How Hard Should I Exercise [RPE] s1
HOW HARD SHOULD I EXERCISE?
Rate of Perceived Exertion (RPE) Scale
The RPE Chart Subjectively Measures Your Intensity :
The RPE CHART above is used to indicate HOW HARD an exercise FEELS.
It is most useful to determine a given percentage of effort (how hard you are working).
It can also be used as a rough guide for heart rate training without using a heart rate monitor (certain populations cannot use heart rate monitors). Use the “your personal RP rating” boxes if you have been given target heart rates (supervised course), otherwise see the guidelines below:
The Resistance Rating:
Use this to determine how heavy a weight on a 1-10 scale. This usually correlates well with % repetition max or a given percentage of your maximum weight.
Therefore if a weight feels like a ‘5’ it will closely correlate with 50% of your maximum strength or what we call 50% RM (repetition max). Therefore if you see recommendations for what weight to use as a % of RM, you can use this chart to find it.
As a general guideline aim for around a 5 if you are unaccustomed to weights and 6-8 if you are a regular exerciser.
Metabolic Fitness (cardio) Rating:
Although you can use the ‘resistance rating – 1-10’ for cardio as well, using the 6-20 scale closely correlates to an exercise heart rate.
To find a heart rate, simply add a ‘0’ to the number. So if you are advise to exercise at say 150 beats per minute, you can use this scale exercising to a rating of ‘15’.
How Hard It Feels: is a subjective rating that helps you determine which number to use. For conditioning aim between 11-14 and for power 16-18 on the cardio scale.
Download RPE Scale and print to use whilst exercising.