RPE: measure your level of effort to progress in bodybuilding

In strength trainingThe intensity you put into each session determines your progress. But how do you measure this intensity? How do you know whether your efforts on a set of squats or bench press are more or less intense than in previous workouts? This is precisely the role of the RPEan indicator used by many athletes and sports coaches to optimize muscle development.

What is RPE in bodybuilding?

EPR: definition

RPE (Rating of Perceived Exertion) refers to the perceived level of effort during physical activity. Although it can also be used to measure the difficulty of cardio exercises, this indicator is now widely adopted by bodybuilding enthusiasts.

In concrete terms, the RPE consists of giving a subjective rating to the effort expended during a series. The concept is therefore based on a self-assessment system.

More precisely, let's imagine that your ambition is to lift 100 kilos, over 6 repetitions, during your next set of deadlifts. Once you've completed the number of repetitions, you're going to have to give a rating from 1 to 10 to your effort.

A score of 1 symbolizes an extremely easy effort, while a score of 10 represents a very high-intensity effort for which you couldn't have done one more repetition. A RPE at 7 means that you could have done 3 more reps, or used a heavier load for the same number of reps.

This is the RPE table for bodybuilding. You can refer to it for a better understanding of the different thresholds.

How to calculate EPR?

It's easy to find out your RPE during a workout.

Simply start from the number of repetitions you think you have in reserve at the end of a series, then subtract it from 10.

Let's take the example of an athlete doing Dumbbell bench press to build upper-body strength. If he thinks he can do 4 more repetitions, he should do the following calculation:

RPE = 10 - 4 = 6

In this sense, the RPE in bodybuilding is not a notion intended for beginners. Indeed, to estimate an RPE as accurately as possible, you need to know what you're doing, and therefore already have several months' experience in the gym. Lacking knowledge of how the body reacts during a workout, a beginner will tend to underestimate or overestimate his or her perceived level of effort.

The origins of RPE

The origins of the Rating of Perceived Exertion go back to the 1970s and the work of Professor Gunnar Borg. This Swede was the first to design a difficulty scale to quantify the perceived difficulty of an effort. He gave his concept its name, the Borg Scale.

In fact, it's a widely used indicator in medical circles. You've probably heard a doctor ask a patient to rate his or her pain on a scale from 1 to 10.

The RPE in bodybuilding was then popularized by Mike Tuchscherer in 2005, a former world championship-winning powerlifter (2009), now a renowned strength coach.

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RPE and RIR

If you're familiar with acronyms in the fitness world, you'll have understood that RPE is perfectly complementary to RIR (Reps In Reserve).

The RIR represents the number of additional repetitions an athlete thinks he or she can do to achieve muscular failure.

As we saw earlier, an RIR of 4 means you have an RPE of 6.

Don't forget to take sufficient rest before starting the next series.

What is the RPE used for in bodybuilding?

Follow your progress

Whether you are in a weight gain or weight loss, the RPE will help you track your overall progress in bodybuilding.

Bear in mind that a weight-training program is never linear. It is impossible to set up a progressive overload and improve your performance (increase loads or number of sets, reduce recovery time, etc.) on a continuous weekly basis.

The RPE will enable you to adjust your weights according to your shape of the day, while having a precise follow-up of your performances and not being limited to the figures of the loads used.

Let's take the example of an athlete who does 5 repetitions of deadlift at 100 kilos, RPE 7, in his first workout. The following week, he did 5 reps at 105 kilos, but this time with an RPE 10. Admittedly, he had gained 5 kilos on the bar, but at a much higher RPE. This puts the progression into perspective.

To estimate your 1 RM

What's more, the EPS is also an excellent way to find out about your 1 RM. This is the maximum load you can use on a single repetition of a given exercise.

If you do one repetition at 100 kilos in the squat, with an RPE of 9, you know that you can increase your load slightly. Your 1 RM is therefore probably around 105 kilos. See this article to find out more about calculating 1 RM.

Facilitate exchanges with your sports coach

If you are accompanied by a bodybuilding coachThe RPE is a good communication tool for athletes involved in the sport of gymnastics, athletic strength or weightlifting.

Thanks to this precise information on how the exerciser feels, the trainer can adjust the content of the sports program. It will then be easier to achieve the desired objective: muscle growth, fat loss, strength gain, etc.

The limits of this indicator

While it's an effective tool for gaining muscle, the RPE is nonetheless just one indicator subjective. This is its main limitation.

Even after years of weight training, it can be difficult to estimate the difficulty of a given effort.

And if you have this ability, the hardest part is certainly being honest about how you feel. Simply over- or under-estimating your effort can undermine your planning and limit your progress in the long term.

Conclusion

RPE is a tool designed to measure the difficulty of an effort. Whether you train 3, 4, 5 or 6 times a week at the gym, it's a useful indicator that will help you to improve your performance. Used properly, it will enable you to adapt your training to promote lasting progress.