Rating of Perceived Exertion (RPE) Table
This table, based on the research of Gunnar Borg from Stockholm University, is handy for quantifying the intensity of exercise. It is used in some research for that purpose, but may also be used in training programs to describe the intensity of training sessions.
There are several versions of this scale. There is a similar Borg CR10 scale which has the RPE ratings between 0 and 10. The following table has the scale between 6 and 20. This is made to correspond to the heart rate level (divided by 10) as well as the perceived exertion, e.g. when someone gives a rating of somewhat hard (rating 13), you may also find that their heart rate is approximately 130 beats per minute (13 x 10).
You may notice that the rating of 'extremely light' is located at 7.5, as per the original scale as published by Borg. Many rating tables online have the extremely light incorrectly located at a rating of 7.
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Enter your details to access the free download of a single page pdf (a4 size) for printing, for each of the RPE Scale between 1-10 and the above RPE scale between 6-20.
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References
- Borg GAV. Borg’s Rating of Perceived Exertion and Pain Scales. Champaign, IL: Human Kinetics, 1998.
Related Pages
- See more about using the RPE scales, including the very similar 10-point RPE scale, with the ratings up to 10, and the Borg CR100 (centiMax) Scale — a more fine-graded CR-Scale.
- Also the new Rob's 5-Point Rate of Perceived Exertion Scale, and 1 to 10 hand scale.
- Reps in Reserve (RIR) — how many more strength lifts can you do?
- Resistance Training RPE — a subjective tool combining RPE and RIR, for determining resistance training intensity levels.
- Rating-of-fatigue (ROF) — a scale to rate how fatigued someone is feeling.
- Information about other athlete questionnaires
- About the Likert Scale
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