Rating of Perceived Exertion Property

The Rating of Perceived Exertion (RPE) Property allows coaches and athletes to prescribe, record, and analyze the subjective difficulty of an exercise, training session, or physical activity.

RPE is one of the most widely used athlete monitoring metrics because it captures how hard an athlete feels they are working, regardless of the actual weight, distance, speed, or duration performed.

This property is commonly used in strength training, conditioning, endurance sports, rehabilitation, and athlete monitoring programs.

What Does the RPE Property Record?

The RPE property stores an athlete's perceived level of effort for an exercise or session.

Rather than measuring external work, RPE measures the athlete's internal experience of that work.

Examples include:

• Strength training sets
• Conditioning sessions
• Running workouts
• Rehabilitation exercises
• Team practices
• Competition events

What is RPE?

RPE stands for Rating of Perceived Exertion.

It allows athletes to answer a simple question:

"How hard did that feel?"

The higher the number, the harder the effort.

Common RPE Scale

Most organizations use a 1–10 scale.

RPE in Strength Training

RPE is frequently used to prescribe and autoregulate resistance training.

Example

Back Squat

• 4 Sets × 5 Reps
• RPE 8

The athlete selects a weight that feels like an RPE 8 effort.

An RPE 8 generally indicates the athlete could perform approximately 2 additional repetitions if required.

Repetitions in Reserve (RIR)

Many strength coaches associate RPE with Repetitions in Reserve.

This allows athletes to adjust training loads based on daily readiness.

RPE in Conditioning and Endurance Training

RPE can also be used to prescribe aerobic and conditioning intensity.

Example

Tempo Run

• Duration: 20 Minutes
• Target RPE: 7

The athlete adjusts pace to maintain a perceived effort of approximately 7 out of 10.

Recovery Example

Recovery Bike

• Duration: 30 Minutes
• Target RPE: 3

The athlete maintains an easy effort throughout the session.

How Athletes Enter RPE

Athletes typically enter RPE immediately after completing an exercise or session.

Example

These values can then be used for reporting and workload calculations.

RPE and Session Load

One of the most common uses of RPE within CoachMePlus is calculating Session RPE Load.

Formula

Session Load = RPE × Duration

Example

Session Load:

420 AU

(Arbitrary Units)

This calculated value can then be used in:

• RPE Assessments
• Acute Load Monitoring
• Chronic Load Monitoring
• Training Stress Balance Assessments

How RPE is Used in Reporting

The RPE property can be analyzed throughout CoachMePlus dashboards and reports.

Common analyses include:

Average RPE

Average perceived effort over a selected period.

Maximum RPE

Highest reported effort.

RPE Trends

Track changes in perceived exertion over time.

Workload Monitoring

Combine RPE with duration to evaluate internal load.

Readiness Analysis

Compare RPE responses against performance metrics and recovery indicators.

Common Use Cases

Strength Training

Autoregulate training intensity based on athlete readiness.

Endurance Training

Prescribe effort levels independent of pace or heart rate.

Team Sports

Monitor practice and competition intensity.

Tactical Performance

Track internal workload during military, law enforcement, or first responder training.

Rehabilitation

Monitor how difficult exercises feel during recovery progressions.

Athlete Monitoring

Evaluate internal training stress alongside objective workload data.

RPE and Other Exercise Properties

RPE is frequently paired with other exercise properties to provide context around effort.

Example

A coach prescribes:

Bench Press

• 4 Sets × 6 Reps
• Target RPE: 8

The athlete selects a weight that feels appropriately challenging and completes the workout.

Post-workout, the athlete records:

RPE = 8

CoachMePlus stores the value for future analysis, allowing coaches to monitor training intensity, calculate workload metrics, evaluate readiness, and identify trends in athlete performance over time.

Because RPE captures the athlete's perception of effort, it often provides valuable context that objective performance metrics alone may not reveal.