Trainers Say This 'Universal Tool' Can Help Anyone Improve Their Fitness
Whether you’re getting in mileage to prepare for a half marathon or at the gym trying to beat your squat personal best, odds are you’ve heard (or read) the term RPE during your training. And while you might have the gist of its meaning—RPE stands for rate of perceived exertion, after all—there's so much more to know about the scale and how it can help you perform your best.
A popular reference point for trainers and instructors alike, RPE (in the most basic terms) is for determining how much effort you’re putting forth while exercising, explains Meg Takacs, NASM-CPT, an RRCA-certified running coach and CrossFit trainer. RPE is typically measured on a one to 10 scale, with one being no effort and 10 being an all-out feeling.
Meet the experts: Gordon Bakoulis is an RRCA-certified running coach with the New York Road Runners. She has qualified for several Olympic marathon trials and has run more than 35 marathons. Meg Takacs, NASM-CPT, is an RRCA-certified running coach and CrossFit trainer. She is also the founder of guided audio coaching app Run With Meg.
Yup, RPE Is based on “feel,” explains Gordon Bakoulis, an RRCA-certified running coach with the New York Road Runners and multiple Olympic Trials qualifier. “It’s self-monitored,” Bakoulis explains. “It’s one’s own sense of how hard one is working." RPE is a “universal tool,” which means it can be used by any gender and at all ages, no equipment necessary.
It’s important to use RPE when tracking your workouts because there are so many variables that can affect your performance day-to-day: weather, soreness, nutrition, hydration, mood, and more, Bakoulis says. What weight, speed, or distance feels like an all-out effort one day might feel easier the next, depending on all these factors. Using RPE helps you take all aspects into account—making your training more personal to you and helping you build fitness in a healthy, injury-free progression.
Want to learn more about RPE, what it is, and how to measure it in your own efforts? Keep reading for all you need to know on using rate of perceived exertion right, according to expert trainers and coaches.
How To Measure RPE
RPE is measured on a scale of one to 10 and is largely based on feel. That said, sometimes the word “feel” is vague, so you can also think of it like this: One of the easiest ways to gauge how you feel is your heart rate, Takacs says. This means that the lower your heart rate, you're probably using less energy/effort to complete your workout, she adds. The higher your heart rate, the more likely it is that you’re working your butt off and at a higher number on that scale. Are you following?
If you don’t wear a heart rate monitoring device while you work out, no problem. You can also base RPE off of the messages your body sends you, Bakoulis says, answering these key questions:
Are your legs super sore, making it difficult to move?
Is there an aggressive wind or rain (or other weather) that’s inhibiting your body from moving quickly?
Did your job drain your energy levels today?
All of these answers are valid measures of exertion and contribute to your overall feel, which means they factor into accurately judging RPE.
The RPE Scale
In addition to knowing that a workout feels “hard” or “easy,” there’s a specific scale of measurement for RPE, according to Bakoulis. You can use this scale to correctly gauge your intensity and compare the feel of different sessions:
1-3 RPE: For starters, level one is the equivalent of lying on the couch relaxing. Anything above this is a very low, easy effort. It might be a resting interval between harder workout efforts so that you can catch your breath before starting again, for example.
4-6 RPE: This is a mid-range and what Bakoulis calls “somewhat difficult” or “comfortably hard.” It can be used for a recovery interval or a slow-paced workout that you'd do on an easy exercise day. Ultimately, it should be an effort level that you could maintain for a longer time period if need be, and you should also be able to hold a conversation at this RPE.
7-9 RPE: Here is where things get certifiably “hard,” Bakoulis says, with level 9 being an extremely difficult, all-out effort. Your heart rate is high, you’re heavy breathing, and you might feel lactic acid (AKA, soreness) building up in your body from the strain. Think of this like a sprint, lifting your max weight, biking up an enormous hill, etc.
10 RPE: This is your complete exhaustion-level effort, which you’d only hit during the end of a race, a competition, or a personal best lifting test. It’s the feeling of totally debilitating your body. “When you’re at a 10, you cannot possibly push your body any harder,” Bakoulis says.
Benefits Of RPE
Now that you’re more up-to-date on RPE and the various ways you can use it to measure the efforts of your workouts, it’s time to get into the specific benefits. The following are reasons why RPE is an ideal metric for tracking your fitness goals, per expert trainers.
You can easily measure your effort level. There is a high correlation between a person’s RPE rating and their actual heart rate, making it a great indicator of how much effort you’re putting forth in a workout without having pro tools alongside you to measure, reports the Center for Disease Control.
It could help heart health. If you have a heart condition that requires you to be on heart medication, odds are your doctor will tell you to monitor your heart rate regularly, especially during exercise. The RPE scale is a great way to ensure you’re not dangerously overextending while still getting in the exercise you need, studies indicate.
There’s less risk of injury. “You increase your risk of injury by doing more intense exercise,” Takacs says. With RPE, you can better gauge your efforts, keeping them at a more manageable intensity so that you don’t overexert yourself and get hurt.
It accounts for your environment. “Doing an eight-minute mile uphill is going to feel way different than going at an eight-minute pace on flat ground,” Bakoulis says. RPE accounts for the way your immediate environment or daily bodily conditions can impact the way a workout goes, whereas simply going by pace, mileage, weight, or reps does not.
Limitations Of RPE
While there are tons of benefits to using RPE during your workouts, there are also a few limitations to the metric that you should note. Some of the possible drawbacks look out for include:
It can derail your strategy. Whether you’re running in a long race or getting started on a tough lifting session, you might feel compelled to go harder from the beginning because you feel “good” and “fresh” at the start of a workout, Takacs says. This is where listening to your body has its limits—you don’t want to deplete all your energy for exertion too early. Be smart with your strategy and go slower than you need to at the beginning of a longer, drawn out effort to ensure you can actually make it to the finish.
Newbies get annoyed at a lower RPE. Look, it makes sense if you really want to feel the intensity of your workouts by exerting yourself at a high RPE every time. But contrary to what you might think, spending more time at a lower RPE is actually what helps you increase your performance by building your base fitness level, Takacs says. So, don’t skip out on those easier workout days—they’re just as important as high RPE sessions.
It may not be as accurate as technology. Of course, going off of what your body feels may not be as accurate as having a high-powered watch that can tell you on-point metrics like your heart rate zone, VO2 max, exact pace, sleep level, recovery recommendations, and more. However, “RPE empowers people,” Bakoulis explains. There is something to be said for going off of what feels best for your body (which people so often ignore…), regardless of what a fitness tracker indicates.
How To Use RPE During Workouts
All the ins and outs of RPE can still sound a bit theoretical, and you’re probably ready to learn exactly how to use it IRL during your various workouts. Here are some examples of what kind of RPE level might be best for your specific session…
Strength Training: When it comes to strength-based workouts, “go for the low-hanging fruit first,” explains Takacs. This means that you want to start in a low RPE zone (anywhere from 1-3 to 4-6) before building up into harder efforts (7-9) toward the end of your workout to build strength gradually. You can cool down and stretch at the resting RPE to finish. This applies to workouts like: weight lifting, fitness classes, yoga, rock climbing, and similar.
Speed Work: For a speed-based workout, you want to start your RPE out low by doing a warm up (that might include skips, strides, dynamic stretches, jogging, etc.) at a relaxed level, around 4-6 on the RPE scale, Bakoulis says. You’ll then get into that 7-9 range when you’re doing your actual speed work. (And FYI, during the rest intervals of your speed work you’ll want to go back to that relaxed RPE.) After you’ve finished your speed workout you will cool down at a low RPE once again. Speed work might include workouts like: running, biking, indoor cycling, swimming, and HIIT.
Building Endurance: You can’t maximize your endurance without working out at a lower intensity, Takacs says. This means that endurance based workouts will usually mean you’re working at a lower RPE (the 4-6 range) for most of the session,. You also might work out for a longer duration. Toward the end of your workout you will likely creep into that higher RPE range as your energy depletes. As always, you can cool down in that lowest RPE range to ease into recovery mode. Endurance workouts might include: running, biking, swimming, walking, and similar.
Bottom line: RPE means rate of perceived exertion, and it's often used during a variety of workouts to recognize the level of effort you put into an exercise, experts say. It can be an empowering training tool for people of all ages and genders.
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