What’s Your Perception?

Did you know there is a scale that is designed for determining exercise intensity levels?

Actually there are more than one, but they are usually a modified version of the original Borg scale.

(Not the Borg for which resistance is futile. Around here resistance (training) is what it is all about. If you are a Star Trek fan you know what I am talking about, if not – sorry.)

The Borg scale is intended to measure your Rate of Perceived Exertion. In other words, how hard you feel you are working during exercise. This is a subjective measurement to be sure, but it is still very useful. And while not perfect, it has been found to very closely correlate with actual exertion as measured by a heart rate monitor.

The original scale asks you to rate your exertion from 6-20, with 6 meaning “No exertion at all”, and 20 meaning “Maximal Exertion”. Borg later updated his original scale to go from 0 to 10, with similar descriptions.

As your fitness level improves, your perceived exertion will go down if you do not change your exercise variables.

In other words, if you are still working with the same load, at the same speed, for the same amount of time now and 6 months from now, you won’t feel like (or actually be) working as hard.

This is critical to understand when your goal is to keep improving – which it is.

And that’s why we design the training the way we do, so you can consistently keep improving.

So here’s the question – On a scale of 1 to 10, what should my perceived exertion during a Get Fit NH training session be?

The foundation of our training is Metabolic Resistance, which can be defined as intense sessions that combine resistance (strength) training with metabolic (typically called cardio) stimulation. Study after study and client after client show this to be the most efficient and effective way to train for fat loss and body composition.

So we want your RPE while doing this type of training to be high – 7 out of 10 – at least.

In other words we want you to work – very hard.

Doesn’t matter what the person next to you is doing – work harder than them.

And then recover.

Your body likes being just the way it is, you have to MAKE it change.

So think about it.

If I ask you what your RPE is on a typical training day, would it match what your coach thinks your RPE is on that day?

It’s a relevant question, and it could be the key that unlocks your potential and results.

Make It Happen!

Coach Dean