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Customer Service 1-888-707-1880 Dyaco Canada Inc. 2021
Email: [email protected]
RATE OF PERCEIVED EXERTION
Heart rate is important but listening to your body also has a lot of advantages. There are more variables
involved in how hard you should workout than just heart rate. Your stress level, physical health, emotional
health, temperature, humidity, the time of day, the last time you ate and what you ate, all contribute to the
intensity at which you should workout. If you listen to your body, it will tell you all of these things.
The rate of perceived exertion (RPE), also known as the Borg scale, was developed by Swedish physiologist
G.A.V. Borg. This scale rates exercise intensity from 6 to 20 depending upon how you feel or the perception
of your effort.
The scale is as follows:
Rating Perception of Effort
6 Minimal
7 Very, very light
8 Very, very light +
9 Very light
10 Very light +
11 Fairly light
12 Comfortable
13 Somewhat hard
14 Somewhat hard +
15 Hard
16 Hard +
17 Very hard
18 Very hard +
19 Very, very hard
20 Maximal
You can get an approximate heart rate level for each rating by simply adding a zero to each rating. For
example, a rating of 12 will result in an approximate heart rate of 120 beats per minute. Your RPE will vary
depending up the factors discussed earlier. That is the major benefit of this type of training. If your body is
strong and rested, you will feel strong and your pace will feel easier. When your body is in this condition,
you are able to train harder and the RPE will support this. If you are feeling tired and sluggish, it is because
your body needs a break. In this condition, your pace will feel harder. Again, this will show up in your RPE
and you will train at the proper level for that day.
