Monitor Rate of Perceived Exertion for Fatloss

by Monica

Do you monitor your rate of perceived exertion? What about your rate of perceived technique, or rate of perceived discomfort?

Many trainers are familiar with the first variable also referred to as the RPE scale which is simply a scale of 1 -10 with 1 being the easiest work you can do and 10 being the hardest workout you've ever done (what's hard to you may be too hard for somebody else but not hard enough to a more experienced exerciser).

The RPE scale is important when it comes to fatloss because if you're not reaching an 8 or 9 during challenging intervals or exercises then you're not going to lose much fat. If you're not taking it way down to 5 or 6 during recovery then you can't go hard again. This isn't complicated it's just a matter of paying attention during your workout.

Now if you're really serious about fatloss you can also monitor your RPT and your RPD. Rate of perceived technique is how well you are performing an exercise. You use the same 1-10 scale to determine when your technique starts to deteriorate (1 is horrible form and 10 is perfect form).

Chek calls working out in the 1-6 RPT range the point of diminishing returns. Once your form goes out the window or if you don't have it in the first place any exercise is pointless and it's time to stop or slow way down or relearn how to do it right otherwise you are just teaching your body bad movement patterns and this WILL result in serious injury and no progress. Not what you want when you're goal is to improve your body.


The rate of perceived discomfort is a little more tricky. RPD is your level of pain from 1-10 and can mean discomfort from past injuries, inexperience, lack of muscular endurance (feeling the burn too much) or mental barriers. Staying in the 1-3 range if you're injured should always be your goal but doing the same because you don't like feeling the burn or sweating or being out of breathe is just not productive to fatloss (this falls more into the RPE category).

"Your goal is to ride that edge of high output, high quality technique, and to stop when you've tipped the balance into deteriorating form" explain my bodyweight coaches. I start a 28 day fatloss plan today and I'll be keeping you posted on my RPE, RPT, RPD!

Check out one of the exercises from my new plan below. I'm practicing better technique of a modified single leg squat before I actually try it in a workout. This exercise is really hard for me so I had to practice my technique a lot!