How To Measure Intensity Without Putting Too Much Strain On Your Body

It’s meant to measure intensity without putting too much strain on your body.

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RPE stands for “rate of perceived exertion,” and, in short, it’s a scale system that lifters can use to regulate their intensity without maxing out too quickly.

Here’s how it works: Using three sets of three reps of squats at 115kg as an example, you’d perform each set and rate it on a scale of difficulty from 1 to 10, with 1 being the easiest and 10 being the hardest. If you rate the sets at an average of 8 or 9, you’d multiply those numbers by 10. That essentially means that it took 80 or 90% of your perceived exertion to do the exercise—so 8 or 9 would be your RPE.