Rate of Perceived Exertion (RPE) Explained

Discover how Rate of Perceived Exertion (RPE) helps tailor strength training to individual fatigue levels for smarter, more personalized training. Learn how combining RPE with Velocity-Based Training (VBT) improves efficiency and reduces injury risk.

By Travis Mash

Content menu:

Watch video here:

Introduction

In the effort to prescribe training to athletes with fatigue in mind, coaches have recently turned to two main sources: rate of perceived exertion (RPE) and velocity based training (VBT). While each has its own strengths, they offer different applications. RPE provides valuable insight into how an athlete feels during training, allowing for individualised adjustments. However, its subjective nature can present challenges, particularly with athletes who are still learning to accurately gauge their readiness. VBT, on the other hand, offers objective data that can help guide intensity and reduce uncertainty. . If you combine the two, you will have a way of coaching that takes fatigue into consideration and teaches athletes more about intent.

Understanding Rate of Perceived Exertion (RPE)

With added pressures that come with social media and technology, athletes are getting bombarded with stressors on top of the normal stress that humans have dealt with for hundreds of years stemming from work, relationships, and family. Using RPE allows us to evaluate the daily intent of our athletes while taking into consideration those outside stressors. This can be especially valuable when training conditions vary, such as during competitions or when an athlete is feeling under the weather.

Research suggests that athletes can vary in their 1-repetition maximums(1RMs) on a daily basis up or down 18%. Therefore, my intensity based on my 1RM can vary. If I want to prescribe 60% of an athlete’s 1RM for maximum power or 85% for absolute strength, that might not be the right call for that day’s fatigue levels. Therefore coaches needed a system to take these waving fatigue levels into consideration.

History and Development of RPE

RPE is a subjective measure of how hard you believe you’re working during exercise, essentially your personal assessment of effort. Developed by Swedish psychologist Gunnar Borg in the 1960s, the RPE scale (originally a 6-20 scale and more recently a 1-10 scale) has become a trusted mechanism for determining exercise intensity (Borg, 1982). Initially adopted by the endurance world, it has now crossed over to the world of strength and conditioning.

Rate of Perceived Exertion in the World of Strength

Mike Tuchscherer is a world champion powerlifter and now a coach. He’s credited with bringing the RPE scale over to the world of strength and conditioning. I spoke to him on a podcast years ago (Mike Tuchscherer on The Barbell Life Podcast), and he explained that typical periodization utilizes percentages to prescribe intensities on a daily basis and have all been shown to be fairly effective. Yet, he wanted something that would take daily fatigue levels into consideration.

These fatigue levels are taken into account with the RPE System. Below explains the RPE scale and its implementation.

How RPE is measured and used in training

After evolving from the original 6-20 scale, the 1-10 scale looked like:

RPE 10- Maximal Lift
RPE 9- One repetition is left in the tank
RPE 8- Two repetitions are left in the tank
RPE 7- Three repetitions are left
RPE 6- Four
REP 5- Five
RPE 4- Six
RPE 3- Seven
RPE 2- Eight
RPE 1- Nine

Lately, it has been altered to become more specific:

RPE 10- Maximal Lift
RPE 9.5 Could have gone heavier, but not another repetition.
RPE 9- One repetition is left in the tank
RPE 8.5 Two more repetition might be left in the tank
RPE 8- Two repetitions are definitely left in the tank
RPE 7.5 Three repetitions are possible left in the tank
RPE 7- Three repetitions are definitely left in the tank
RPE 6.5 Four repetitions are possibly left in the tank
RPE 6- Four repetitions are definitely left in the tank
REP 5- Five
RPE 4- Six
RPE 3- Seven
RPE 2- Eight
RPE 1- Nine

Mike and now several coaches around the world, will prescribe intensity with the RPE scale. For example, a 5RM back squat of 80% can be prescribed like this below:

⇒ Work to a 5RM at 7.5 RPE or a set where 3 reps are possibly left in the tank.

You could also tell your athletes to work up to a set of 5 reps at 7 RPE, and then perform four sets of 5. That would probably be around 78.5% on a good day, which I will explain later.

Subjective Nature of RPE

Obviously, the major consideration is the subjective nature of RPE. We’ve all seen the 1RM deadlifts that athletes are calling 7 RPE, and yet, it took the athlete ten seconds to stand up. I’m joking because that was in reference to me. Training age is the real consideration.

Training Age is an Important Consideration

Seasoned athletes with at least one year of heavy strength training seem to assign proper RPE descriptions to their sets with this accuracy growing with the number of years under the barbell increasing (Helms, Eric R., et al., 2016). One recommendation is to periodically test your athletes. Below is one way to teach your athletes how to gauge the RPE system.

For example, you have them work up to sets of 5 repetitions at an RPE of 7. When the athlete reaches that first set of 5 at 7 RPE, give them 3-5 minutes of rest, and then perform that same load for maximum repetitions. Then make note of how close the athlete was at guessing the number of repetitions in reserve. When the athlete starts hitting the mark on a consistent basis, you can allow them to use the RPE system as opposed to percentages. We will discuss how to use velocity based training to ensure this accuracy as well later in this article.

RPE is most suited for Hypertrophy, Strength and Endurance Training

Helms, Eric R., et al., 2016 found that RPE used with a reps in reserve foundation was highly accurate with sets at 6 RPE or higher, but became more and more inaccurate with lower RPE sets. Therefore, the biggest limitation for the RPE system is power and speed training. Most of that work is performed at 70% of an athlete’s 1RM or lighter.

However, hypertrophy, strength, and muscular endurance are all designed perfectly for using RPE due to their approximation to failure. All of these require the athlete to travel to a level of fatigue taking them to at least 3 reps away from failure.

However, VBT will be needed most for maximizing the power of an athlete. The further an athlete gets from 6-7 RPE, the less reliable they become. It’s just too hard to correctly pin point RPE’s below 6.

Practical Application of RPE

Instead of prescribing an athlete to perform a 5-Repetition Maximum(5RM) at 85%, you could tell the athlete to perform a 5RM at 9.5RPE. The athlete knows this is a heavy 5RM, but avoids a potential miss. I have created a cheat sheet of sorts to use in prescribing your own athletes below:

Overview of Velocity Based Training (VBT)

Now, let’s shift gears to Velocity Based Training. VBT focuses on measuring the speed of movement during resistance training. Rather than just lifting weights to failure, we can assess a lift’s velocity to optimize our training sessions. The idea here is that lifting at specific velocities correlates with different physiological adaptations, whether that’s strength, power, or hypertrophy (Baker, 2001).

Objective Feedback

VBT provides concrete data on each individual lift performance, allowing coaches to make informed decisions regarding intensity adjustments. If an athlete is lifting a particular intensity faster than normal, the coach might decide to push things a bit. Otherwise if the athlete is slower than normal, the coach might decide to pull back a bit in volume.

Injury Prevention

By tracking velocities, we can identify when an athlete’s performance drops, indicating fatigue. This helps prevent overtraining and injury. I wrote an article all about monitoring athletes for daily readiness that will explain this a bit better: “How Strength Coaches can monitor Athletes for Daily Readiness with Velocity”

Implementing VBT

I also wrote an article about several ways of implementing VBT in their current programs here: “5 Practical Uses of Velocity Based Training”

If you want to know more about VBT, you can check out this article to get the overall understanding: Velocity-Based Training.

Relationship Between RPE and VBT

So, where do RPE and VBT intersect? While RPE provides subjective feedback on how hard an athlete feels they’re working, VBT offers objective data on the speed of their lifts. When used together, they create a robust training methodology that caters to the athlete’s holistic experience.

As a coach, I have used RPE together with VBT to instill a sense of intent for my athletes. When they first start with me, they have no idea what I mean by saying “move the barbell quickly”. They don’t know what I mean when I say, “work up to a set of 5 reps that is close to failure”. VBT is a way of getting the athlete in tune with their own body versus having them take a set to failure periodically.

Combining RPE and VBT

Here’s how I blend these two approaches:

Use RPE to Inform VBT: If an athlete reports an RPE of 8 on a set, but their velocity is significantly faster than their goal range, it might indicate an insufficient understanding of a ‘heavy set or rep’, which is common. Especially when athletes are in their first couple of years with a barbell, they have no understanding of what a heavy set of back squats should feel like.
Velocity Indicating Readiness: Conversely, if an athlete feels fresh (RPE 5) yet the velocity is low, it could suggest that the weight is too heavy or the form is breaking down. More importantly, I know that this athlete needs VBT to avoid injuries. Young men are notorious for wanting to go heavy too often. I’m guilty, and I am 52-yrs old. Using VBT has allowed me to train hard, heavy, and explosive without getting hurt.
Adjusting Training Loads: By cross-referencing RPE and VBT data, I can adjust training loads to make sessions more effective and enjoyable for my athletes. Plus, I can help my athletes establish the ever-important mind-body awareness.

I have created a cheat sheet for Velocity as it intersects with RPE:

This chart is in reference to squatting. I use this very chart to prescribe to my own athletes. If you combine the two charts, then you can write a prescription like this:

“Work up to a 5RM at 8 RPE/81%/.49m/s”

I use this method to teach athletes about intent. They start to learn how an 8 RPE feels versus a 9 RPE and all the other possibilities. I explained this chart in detail in the video for this article, so definitely check that out.

RPE Case Study: Ryan Grimsland’s Program

I have used VBT and RPE along with predicted percentages for the last five years to program for my weightlifters. It has taught them to know exactly what an 8 RPE or 9 RPE feels like. Therefore, if they happen to be somewhere without velocity, they are still going to come really close to the intensity GymAware would have shown. Below are two examples of his programming prescription:

Ryan Grimsland strict press prescription

I created a table to reference the velocities at various RPEs for bench and deadlift as well:

Best use of VBT for RPE

In the first 1-2 years of an athlete performing resistance training, I recommend having them write their subjective RPE with every set. Then have them confirm their RPE rating with their GymAware RS or FLEX unit velocities. If they perform a 5-repetition back squat at a velocity of .6m/s and rate the set as an 8 RPE, they are still way off. However, if they rate that same set at 6 or less RPE, they’re getting it.

VBT vs RPE for Speed and Power

RPE simply becomes useless the more an athlete goes below a 6 RPE. If you want them to focus on strength speed, speed strength, starting strength, or power training in general, VBT becomes your tool of choice. Plus, like I explained in my article regarding compensatory acceleration, the only way an athlete will maximize their acceleration of the barbell is by using the immediate feedback offered by VBT.

Final Thoughts: RPE vs VBT pros and cons

It’s worth noting the strengths and weaknesses of both methods. RPE is invaluable for its subjectivity; athletes know their bodies better than anyone else. On the flip side, it can be influenced by mental factors, meaning on a bad day they might rate their efforts lower than they should. However, over time the RPE system can be used fairly effectively with hypertrophy, strength, and muscular endurance.

On the other hand, VBT offers a level of objectivity that RPE cannot provide alone. However, left alone, prescribing with velocity only will take longer to coach athletes on intent and how their body should feel with various intensities. Together they teach an athlete to understand intent and more importantly, their bodies.

Strength Speed Sets/Lower RPE Sets separate RPE and VBT the Most

Conclusion

We live in a world of blue light, cell phones, and social media. We can’t turn back the clock, but we can adapt to our present conditions. Using the RPE and VBT methodology allows us to meet athletes where they are on a daily basis. It also allows us to teach them about intent, while they learn about their own bodies. This will teach them lessons they can utilize for the rest of their lives.

References

Borg GA. Psychophysical bases of perceived exertion. Med Sci Sports Exerc. 1982;14(5):377-81. PMID: 7154893.
Hughes DC, Ellefsen S, Baar K. Adaptations to Endurance and Strength Training. Cold Spring Harb Perspect Med. 2018 Jun 1;8(6):a029769. doi: 10.1101/cshperspect.a029769. PMID: 28490537; PMCID: PMC5983157.
Behm DG, Sale DG. Velocity specificity of resistance training. Sports Med. 1993 Jun;15(6):374-88. doi: 10.2165/00007256-199315060-00003. PMID: 8341872.
Helms, Eric R. MS, CSCS1; Cronin, John PhD, CSCS1,2; Storey, Adam PhD1; Zourdos, Michael C. PhD, CSCS3. Application of the Repetitions in Reserve-Based Rating of Perceived Exertion Scale for Resistance Training. Strength and Conditioning Journal 38(4):p 42-49, August 2016. | DOI: 10.1519/SSC.0000000000000218

Travis Mash

Being a World Champion in powerlifting, Travis competed at a world-class level in Olympic weightlifting and has coached professional Olympic weightlifters alongside Don McCauley and Glenn Pendlay at Team MDUSA. Now Travis coaches the most successful weightlifting team in the USA.