Analogue between "Rate of Perceived Exertion" (RPE) Scale & % MHR

I refuse to engage in 99% of physical activities without wearing my heart rate monitor. A heart rate monitor is a tool that provides objective feedback of your physiological response to intensity/challenge. Just as I would never drive my car without a speedometer, I don't drive my heart without a heart rate monitor.

In my NYC classes, most of my students wear HRMs to class. In Burlington, this will not be the case. So I need to get more comfortable coaching to a Rate of Perceived Exertion (RPE) scale to give those without HRMs a construct by which to gauge their intensity.

And truth be told, all HRM-wearers are best served maintaining an awareness of RPE even as they train with their HRM's. If there is a mismatch between HR and RPE, this is an important clue to an underlying situation: overtraining, fatigue, volume depletion, certain medications influencing heart rate. Don't ignore it. Under those conditions, RPE is actually MORE useful than your heart rate monitor.

Before I describe how I use a 0-10 RPE scale in my classes, I'd like to discuss a few issues on my mind:

1) Lack of proper usage
* "Resistance scales"
There are no scales of resistance level!!! Ever hear this one?: "Give me a 9 out of 10 of resistance" >> no, guys, there are NO scales of resistance. It is actually a "taboo" contraindication of the body that certifies Spinning instructors, in fact. Resistance loading is ENTIRELY arbitrary and subjective. Every bike is different, every person is different. We don't care about a specific amount of resistance -- we care about using enough resistance to achieve a certain intensity. The intensity is what we want to measure and monitor -- that's what impacts your training. Anyone who uses a scale of resistance is doing you a great disservice, and my professional opinion is that you should ignore them.
* Be skeptical. Since you are educated athletes (and you all are), think about it: Why would we want to hold what is described as a "10" for a long period of time to climb a normal, run of the mill hill?
* Be safe. Warming up is so key to not only safety but the efficacy of training. If you spike the HR too early, you will actually have trouble recovering throughout the training session. I experience this *all* the time: all those times that I say I'm coaching entirely off-bike (as in the case when I'm teaching 5 classes in a single day, for example) and then I randomly hop on the bike to do an anaerobic interval with you - my HR spikes without warming up, and I'm a cardiovascular mess all day long. That said, anyone who takes you from the warm-up effort to what he or she calls a "9" without any intermediate stops along the way: also doing you a great disservice. Our hearts, like our minds, prefer consistency -- we try to avoid dramatic change. We like change -- in fact, we love change -- but we are better able to cope with change... physiologically, not just psychologically... by doing so gradually.

2) Lack of consistency

Here is a chart that I made to help link RPE parameters with verbal descriptors, and heart rate parameters. Remember that most people have not and will not ever experience their MHR, and that MHR formulas are inaccurate. I recommend finding lactate threshold (8/10) through a lactate threshold/submax field test, and setting LT = 85% MHR. Reverse-calculate MHR and take percentages from there. Effectively, your training parameters will be anchored to LT -- which is measurable, and modifiable with training.

RPE	Description – Standard Language with a Bit of Melissification	% MHR
0-1	0 = in bed. 1-2 = Very easy – conversation not impacted whatsoever. Pre-warmup into beginning of warm-up	50-55%
2
3	Easy. Conversing very very limited difficulty. Start of warm-up	60%
4	Moderately easy – you can still carry on a full conversation but you're aware that you're actually riding a bike. End of warmup. Something you can hold *indefinitely*. Feels perfectly comfortable, literally able to sustain forever.	65%
5	Moderate – carrying on conversation would require very minimal effort; a bit more concentration than at RPE 4. But you're very very comfortable. You're aware that you're riding a bike - and you can sustain your effort "all day, but not forever." Feels amazingly refreshing. You LOVE this.	70%
6	Moderately difficult – conversation would require effort/concentration. You can do a lot more, but you’re working. Thinking that you don’t want to hold this all day. Feels good but not amazing.	75%
7	Difficult. You can certainly talk - but carry a conversation? Unlikely. “Comfortably uncomfortable.” No burning in the legs; no tightness in the chest. You’re starting to think you not only don’t like this – but, in fact, you might actually hate this.	80%
8	Very difficult. Lactate threshold = point at which lactic acid accumulation exceeds your body's ability to clear it. Burning in the legs might start. You HATE this. You truly hate this. Everything around you is telling you to stop -- but you don't. You can still track your breathing in through the nose, out through the mouth. All of your mental faculties are consumed tracking your breath and reminding yourself that you're not going to stop, even though you want to. Those new to training: can hold 1-3 minutes. Some conditioned athletes can hold as long as 30 minutes.	85%
9	Peak effort I ever want you to hit in my classes. You have just enough wind to finish the effort (30 seconds max). Intense burning in the legs. Might feel breathless. You hate this SO much. By the 31st second, it HAS to be over -- so it is. (Make sure you recover back down to 4/10 before you hit this intensity again, for an effective anaerobic interval.)	92%
10	Heart is going to explode out of chest. Might feel dizzy or nauseated. STOP. STOP STOP STOP.	95-100%