Measure your intensity 1260x542
25 Jun 2013

Measure your intensity - Heart rate monitors vs. RPE

1 mins to read
Do you really need expensive gadgets to measure your training intensity?


When you’re out for a run, or doing some kind of cardiovascular exercise, it’s important to train at the right intensity.

Heart rate monitors provide a well known marker of effort, but there’s another easy and inexpensive measure of exercise intensity. It’s called rate of perceived exertion (RPE), a numbered scale where you rate the current level of effort performed during a workout, and how fast and deeply you are breathing.

There are a number of variations on this scale, one of which is listed below.

   Exertion cues  Type of conditioning
 0 Sleep or complete rest, no exertion  
 1 Extremely easy and light  
 2 Very easy  
 3 Somewhat easy Warm Up / Cool Down
 4 Moderate Mild Fat Burning
 5 Somewhat strong Fat Burning / Mild Aerobic Conditioning
 6 Strong Aerobic Conditioning / Mild Fat Burning
 7 Hard Aerobic Conditioning / Minor Fat Burning
 8 Very hard Anaerobic / Mild Aerobic Conditioning
 9 Extremely hard Anaerobic
 10 Maximum exertion Advanced Anaerobic Conditioning

Levels 4 - 6 are ideal for fat burning, while levels 5 - 7 and more suitable for aerobic conditioning to boost your cardiovascular endurance. Levels 8 – 10 are suitable for anaerobic training, which is an advanced form of training involving near maximal effort. There are some advantages and disadvantages of the RPE scale compared to heart rate monitors:

Advantages of RPE

  • Zero cost
  • Easy to use

Advantages of a heart rate monitor

  • More accurate
  • Allows you to set training targets

Do you think the RPE scale is a valuable exercise tool? How do you measure your workout intensity?



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