Rating of Perceived Exertion (RPE) or just PE is a subjective evaluation by the athlete of just how hard they are exerting themselves. The Borg rating of perceived exertion is a scale ranging from 6 – 20 where 6 is no exertion at all and 20 is maximal exertion.
The table below show a modified Borg Scale. The modified scale is more practical from a training point of view and it’s the one we use. I have added in a Race effort and HR percentage of max for reference purposes. Race Effort is a maximum effort for the distance indicated.
Our ultimate goal is to run on Perceived Effort only.
| RPE | Race Effort | HR % of Max | LTHR %Age | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Very light exertion. Sitting on a couch watching TV | |||
| 2 | Light exertion. You can maintain this for hours. Talking is easy | |||
| 3 | Light exertion. You can maintain this for hours. Talking is easy | |||
| 4 | Moderate exertion. Breathing is barely noticeable , can hold a short conversation | MAF | 60-69 | < 68 |
| 5 | Moderate exertion. Breathing deeply, can hold a conversation | Ultra (70 km+) | 70-77 | 70-84 |
| 6 | Moderate exertion. Breathing deeply, can hold a short conversation | Marathon | 78-85 | 85-88 |
| 7 | Vigorous exertion. Borderline uncomfortable, breathing heavily. Can speak short sentences | Half Marathon | 86-92 | 95-105 |
| 8 | Vigorous exertion. Borderline uncomfortable, breathing heavily. Can speak short sentences | 5 km | 94 | > 106 |
| 9 | Very Hard exertion. Very difficult to maintain exercise intensity. Rapid breathing, can only speak 1 or 2 words at a time | 3 km | 96 | |
| 10 | Max exertion. Almost impossible to talk. Can only maintain for a short while. | 400 m | 100 |