What Is RPE? Rate Of Perceived Exertion, Explained By Fitness Experts

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. Gabrielle Savary, CPT, is a trainer, bodybuilding champion, creator of Grow With Gab, and a member of the Strength In Diversity class of 2024.

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, according to trainers and coaches.

How To Measure RPE

RPE entails rating your effort during exercise on a scale from one to ten. It’s a subjective measurement, which might make determining your exact number a little tricky, but there’s a few factors that can help. One of the easiest ways to gauge your RPE is to pay attention to your heart rate, Takacs says. If your heart rate is lower, you’re probably using less energy and effort to complete your workout, she explains. Meanwhile, 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.

Where RPE Originated: RPE is actually an updated (and simpler) take on the original Borg Rate of Perceived Exertion scale, which went from six to 20 and was much more correlated with heart rate, says Gabrielle Savary, CPT, a trainer, bodybuilding champion, and creator of Grow With Gab. For example, being at a six—correlated to the updated RPE scale’s one—meant that your heart rate was close to 60, being at a seven meant your heart rate was at a 70, and so on. That being said, you don’t need to know your exact heart rate in order to know your RPE on a scale from one to 10.

Here are some physical cues to pay attention to that can help you understand just how hard your body is working, says Savary:

• Is your heart rate slightly elevated—or even pounding?
• Can you hold a conversation, or is your breath too labored?
• 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?

The RPE Scale

You’ve definitely rated things on a scale from one to 10 before—whether it was your pain at the doctor’s office or your satisfaction on a feedback survey—here’s a breakdown of what it looks like when you apply that same method to working out.

• 1-3 RPE: For starters, level one is the equivalent of lying on the couch relaxing. Once you are off the couch, though, levels two and three are still very low, easy efforts. This RPE might look like a resting interval between harder workout efforts so that you can catch your breath before starting again, or a leisurely stroll around your block.
• 4-6 RPE: Think of this section of the scale as “somewhat difficult” or “comfortably hard,” says Bakoulis. It can be used for a recovery interval or a slow-paced workout that you’d do on an easy exercise day, such as an elliptical jog or slow stair stepper walk. 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 breathing heavily, and you might feel soreness building up in your body from the strain. Think of this like a sprint, lifting your max weight, or biking up an enormous hill.

• 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. “When you’re at a 10, you cannot possibly push your body any harder,” Bakoulis says.

How To Use RPE During Workouts

Anyone—from a beginner looking to get better body awareness, to a seasoned lifter who wants to push themselves to the next level—can benefit from using RPE, says Savary. Want to give it a try? These are the best times to use RPE, and what number on the scale you should be shooting for, depending on your activity.

• Strength training: When it comes to strength-based workouts, you should 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, says Takacs. For example, when you’re doing a lifting session, you’ll likely stretch and warm up with lighter weights first, so your movement will probably garner an RPE from 1-6. But then, when you’re lifting your heaviest weights, your RPE will likely spike to a 7-9. You can cool down and stretch at the resting RPE to finish. This applies to workouts like: weight lifting, fitness classes, yoga, and rock climbing.

• 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, cycling, swimming, and HIIT.

• Building endurance: Endurance workouts typically train your ability to work out for longer durations, but lower intensities, Takacs says. For those longer workouts, say, easy or long runs that you do at a slower pace, you can’t go full-force into your highest RPE—like you would with a sprint—because you won’t be able to maintain that effort for very long. This means that during endurance-based workouts, you should be working at a lower RPE (the 4-6 range), but toward the end of your workout, you’ll likely creep into that higher RPE range as your energy depletes. As always, you’ll then cool down in that lowest RPE range to ease into recovery mode. Endurance workouts might include: running, biking, swimming, and walking.

Benefits Of RPE

• You can easily measure your effort level. Using RPE is a quick and easy way to gauge the intensity of an exercise, making it a great indicator of how much effort you’re putting forth in a workout without having pro tools alongside you to measure, says Savary.

• It helps you find your training sweet spot. Being aware of your effort will help you turn the heat up or down so that you can hit your goals. “Most people tend to underwork by not pushing themselves enough, which results in not seeing any progress, and there’s other people who overwork and just go all out every single session and they’re burning themselves out,” says Savary. “So using this RPE measurement tool is a good way to help you find the sweet spot.”

• 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. Because it’s all about how you feel, 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 workouts, there are also a few possible drawbacks:

• It might be difficult to hold yourself to 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’s not 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.

All in all, RPE can be a helpful fitness tool to reach your goals. Give it a shot, and if it works for you, it might help you level up your fitness game even more.

Madeline Howard is a writer, editor, and creative based in Brooklyn. Her work has been published in Esquire, Nylon, Cosmopolitan, and other publications. Amongst other things, she was formerly an editor at Women’s Health. Subscribe to her newsletter ‘hey howie’ at madelinehoward.substack.com.

Olivia Luppino is an editorial assistant at Women’s Health. She spends most of her time interviewing expert sources about the latest fitness trends, nutrition tips, and practical advice for living a healthier life. Olivia previously wrote for New York Magazine’s The Cut, PS (formerly POPSUGAR), and Salon, where she also did on-camera interviews with celebrity guests. She’s currently training for her first half marathon, inspired by her many colleagues at WH who have run one.