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Rate of Perceived Exertion (RPE) Explained
How hard are you working out?
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Have you ever found yourself thinking about how hard a workout is when you’re in the middle of it? You may not even realise it’s happening – wondering how much effort you’ve put in and whether you’ve got more left in the tank to push further.
That entire self-reflective assessment goes by another, slightly more technical name: the rate of perceived exertion (RPE).
What is the Rate of Perceived Exertion?
The most important thing to understand is that your RPE is completely subjective – it’s different for everyone based on their own fitness levels and overall capabilities.
With that in mind, RPE can be defined as a subjective measure of exercise intensity.
Using a scale from 1 to 10 (with 1 being the least effort and 10 being the most effort), an individual makes an assessment on how much effort they are putting in at that particular moment.
What Factors can Influence RPE?
Your RPE can change from day to day or even at different times during an exercise session. Generally speaking, we can split the factors into two categories, physical and psychological:
Physical:
- Temperature (heat and humidity)
- Environment (terrain and gradient)
- Time (distance and duration)
- Fatigue
Psychological
- Motivation
- External (stress levels and distractions)
- Determination
- Fatigue
Why we use RPE in Exercise and Sports
As you can clearly see, an individual's RPE is constantly changing. One of the biggest benefits of the RPE scale is adaptation: changes can be made to training sessions that account for the physical and psychological factors while still challenging athletes.
For coaches, it’s also a quick way to gauge how athletes are feeling. Taking the focus away from specific benchmarks like personal bests or race splits creates an environment with significantly less pressure. Some days, the best you can do is simply show up!
How to Implement Rate of Perceived Exertion in Training
How you use RPE in your training will ultimately depend on your goals. If the external factors risk influencing traditional metrics too heavily then the RPE scale offers a simple alternative.
It’s also a great way of communicating effort between coaches and athletes – we all know what it means when we’re told to give 10/10 effort! This is especially useful for endurance athletes who can develop their discipline IQ as there are many times when a sprint finish makes all the difference.
Final thoughts
It’s always a good idea to monitor your exercise performance as it highlights a clear path to improvement. The same goes for exercise intensity – using the RPE scale allows athletes to make adjustments in the moment that don’t negatively impact long-term goals.
Fun - Honesty - SIMPLICITY - Smash Life - Mental Toughness - Hard Work
ENGINE
Working on building powerful, resilient legs. Expect a mix of heavy leg-focused strength work designed to improve muscular endurance and replicate race demands.
GYMNASTICS
This Tuesday we're going upside down with handstand holds and handstand push-ups, testing balance, strength, and control. Then, we’ll lock in that overhead power with strength work.
On Thursday, we’ll visit the bar for pull-up progressions! Strict, kipping, and butterfly will appear, followed by lat and core supersets.
HYROX
Working on building powerful, resilient legs. Expect a mix of heavy leg-focused strength work designed to improve muscular endurance and replicate race demands.
MOBILITY
Keeping on that hip mobility, we will work through the same drills as the previous week, but now start upgrading the strengthening drills. Making sure we keep everything locked in place!
PURE STRENGTH
This week in pure strength, we start the week with some weighted push-ups, followed by rest-pause sets on the bench press. On Wednesday, we are progressing the loading on our RDL max set.
WEIGHTLIFTING
This week, we are spending time working on the split jerk technique in weightlifting. Spicy complex of power clean, front squat, jerk. Finishing off with an EMOM power clean. Make sure not to miss out.
Monday Ride
A ride dedicated to group riding skills and some fitness. Coach Rob Foster leads this ride, if you'd like to join email Rob Foster
Start time: 05:59 am
Session Length: 1.5 hour
Location: The Loop Cafe, Bike DXB
Track Tuesday
Our weekly on track speed session! For any level of runner looking to build their run speed, threshold and Vo2max fitness and run with the best running community in Dubai.
Time: 05:59 am
Session Length: 1.5 hour
Location: Dubai Sports City Sports Park
Friday - Coffee Run
Our weekly tempo run. Sessions are built on an RPE scale and accessible to all levels of runner. We start together, run hard then finish together and chat about it over a coffee and breakfast.
Brief time: 05:54 am
Start time: 05:59 am
Start Location: Common Grounds
Saturday - Long Ride
Our weekly endurance ride.
Please email Rob Foster for more details.
Time: 05:59 am
Location: Bottom of the Stick, Al Qudra.
Monday
Time: 5:59pm
Location: InnerFight
Session: LRC Tempo
This week will be dialling into that Tempo effort (7/10 RPE) for 6 mins blocks. You will take a 1 min recovery after each block and repeat the sequence 5x.
Tuesday
Time: 5:59am
Location: Dubai Sports City Sports Park
Session: Track Tuesday
This is your chance to run fast with the wider IFE community and coaches. This week we will be running 400m repeats at 5km pace. After each 400m you get a 25sec rest.
Wednesday
Time: 5:59am & 5:59pm
Location: InnerFight
Session: LRC Intervals
Today we have intervals in the morning and evening. We will be running 800s and 400s. Try to run your 400m efforts slighly faster than you 800m efforts.
Friday
Time: 5:59am
Location: Common Grounds
Session: The Coffee Run
This week we will be doing hill repeats on the canal bridge. Efforts will be short and sharp, working on your power. 10-12X
20secs at 9/10;
2mins walk back to starting point.
WELCOME TO HELLLLL WEEKKKKKK!!!!
Relax. Pack your bags with whatever training kit you own, and come ready for everything we throw at you! It will be wild and hard, but you will get through it! Let's Gooooooo!!!!!
Monday:
We kick the week off with a partner WOD featuring the Assault bike and the Barbell and then a chance to max out your Power Clean!!
Tuesday:
Tuesday, everyone's favourite, heavy back squats! The workout will be an oh my legs and lungs type of feeling!
Wednesday:
Wednesday, we are pressing in the strength, giving you a chance of a 1 Rep Max. Strongman conditioning where the harder you work the more rest you will get!
Thursday:
A twist on a HERO workout where you will only be moving your body weight! Do not let that fool you!
Friday:
Friday will be one for the books! Heavy Barbells combined with some Box Jumps and Wall Walks into an AMRAP of something that will be sure to bring the fire to your legs!
Have you ever found yourself thinking about how hard a workout is when you’re in the middle of it? You may not even realise it’s happening – wondering how much effort you’ve put in and whether you’ve got more left in the tank to push further.
That entire self-reflective assessment goes by another, slightly more technical name: the rate of perceived exertion (RPE).
What is the Rate of Perceived Exertion?
The most important thing to understand is that your RPE is completely subjective – it’s different for everyone based on their own fitness levels and overall capabilities.
With that in mind, RPE can be defined as a subjective measure of exercise intensity.
Using a scale from 1 to 10 (with 1 being the least effort and 10 being the most effort), an individual makes an assessment on how much effort they are putting in at that particular moment.
What Factors can Influence RPE?
Your RPE can change from day to day or even at different times during an exercise session. Generally speaking, we can split the factors into two categories, physical and psychological:
Physical:
- Temperature (heat and humidity)
- Environment (terrain and gradient)
- Time (distance and duration)
- Fatigue
Psychological
- Motivation
- External (stress levels and distractions)
- Determination
- Fatigue
Why we use RPE in Exercise and Sports
As you can clearly see, an individual's RPE is constantly changing. One of the biggest benefits of the RPE scale is adaptation: changes can be made to training sessions that account for the physical and psychological factors while still challenging athletes.
For coaches, it’s also a quick way to gauge how athletes are feeling. Taking the focus away from specific benchmarks like personal bests or race splits creates an environment with significantly less pressure. Some days, the best you can do is simply show up!
How to Implement Rate of Perceived Exertion in Training
How you use RPE in your training will ultimately depend on your goals. If the external factors risk influencing traditional metrics too heavily then the RPE scale offers a simple alternative.
It’s also a great way of communicating effort between coaches and athletes – we all know what it means when we’re told to give 10/10 effort! This is especially useful for endurance athletes who can develop their discipline IQ as there are many times when a sprint finish makes all the difference.
Final thoughts
It’s always a good idea to monitor your exercise performance as it highlights a clear path to improvement. The same goes for exercise intensity – using the RPE scale allows athletes to make adjustments in the moment that don’t negatively impact long-term goals.
Fun - Honesty - SIMPLICITY - Smash Life - Mental Toughness - Hard Work
Monday Ride
A ride dedicated to group riding skills and some fitness. Coach Rob Foster leads this ride, if you'd like to join email Rob Foster
Start time: 05:59 am
Session Length: 1.5 hour
Location: The Loop Cafe, Bike DXB
Track Tuesday
Our weekly on track speed session! For any level of runner looking to build their run speed, threshold and Vo2max fitness and run with the best running community in Dubai.
Time: 05:59 am
Session Length: 1.5 hour
Location: Dubai Sports City Sports Park
Friday - Coffee Run
Our weekly tempo run. Sessions are built on an RPE scale and accessible to all levels of runner. We start together, run hard then finish together and chat about it over a coffee and breakfast.
Brief time: 05:54 am
Start time: 05:59 am
Start Location: Common Grounds
Saturday - Long Ride
Our weekly endurance ride.
Please email Rob Foster for more details.
Time: 05:59 am
Location: Bottom of the Stick, Al Qudra.
Monday
Time: 5:59pm
Location: InnerFight
Session: LRC Tempo
This week will be dialling into that Tempo effort (7/10 RPE) for 6 mins blocks. You will take a 1 min recovery after each block and repeat the sequence 5x.
Tuesday
Time: 5:59am
Location: Dubai Sports City Sports Park
Session: Track Tuesday
This is your chance to run fast with the wider IFE community and coaches. This week we will be running 400m repeats at 5km pace. After each 400m you get a 25sec rest.
Wednesday
Time: 5:59am & 5:59pm
Location: InnerFight
Session: LRC Intervals
Today we have intervals in the morning and evening. We will be running 800s and 400s. Try to run your 400m efforts slighly faster than you 800m efforts.
Friday
Time: 5:59am
Location: Common Grounds
Session: The Coffee Run
This week we will be doing hill repeats on the canal bridge. Efforts will be short and sharp, working on your power. 10-12X
20secs at 9/10;
2mins walk back to starting point.
WELCOME TO HELLLLL WEEKKKKKK!!!!
Relax. Pack your bags with whatever training kit you own, and come ready for everything we throw at you! It will be wild and hard, but you will get through it! Let's Gooooooo!!!!!
Monday:
We kick the week off with a partner WOD featuring the Assault bike and the Barbell and then a chance to max out your Power Clean!!
Tuesday:
Tuesday, everyone's favourite, heavy back squats! The workout will be an oh my legs and lungs type of feeling!
Wednesday:
Wednesday, we are pressing in the strength, giving you a chance of a 1 Rep Max. Strongman conditioning where the harder you work the more rest you will get!
Thursday:
A twist on a HERO workout where you will only be moving your body weight! Do not let that fool you!
Friday:
Friday will be one for the books! Heavy Barbells combined with some Box Jumps and Wall Walks into an AMRAP of something that will be sure to bring the fire to your legs!
ENGINE
Working on building powerful, resilient legs. Expect a mix of heavy leg-focused strength work designed to improve muscular endurance and replicate race demands.
GYMNASTICS
This Tuesday we're going upside down with handstand holds and handstand push-ups, testing balance, strength, and control. Then, we’ll lock in that overhead power with strength work.
On Thursday, we’ll visit the bar for pull-up progressions! Strict, kipping, and butterfly will appear, followed by lat and core supersets.
HYROX
Working on building powerful, resilient legs. Expect a mix of heavy leg-focused strength work designed to improve muscular endurance and replicate race demands.
MOBILITY
Keeping on that hip mobility, we will work through the same drills as the previous week, but now start upgrading the strengthening drills. Making sure we keep everything locked in place!
PURE STRENGTH
This week in pure strength, we start the week with some weighted push-ups, followed by rest-pause sets on the bench press. On Wednesday, we are progressing the loading on our RDL max set.
WEIGHTLIFTING
This week, we are spending time working on the split jerk technique in weightlifting. Spicy complex of power clean, front squat, jerk. Finishing off with an EMOM power clean. Make sure not to miss out.
Have you ever found yourself thinking about how hard a workout is when you’re in the middle of it? You may not even realise it’s happening – wondering how much effort you’ve put in and whether you’ve got more left in the tank to push further.
That entire self-reflective assessment goes by another, slightly more technical name: the rate of perceived exertion (RPE).
What is the Rate of Perceived Exertion?
The most important thing to understand is that your RPE is completely subjective – it’s different for everyone based on their own fitness levels and overall capabilities.
With that in mind, RPE can be defined as a subjective measure of exercise intensity.
Using a scale from 1 to 10 (with 1 being the least effort and 10 being the most effort), an individual makes an assessment on how much effort they are putting in at that particular moment.
What Factors can Influence RPE?
Your RPE can change from day to day or even at different times during an exercise session. Generally speaking, we can split the factors into two categories, physical and psychological:
Physical:
- Temperature (heat and humidity)
- Environment (terrain and gradient)
- Time (distance and duration)
- Fatigue
Psychological
- Motivation
- External (stress levels and distractions)
- Determination
- Fatigue
Why we use RPE in Exercise and Sports
As you can clearly see, an individual's RPE is constantly changing. One of the biggest benefits of the RPE scale is adaptation: changes can be made to training sessions that account for the physical and psychological factors while still challenging athletes.
For coaches, it’s also a quick way to gauge how athletes are feeling. Taking the focus away from specific benchmarks like personal bests or race splits creates an environment with significantly less pressure. Some days, the best you can do is simply show up!
How to Implement Rate of Perceived Exertion in Training
How you use RPE in your training will ultimately depend on your goals. If the external factors risk influencing traditional metrics too heavily then the RPE scale offers a simple alternative.
It’s also a great way of communicating effort between coaches and athletes – we all know what it means when we’re told to give 10/10 effort! This is especially useful for endurance athletes who can develop their discipline IQ as there are many times when a sprint finish makes all the difference.
Final thoughts
It’s always a good idea to monitor your exercise performance as it highlights a clear path to improvement. The same goes for exercise intensity – using the RPE scale allows athletes to make adjustments in the moment that don’t negatively impact long-term goals.
Fun - Honesty - SIMPLICITY - Smash Life - Mental Toughness - Hard Work
Monday
Time: 5:59pm
Location: InnerFight
Session: LRC Tempo
This week will be dialling into that Tempo effort (7/10 RPE) for 6 mins blocks. You will take a 1 min recovery after each block and repeat the sequence 5x.
Tuesday
Time: 5:59am
Location: Dubai Sports City Sports Park
Session: Track Tuesday
This is your chance to run fast with the wider IFE community and coaches. This week we will be running 400m repeats at 5km pace. After each 400m you get a 25sec rest.
Wednesday
Time: 5:59am & 5:59pm
Location: InnerFight
Session: LRC Intervals
Today we have intervals in the morning and evening. We will be running 800s and 400s. Try to run your 400m efforts slighly faster than you 800m efforts.
Friday
Time: 5:59am
Location: Common Grounds
Session: The Coffee Run
This week we will be doing hill repeats on the canal bridge. Efforts will be short and sharp, working on your power. 10-12X
20secs at 9/10;
2mins walk back to starting point.
WELCOME TO HELLLLL WEEKKKKKK!!!!
Relax. Pack your bags with whatever training kit you own, and come ready for everything we throw at you! It will be wild and hard, but you will get through it! Let's Gooooooo!!!!!
Monday:
We kick the week off with a partner WOD featuring the Assault bike and the Barbell and then a chance to max out your Power Clean!!
Tuesday:
Tuesday, everyone's favourite, heavy back squats! The workout will be an oh my legs and lungs type of feeling!
Wednesday:
Wednesday, we are pressing in the strength, giving you a chance of a 1 Rep Max. Strongman conditioning where the harder you work the more rest you will get!
Thursday:
A twist on a HERO workout where you will only be moving your body weight! Do not let that fool you!
Friday:
Friday will be one for the books! Heavy Barbells combined with some Box Jumps and Wall Walks into an AMRAP of something that will be sure to bring the fire to your legs!
ENGINE
Working on building powerful, resilient legs. Expect a mix of heavy leg-focused strength work designed to improve muscular endurance and replicate race demands.
GYMNASTICS
This Tuesday we're going upside down with handstand holds and handstand push-ups, testing balance, strength, and control. Then, we’ll lock in that overhead power with strength work.
On Thursday, we’ll visit the bar for pull-up progressions! Strict, kipping, and butterfly will appear, followed by lat and core supersets.
HYROX
Working on building powerful, resilient legs. Expect a mix of heavy leg-focused strength work designed to improve muscular endurance and replicate race demands.
MOBILITY
Keeping on that hip mobility, we will work through the same drills as the previous week, but now start upgrading the strengthening drills. Making sure we keep everything locked in place!
PURE STRENGTH
This week in pure strength, we start the week with some weighted push-ups, followed by rest-pause sets on the bench press. On Wednesday, we are progressing the loading on our RDL max set.
WEIGHTLIFTING
This week, we are spending time working on the split jerk technique in weightlifting. Spicy complex of power clean, front squat, jerk. Finishing off with an EMOM power clean. Make sure not to miss out.
Monday Ride
A ride dedicated to group riding skills and some fitness. Coach Rob Foster leads this ride, if you'd like to join email Rob Foster
Start time: 05:59 am
Session Length: 1.5 hour
Location: The Loop Cafe, Bike DXB
Track Tuesday
Our weekly on track speed session! For any level of runner looking to build their run speed, threshold and Vo2max fitness and run with the best running community in Dubai.
Time: 05:59 am
Session Length: 1.5 hour
Location: Dubai Sports City Sports Park
Friday - Coffee Run
Our weekly tempo run. Sessions are built on an RPE scale and accessible to all levels of runner. We start together, run hard then finish together and chat about it over a coffee and breakfast.
Brief time: 05:54 am
Start time: 05:59 am
Start Location: Common Grounds
Saturday - Long Ride
Our weekly endurance ride.
Please email Rob Foster for more details.
Time: 05:59 am
Location: Bottom of the Stick, Al Qudra.
Have you ever found yourself thinking about how hard a workout is when you’re in the middle of it? You may not even realise it’s happening – wondering how much effort you’ve put in and whether you’ve got more left in the tank to push further.
That entire self-reflective assessment goes by another, slightly more technical name: the rate of perceived exertion (RPE).
What is the Rate of Perceived Exertion?
The most important thing to understand is that your RPE is completely subjective – it’s different for everyone based on their own fitness levels and overall capabilities.
With that in mind, RPE can be defined as a subjective measure of exercise intensity.
Using a scale from 1 to 10 (with 1 being the least effort and 10 being the most effort), an individual makes an assessment on how much effort they are putting in at that particular moment.
What Factors can Influence RPE?
Your RPE can change from day to day or even at different times during an exercise session. Generally speaking, we can split the factors into two categories, physical and psychological:
Physical:
- Temperature (heat and humidity)
- Environment (terrain and gradient)
- Time (distance and duration)
- Fatigue
Psychological
- Motivation
- External (stress levels and distractions)
- Determination
- Fatigue
Why we use RPE in Exercise and Sports
As you can clearly see, an individual's RPE is constantly changing. One of the biggest benefits of the RPE scale is adaptation: changes can be made to training sessions that account for the physical and psychological factors while still challenging athletes.
For coaches, it’s also a quick way to gauge how athletes are feeling. Taking the focus away from specific benchmarks like personal bests or race splits creates an environment with significantly less pressure. Some days, the best you can do is simply show up!
How to Implement Rate of Perceived Exertion in Training
How you use RPE in your training will ultimately depend on your goals. If the external factors risk influencing traditional metrics too heavily then the RPE scale offers a simple alternative.
It’s also a great way of communicating effort between coaches and athletes – we all know what it means when we’re told to give 10/10 effort! This is especially useful for endurance athletes who can develop their discipline IQ as there are many times when a sprint finish makes all the difference.
Final thoughts
It’s always a good idea to monitor your exercise performance as it highlights a clear path to improvement. The same goes for exercise intensity – using the RPE scale allows athletes to make adjustments in the moment that don’t negatively impact long-term goals.
Fun - Honesty - SIMPLICITY - Smash Life - Mental Toughness - Hard Work
Have you ever found yourself thinking about how hard a workout is when you’re in the middle of it? You may not even realise it’s happening – wondering how much effort you’ve put in and whether you’ve got more left in the tank to push further.
That entire self-reflective assessment goes by another, slightly more technical name: the rate of perceived exertion (RPE).
What is the Rate of Perceived Exertion?
The most important thing to understand is that your RPE is completely subjective – it’s different for everyone based on their own fitness levels and overall capabilities.
With that in mind, RPE can be defined as a subjective measure of exercise intensity.
Using a scale from 1 to 10 (with 1 being the least effort and 10 being the most effort), an individual makes an assessment on how much effort they are putting in at that particular moment.
What Factors can Influence RPE?
Your RPE can change from day to day or even at different times during an exercise session. Generally speaking, we can split the factors into two categories, physical and psychological:
Physical:
- Temperature (heat and humidity)
- Environment (terrain and gradient)
- Time (distance and duration)
- Fatigue
Psychological
- Motivation
- External (stress levels and distractions)
- Determination
- Fatigue
Why we use RPE in Exercise and Sports
As you can clearly see, an individual's RPE is constantly changing. One of the biggest benefits of the RPE scale is adaptation: changes can be made to training sessions that account for the physical and psychological factors while still challenging athletes.
For coaches, it’s also a quick way to gauge how athletes are feeling. Taking the focus away from specific benchmarks like personal bests or race splits creates an environment with significantly less pressure. Some days, the best you can do is simply show up!
How to Implement Rate of Perceived Exertion in Training
How you use RPE in your training will ultimately depend on your goals. If the external factors risk influencing traditional metrics too heavily then the RPE scale offers a simple alternative.
It’s also a great way of communicating effort between coaches and athletes – we all know what it means when we’re told to give 10/10 effort! This is especially useful for endurance athletes who can develop their discipline IQ as there are many times when a sprint finish makes all the difference.
Final thoughts
It’s always a good idea to monitor your exercise performance as it highlights a clear path to improvement. The same goes for exercise intensity – using the RPE scale allows athletes to make adjustments in the moment that don’t negatively impact long-term goals.
Fun - Honesty - SIMPLICITY - Smash Life - Mental Toughness - Hard Work
One-Hour Workout: Revving Your Swim Engine
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