Maximize your Workouts with RPE

How many times have you finished a set at the gym and thought to yourself, "that was a tough set?" Now, try to recall how many times you've thought, "in that set, I felt like I had 2 reps till failure." The difference between an individual who says the latter is that they continue to see gains while the former will only meet plateaus.

What is RPE?

RPE stands for Rating of Perceived Exertion, which is a subjective measure of how close you are to failure. Failure is when the bar or other weighted implement ceases to move and you hope that someone is behind you to offer a spot. Don't worry, its unnecessary to try and reach failure every set to maximize gains, as this strategy is almost certain to bury you in fatigue.

How to use RPE:

RPE is a scale from 1-10, with 10 being muscular failure. Every digit below 10 is another rep that is left in the tank (AKA Rep in Reserve - RIR). If this is starting to feel like unnecessary technical jargon, lets break it down even farther.

RPE 9 = 1 Rep in the tank

RPE 8 = 2 Reps in the tank

RPE 7 = 3 Reps in the tank

& so on...

Why do we use RPE?

Now that you understand what RPE is, lets go over why it's important. Effective training relies on systematic progression to yield results. Our bodies are intelligent and require that we do MORE each week to see continued results. This phenomenon is known as Progressive Overload. If you are not keeping track of what you are doing, then it makes it nearly impossible to progress, and I can almost guarantee that your fitness journey will be an uphill battle. Therefore, keeping track of variables such as RPE will make it easier to know when to progress. For example, if you perform a program at RPE 7, and then perform another program at RPE 8, you will have progressed. On the contrary, if you rely on feel and get after it some days, and mess around on others your progress will not be linear. RPE gives you the knowledge you need to hold you accountable to push on days you may not want to.

Okay, but what RPE Should I Train at?

If you are an absolute novice, a good place to start is RPE 5-6, staying far enough from failure so you can allow your body to learn the form and build a strong movement foundation. If you are a beginner/ intermediate with more than a few months of quality training under your belt, then a good place to be is RPE 7-9. Advanced trainees will use a wide range of RPE's dependent on their Training Block.

Keep up the good work and remember that Consistency + Effort combined with intelligent training leads to improved Performance.