What is RPE and why do we use it?
We use a simple method called “RPE” (Rating of perceived exertion). Rate of perceived exertion (RPE) is a scale from 1-10 that’s used to measure how hard your body works during physical activity. Research shows that you attain great results by training at roughly 8-9/10 on the RPE scale. This is near max efforts but not needing to actually reach total failure to do so. This makes sense because you can’t expect your body to go all out every single time you workout but you still need to work hard enough to stimulate your body.
RPE can be a valuable tool in small group exercise classes for several reasons:
Individualization: It allows participants to adjust the intensity of their workout to their own fitness level and how they feel on a particular day.
Motivation: RPE can help participants stay motivated by providing a clear goal (e.g., aiming for an RPE of 7.5 during a certain exercise).
Feedback: It provides instructors with valuable feedback on how participants are responding to the workout. This can help them adjust the difficulty level or modify exercises as needed.
Progression: Tracking RPE over time can help participants see their progress and set new goals.
Here’s an example of how we use RPE in our workouts:
We’ll use a small group training scenario: The first exercise on the board is Squats 3 sets x 8 reps. If you’re new to strength training you won’t know how much you can lift, let alone how much for a given rep prescription. So you try to do 20lbs goblet squats for 8 reps because the instructor suggests that’s a good starting point. It felt very easy, it felt like you could do 5 more reps or even more. You rate the set an RPE of 5/10. Now we know we should increase the weights until we find a weight in which 8 reps feels like at least 8/10 RPE. Your next set you try to increase the weight to 30lbs for 8 reps. Now this is getting relatively heavier, but you still can do maybe 1 or 2 more reps if you really gave it your all. You give it an 8/10 RPE.
As mentioned in the intro, we generally recommend an RPE of ~8/10 but how are you supposed to know when it feels like an 8/10? Good question.
Some people are great at auto-regulating their bodies and the perception of exertion comes naturally. For most however, it’s safe to say that a workout set taken to muscular failure is a 10/10 RPE. This is because you put 100% effort and physically can’t move the weight with proper form. So back to our 8 rep example, a weight that you can’t lift more than 8 reps of is your 10/10 RPE. Again that feels like We recommend going just shy of that. We call it “leaving a couple reps left in the tank”.
A few final thoughts to note:
The RPE is relative to every rep, set and exercise scheme. We used the example of 8 reps, but the same rules apply if we were selecting a weight for 5 reps or 20 reps.
There may be specific exercises or protocols that require lower RPE or maximal RPE. For example: sometimes going to 10/10 failure can push you through a plateau, but doing it every workout can come at a cost of higher injury risk or burnout. On the other hand, there may be some exercises such as warm ups or even corrective exercises that are meant to be much lower RPE (~5/10).