I have a general question on RPE: I started training in 2021 and have used RPE mainly (I have trained with kettlebells / kettlebell sport before for ca. 9yrs and was familiar with session RPE). However, I have found that various coaches have slightly different “interpretations” of that scale? For example in Athletica RPE 4 = Somewhat hard and 5 = hard. However, my coach (who only prescribes RPE not HR or pace) instructs 4-5 as “Cooldown” and 5-6 as “completely conversational”. This would be more “easy” for me. I mean I can’t talk “purely conversational” when I am running “hard”.
I did a bit of research yesterday and have found that these “slightly different” interpretations of RPE exist between running / endurance coaches, which I find very odd if it is all based on the original Borg Scale & used by so many in the running community nowadays with prominent coaches even advising that HR is basically meaningless and RPE a much better metric to pace oneself after.
Can I get some advice on this? I am just getting on board with Athletica and was wondering if someone else has noticed these variations in how RPE is used or if I am misunderstanding something.
Hello! You’ve opened up an interesting can of proverbial worms with this question! It’s a good one. Here’s my take: The 10-point RPE scale and the 20-point Borg Scale (same thing, different numbers) are all based on estimates of how much work you’re doing - how the efforts feel.
That’s why there tends to be differences in how people use it.
Generally, zone 2 endurance tends to be a 3 or 4 on the 10-point scale, although some say a 5 is also endurance. Tempo runs are 5 and 6, threshold runs are 7 and 8, sometimes 9 for the short, harder hill efforts. And all-out sprints like 200s are 10s.
I would never say, as an endurance coach, that HR is ever meaningless. It’s a good measure of the response your body is having to the training stress. What’s important to know is that running tends to have a little higher heart rate than cycling simply because you’re using more muscles and landing on/pushing off the ground. For many people, running in the 130s (bpm) is a good endurance zone.
Finally, you can use a talk test to triangulate all of this. If you’re breathing easy enough to talk (conversational about anything except religion or politics), then you’re in zone 1 or 2. If you’re panting and breathing hard, unable to get more than a few words at a time out, then you’re over threshold.
I hope that helps. Let me know what other questions you have.
Thanks! I totally agree with you on the heart rate. Interesting, I wasn’t really aware that RPE was used slightly differently but I think now that could be a real problem if athletes use various sources / resources for their training without guidance from a coach, especially with such narrow numbers. All the workout descriptions from the coach I started working with have RPE 5-6 for “building the base” or “endurance run” If I go with my usual scale (the one that Athletica seems to employ too) that would put me in Zone 3 for all base building runs (which is not the best idea imo).
Interesting discussion. Do you have any advice on what specifically the RPE should measure? Is the RPE against for the whole run or only the main intervals. For example: if your workout is a 1h run with 2 x threshold intervals, my RPE for the 1h run would probably be 4=somewhat Hard, but if for the Intervalls it would be 6 or 7.
I actually asked the AI coach this question in the context of weight training a while back. Unfortunately the chat history isn’t saved so I’m paraphrasing from memory.
The recommendation was to do it by the interval (for long intervals like a plank) or set. The AI coach recommended using the highest RPE for a set within a workout. It further suggested that an 8 might indicate I could do only 2 or 3 more reps before failure. And that if I get to that point on a set before the final set that I may want to reduce weight or do fewer reps in the next set. I haven’t, yet, applied this to running or cycling but I imagine I’d take the “one more left in the tank” guidance I’ve heard many times on the podcast and equate that to an 8. And that if I got to that on a set prior to my final set I might think about modifying the final set or ending early.
Not sure if that helps, just sharing what I got from the coach to add a bit more to the conversation.
I asked the AI coach yesterday, as I was confused with the feedback I got on my RPE rating. I had 3 x 1km Threshold and rated it based on the main set. Well the feedback from the coach was confusing, so I asked.
Just for context: The prescriped training run was with Warmup, Cooldown and Rest in between the intervals, which was around 50% of the whole training.
Well, and this makes a difference for RPE - this was the answer of the AI Coach
Herbert, in sport science and best practice for training analysis, the RPE (Rating of Perceived Exertion) should be given for the entire session—also called “session RPE”. This means you rate your overall perceived effort after the whole workout is done, not just the main set.
Why does this matter?
Session RPE (sRPE) includes warm-up, main set, cool-down, and any easy/moderate parts—providing a global picture of how demanding the workout felt as a whole.
This is important because the easy parts reduce the overall intensity you felt, balancing out the very hard main set.
If you only rated the main set, you would often overestimate the load of the entire session, making comparisons over time or between sessions less reliable.
How to do it in practice:
Wait about 30 minutes after you finish, then ask yourself “How hard was this entire session?” and pick a number (typically 1–10 scale).
This approach is standard in modern endurance coaching, including with Athletica’s algorithms for tracking load and recovery.
Example:
If half your session was easy and half very hard, the correct RPE for the whole session will be in the middle—not as high as just the main set, but not as low as the warm-up/cool-down.
In summary: RPE should always reflect the whole session, not just the hardest part. This gives you and your coach the most accurate data to manage load, fatigue, and adapt your training.