RPE and Autoregulation
If you haven’t already read our article on Progressive Loading which explains the important differences in this approach to “Progressive Overload” we would strongly recommend reading that article first.
Dialling In Your Effort: A Practical Guide to RPE and Autoregulation
When it comes to successful training, one size rarely fits all - especially when some days feel great and others don’t – that’s life, and that’s where the concept of autoregulation comes into play. Rooted in use of the Rate of Perceived Exertion (RPE) scale, autoregulation is a dynamic approach that lets you adjust training loads (intensity) based on how well you’re able to perform on any given day.
Use of RPE has become common practice among expert coaches, with it being appropriate for all of us - ranging from competitive athletes to the general population simply looking to get stronger and fitter – We have seen it used to great effect in everyone from elite powerlifters to international rugby players, from triathletes to ironmen, and from knee replacement patients to spinal cord injured patients.
RPE
At its simplest, RPE is a subjective measure of how demanding anything feels. The system revolves around the idea that each bout of exertion has a "cost" in terms of effort, and on any given exercise, you might have some effort (reps) left in the tank – some refer to this as RIR (Reps In Reserve). For example, if you complete a set to the point where you feel you could’ve performed two additional reps, you’d record that effort as an RPE 8 or RIR 2.
This system isn’t just designed for elite powerlifters (it actually stems from the Borg Scale – a proxy for heart rate – in cardiovascular conditioning); it’s a way to quantify effort relative to your physical and mental capacity that day – Just because it might seem abstract, doesn’t mean that it doesn’t matter.
Using RPE, you begin to look past the rigid prescriptions of a static training program. You start to see how factors such as fatigue, nutrition, sleep, and external life stress influence your performance on a given day. When programming based on RPE, if the load you expect to lift one week feels unexpectedly heavy - or too light - you can adjust accordingly. It’s a feedback loop that ensures you’re training hard and smart.
Autoregulation
Let’s break it down: On a day when you hit the gym feeling particularly fresh and strong, your prescribed training might feel easier than expected. Conversely, if you’re coming off a rough night’s sleep or dealing with increased life stress, the same loads may feel significantly heavier.
Autoregulation recognises these natural fluctuations and calls on you to be honest about your RPE. If a weight that’s supposed to register as RPE 8 suddenly feels like RPE 10, it’s a clear signal that you need to dial back the weight - temporarily at least - to stick to the program.
What is commonly referred to as an athlete’s “acute : chronic workload ratio” applies to everyone, not just athletes – Considering it is akin to finding your “goldilocks zone”, where your training is sufficiently hard enough to contribute to sustained adaptation, while not so hard that excessive fatigue or injury routinely derail your progress.
Practical Application
Implementing RPE successfully can take time and patience, and being totally honest with yourself and your coach is key – But here’s why it’s worthwhile - If over a successful life of productive training you can make just 1% extra progress per training cycle, and reduce your injury rate in half (not unrealistic assumptions), the compounding effect of this over decades will be enormous when married with immense consistency.
Early in your training career, you might be inclined to significantly overrate or underrate your performance and current level of fatigue. Becoming more self-aware and learning to “listen to your body” by reflecting on your own perceptions can be challenging, but the payoff is worth it. Getting better at making honest appraisals of your efforts leads to smarter decisions not just in the gym, but in life – It is a skill worth developing and over time this self-awareness becomes second nature.
For instance, imagine it’s Monday, you’re at the gym and you’re programmed to perform squats for 4 Sets x 4 Reps @ RPE 8. The program calls for steady progressions in load (where possible based on day to day fluctuations in performance); you check your training log and you see that last week you did 95kg, so this week you want to try 100kg…
But, during your warm ups, you feel that something’s off. Perhaps each warm up set feels a bit heavier than normal, or you feel like your legs are tired from some other activity you did at the weekend. Instead of stubbornly trying to lift your target weight for all sets and sacrificing your technique (e.g: not squatting deep enough) or your recovery (increasing injury risk), you stick to your prescribed RPE. Noting that your first working set at 100kg feels more like an RPE 9-10 than an RPE 8, so you (sensibly) reduce the weight by 5-10% for your next set and continue to adjust accordingly for your remaining sets based on an honest self assessment of your capacity that day.
It is important to emphasise that this does not mean you should take it easy by always sandbagging in the gym - You still need to train hard, but this example of calibrating your effort is the essence of autoregulation - It’s designed to maximise long-term progress by minimising injury risk and ensuring that your training remains in your “goldilocks zone”.
In such cases, adjusting loads down isn’t a sign of weakness - it’s a strategic decision that respects the inherent variability of human performance on a day to day basis – It will also (hopefully) bring awareness to the lifestyle factors that may be impeding your progress – Poor sleep, nutrition and / or high stress levels, that (hopefully) you can seek to address. Over time, these adjustments can make a substantial difference to your physical progress and long-term health.
Final Thoughts
Integrating RPE and autoregulation into your training isn’t about “slacking off”, it’s about adding an important layer of intelligence to your programming and training. Adopting an autoregulated training strategy still requires you to work hard, while being honest about your capabilities on any given day - and to adjust accordingly.
It is important to recognise that the loads lifted on any given day do not matter that much, and that the total training performed at appropriate volumes and intensities over long timeframes is what matters – Remarkable physical progress is achieved over years, not days.
Learning to “listen to your body” takes time and immense consistency – It is a skill to be honed over your lifespan, and using RPE can be a valuable tool in helping you get there.