No Worries!
Learn your RPE = RATE OF PERCEIVED EXERTION
This is a great tool for you to learn how your body works. Every time you exercise, you should feel a little uncomfortable. This means you’re taking your body past its comfortable threshold and burning fat. The result is a more efficient heart rate (i.e. lower heart rate).
In my chart below, I’ve outlined what each level of exertion should feel like. For most workouts you want to be at around Level 5-7. If you’re doing interval training, you want your recovery to be around a 4-5 and your intensity blasts to be at around 8-9. As you’ll see below, working at a level 10 isn’t recommended for most workouts. For longer, slower workouts, like Yoga, keep your RPE at Level 5 or lower.
- Level 1: I’m watching TV and texting
- Level 2: I’m comfortable and could maintain this pace all day long
- Level 3: I’m still comfortable, but am breathing a bit harder, like walking up a very slight incline
- Level 4: I’m starting to sweat a little, but feel good and can still talk on my bluetooth effectively
- Level 5: I’m just above comfortable, am sweating more and can still talk easily, but not effectively
- Level 6: I can sort of talk, but am breathless, and don’t really feel like making small-talk
- Level 7: It’s not that easy to talk, and I feel like my heart is starting to pump out of my chest.
- Level 8: I can grunt in response to your questions and can only keep this pace for a short time period
- Level 9: I can almost see my heart pumping outside my chest, and am probably going to die
- Level 10: I am dead
Learn these! Once you do, it will be hard for you to just cruise on an elliptical. Now, a buzzer should go off in your head alerting you that you’re being lazy and need to exert more energy! So go for it!!!
