How hard should I be working? RPE explained…
All too often, newcomers to the Fitness Factory jump on one of our bikes, get going for the first song, start sweating in the second, go crazy hard in the third, and by the fourth or fifth song are slumped on the bike in exhaustion, questioning their sanity.
“I never knew this would be so hard!” is one oft-heard comment.
Other times we get the exact opposite: a newcomer steps off her first ride without a single hair out of place, cool, calm, collected, dry, and seemingly unaffected.
“That was easy!” she says.
Both newcomers have misjudged their effort level. Ideally, neither should have finished like that. The first newcomer WAY overdid it. She exhausted herself before the end of the class – there was no juice left in the tank, her legs like jelly. The second newcomer might as well not have bothered.
That’s why at the Fitness Factory we teach in reference to each participant’s personal state of fitness, at that instant, regardless of age or ability. We describe in real time, during the class, exactly how you ought to be feeling for the workout to be appropriate. As I wrote in my previous post on what to expect from your first spinning class, if exercise is too easy it will be of no benefit, but if it is too hard could be off-putting or cause injury.
The appropriateness of the work-out is personal and subjective, and is influenced by a host of factors, including age, gender, time of the month, immune system response (e.g. recovering from or about to go down with the flu), how you’ve slept in the last few days, how well hydrated you are, your glycogen levels (that’s how much chemical energy there is in your “tank”), your general background tiredness, etc.
Most importantly, the level you choose to push to in any given workout is entirely up to you: if the instructor suggests “Level 8!” but your body says no, then listen to your body, always.
The most accurate way of measuring your output and gauging the effort level is by using a heart rate monitor (HRM). (See previous post on fitness testing.) HRM usage for performance will be the subject of a future blog. Certainly, if you have competitive aspirations and are training for an event (e.g. IronMan or Olympic triathlon, cycling sportives like the Dartmoor Classic or running a marathon) we always recommend you use an HRM, and we can help you get the most out of it.
For everyone else – that’s the majority of our customers – riding two or three classes a week is done on “feel”. For this purpose we have created a scale of Relative Perception of Exertion, which describes each of ten effort levels in simple terms, explaining how the body should be reacting to the effort at that moment, how your legs and lungs should be feeling at each level, and how much longer you might expect to have to keep going. Imagine climbing a steep hill: if you knew exactly where it topped out, you could gauge your effort well. If the summit was still unknown and out of sight, you would ride more conservatively. The RPE is a means of ensuring that every class you come to is appropriately hard. If it was easy, everyone would be fit, but it should not be crazy hard either.
Below is our RPE chart with descriptions of each effort level. Note how we have highlighted levels 4 to 8. That’s because levels 1-3 are too light to be of use in a 45-60min class, and L9/L10 are inappropriately hard for non-elite sports development. Psychologically, it is almost impossible for most people to push to L9/L10: it’s just too uncomfortable.
To keep you safe, but still push you hard, we exclusively focus on L4 to L8. Level 8 is painful enough, believe me! And of course if it’s not feeling all that painful, then it’s not L8!
The last thing you need to know is – depending on which class you first join – the total amount of time you will be asked to spend at each level varies. For example, in a 45min Easy Rider class you will only be asked to hit L8 for 4 minutes in total and never longer than one minute at a time. In a 60min Boogie Bike you will have at least 7 or 8 minutes in total at L8, with a maximum interval at the end of the class of 2 whole minutes at L8. They feel long!
Remember, the absence of sweat indicates the absence of effort – if you don’t push, you won’t sweat, but then what’s the point of coming? I hope the chart below helps to clarify what the RPE levels all mean and how you can get sweaty but stay safe and have an effective, appropriately hard workout that keeps you coming back for more.
See you in the studio soon!
xR
