In the last couple of weeks, we’ve introduced the RPE scale when prescribing weights for our strength sessions. RPE (Rate of Perceived Exertion). It’s a flexible way of assigning weight to a workout without a strict percentage of your 1RM.
RPE is a way to measure training intensity by how you feel.
Developed by Swedish researcher Gunnar Borg in the 1960s, the RPE scale measures how hard you feel your body is working during physical activity. It’s a “subjective” measure, meaning it is personal to you on that specific day, taking into account muscle fatigue and overall strain.
The Simplified 1-10 RPE Scale:
- 1: Very light effort (e.g., walking, easy warmup)
- 2-3: Light effort (can hold a full conversation)
- 4-6: Moderate effort (breathing harder, can still talk)
- 7-8: Vigorous effort (borderline uncomfortable, brief sentences)
- 9: Very hard effort (heavy breathing, very hard to talk)
- 10: Maximal effort (impossible to maintain, “all-out” effort)
RPE allows you to practice autoregulation, which is the fancy term for modifying your workout intensity based on your current physical and mental state. You aren’t a robot. Factors like poor sleep, high stress, improper nutrition, or even different temperatures in the gym can make a standard workout feel much harder. RPE allows you to scale back on bad days to avoid overtraining and push harder on good days. By relying on RPE, you learn to read your body’s signals rather than just relying on an assigned weight.
You could use RPE as a guide for running, swimming, biking, anything you’re into that allows for a modulation in pace or intensity. In weightlifting, it is often paired with RIR (Reps in Reserve), which measures how many more repetitions you could have done before failing.
If our workout calls for 3 sets of 5 repetitions at an RPE of 8, choose a weight that feels heavy, but you could have done 2 more reps if you had to (RIR 2).
The RPE scale is a great tool to personalize your strength session. It empowers you to train smarter, avoid injury, and measure progress based on how you feel.
Train hard, train safe!
Ryan