Monitoring your rating of perceived exertion (RPE)

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Monitoring your rating of perceived exertion (RPE)

Rating of perceived exertion (RPE) is a valuable and reliable indicator for monitoring your exercise tolerance. It is usually used as part of an organized cardiac rehab program. It is probably most useful to first learn about RPE with a health professional, such as an exercise physiologist or trainer, and then you may be able to use it when you exercise on your own.

The RPE is a means of determining how hard you are exerting yourself, including physiological (how hard you are breathing, how fast your heart is beating) and muscular strain (how much you feel the exertion in your muscles). The scale measures your answer to the question: "How hard do you feel the exercise is?" The scale goes from 6 to 20.

**RPE scale**
Rating number	Perceived exertion
6	Very, very light
7	Very, very light
8	Very light
9	Very light
10	Light
11	Light
12	Somewhat hard
13	Somewhat hard
14	Hard
15	Hard
16	Very hard
17
18
19	Very, very hard
20	Very, very hard

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Author	Robin Parks, MS
Editor	Kathleen M. Ariss, MS
Associate Editor	Pat Truman, MATC
Primary Medical Reviewer	Caroline S. Rhoads, MD - Internal Medicine
Specialist Medical Reviewer	Richard D. Zorowitz, MD - Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation
Last Updated	October 8, 2008

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Last updated:	October 08, 2008
Author:	Robin Parks, MS
Reviewed By:	Caroline S. Rhoads, MD - Internal Medicine, Richard D. Zorowitz, MD - Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation
Editors:	Kathleen M. Ariss, MS, Pat Truman, MATC

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