Rating of perceived exertion (RPE)

Rating of perceived exertion (RPE) is a client’s score of how hard exercise feels.^{1Ozemek et al., ACSM’s Guidelines for Exercise Testing and Prescription, 12th ed., p. 206.} Borg’s original RPE scale runs from 6 (no exertion at all) to 20 (maximal exertion), while the category-ratio scale runs from 0 to 10.^{1Ozemek et al., ACSM’s Guidelines for Exercise Testing and Prescription, 12th ed., p. 206.} Picture-based OMNI scales cover different ages and exercise types.^{1Ozemek et al., ACSM’s Guidelines for Exercise Testing and Prescription, 12th ed., p. 206.} In resistance training, the NSCA describes the 1 to 10 OMNI-Resistance Exercise Scale as the most common, with each step representing roughly a 10% increase within the client’s RM.^{2Schoenfeld and Snarr (eds.), NSCA’s Essentials of Personal Training, 3rd ed., p. 420.}

RPE correlates strongly with heart rate and blood lactate, but individual responses vary considerably at a given score, so ratings shouldn’t be compared between clients or exercise types.^{1Ozemek et al., ACSM’s Guidelines for Exercise Testing and Prescription, 12th ed., p. 206.}

How do trainers use RPE?

Explain the scale carefully; ACSM considers that explanation central to accurate reporting.^{1Ozemek et al., ACSM’s Guidelines for Exercise Testing and Prescription, 12th ed., p. 206.} New clients may misjudge the top end because they’ve never worked maximally: a deconditioned client might rate 60% of heart rate reserve as maximal.^{3Schoenfeld and Snarr (eds.), NSCA’s Essentials of Personal Training, 3rd ed., p. 446.}

Pair RPE with heart rate when assessing training intensity, since the same client might report a 7 on a bike and a 9 on a treadmill at 80% of target heart rate.^{3Schoenfeld and Snarr (eds.), NSCA’s Essentials of Personal Training, 3rd ed., p. 446.} RPE also helps when medication or illness makes heart rate unreliable.^{3Schoenfeld and Snarr (eds.), NSCA’s Essentials of Personal Training, 3rd ed., p. 446.}

For lifting, Helms and colleagues use a scale based on reps in reserve: the rating reflects how close the set ended to failure, and 10 means no more reps or load were possible.^{4Helms et al., The Muscle & Strength Pyramid: Training, 2nd ed., p. 64.}