can learn more by reading my previous article about progressive overload.
However, to constantly apply more and more stress to your body doesn’t allow you to feel the benefits of being physically fit without it being masked by fatigue.
The next time you make a progression, I want you to try something: stick with the new training load until you can do it at a lower RPE. I made a visual for this concept below:
RPE is the difference between the training load and the fitness level. There is more nuance to this difference than that, but this gets the general point across. For example, 10 push-ups might be an RPE of 7 for you right now, but if you get better at push-ups, 10 reps might turn into an RPE of 5 or 6.
With this knowledge, you can use a drop in effort for the same workout as a sign that you have increased your fitness! Personally, I like to have several workouts in a row where my effort is lower to make sure I’m not just having a single good day.
RPE lets us focus on what we can control
You can only control what you can control. This seems obvious, but many of us (including myself) try to control what we can’t control. As mentioned earlier, your capacity to perform varies day by day. Your exercise does not live in isolation, free from the stress of your life.
While you can’t control everything, you can control committing to a certain amount of effort. Trying to be at your best when you aren’t is a recipe for disaster and burnout. While you might not like the feeling of having to pick up lighter weights or run slower, there is a cost to pushing through excessive fatigue (injury, for example).
On the contrary, sometimes you have those rare, amazing days where you feel invincible. If you limit yourself to doing what you usually do, you might miss a great opportunity to test new limits! You will only be able to make these changes if you are mindful of your rating of perceived exertion.
Your explanation of this has really helped me. Thanks man.