How to Use RPE and RIR in your training

Rate of Perceived Exertion (RPE) and Reps in Reserve (RIR)

Perhaps this is the side of me that always needs a rationale or structure to why we need something to monitor what we are doing in all our efforts; but for me the use of autoregulation allows for creating a framework which acts as guidance for intensity in the gym.

Of course, when looking into establishing our intensity zones in relation to RPE/RIR, we need to establish our training goals/objectives from a macro through to micro level. Reverse engineering the process back from what physical characteristic or performance goal that we want to achieve.

For example; when working with a client who is looking to get back to playing golf 3x a week with knee tendonitis – we would look to build tissue tolerance and work capacity to muscles/tissues in the both legs by gradually building intensity and lowering working volume throughout the programme.

We would look to increase the RPE/RIR scores throughout the programme in relation to the intensity of the programme as well. For instance, we may start our programme with an intended RPE range of 4-6 for our exercises in phase 1 and then build towards a 6-8 or 7-9 in later phases of the programme.

Reps In Reserve (RIR) doesn’t tie in with RPE seamlessly, but it can work in conjunction for certain exercises. If we are looking for an RPE of 4-6 on say 6-8 reps of a Goblet Squat, we can look to leave 6-4 RIR. Think of it like this, we are aiming to leave reps ‘left in the tank’ and not go too close to our 6 or 8 Rep Max (RM).

I know there are potential problems with this. Like, “That’s a lot of numbers to think about” or “Isn’t my RPE score going to be different to someone else’s?” … in truth, both are considerations and yes, these measures are very subjective.

It takes a little experience to be as accurate as you can when it comes to strength training and using RPE/RIR measures. As these measures are subjective, the data can only act as a guide for the intended intensity of the exercise.

The same way we would use percentages of RM to measure intensity of the load. There will be day to day undulations in the numbers reported due to several training and non-training related stressors.

It acts as a guide. Some days you will be beat and you’ll see that your RPE score of 8 (2 RIR) was at a weight 10kg down from where you were last week. Some days you will be way above where you’d think you would be. This is the same as %RM monitoring.

Example of a programme with RPE/RIR measures

In the context of Isometric work, my experience suggests that RPE is not as accurate and RIR certainly doesn’t tie in. There is certainly room for this to be explored but potentially only when implementing isometric exercises over larger windows of time than 6s.

RPE has been found to be particularly successful in powerlifting training. I believe this is due to the experience that most powerlifters have with strength training and that they can trust their numbers to a greater extent than someone who has less experience lifting. RIR in conjunction with RPE has also experienced similar success in terms of autoregulation with some powerlifters.

Example of a table using RPE/RIR vs RM’s

Not only is experience a factor, but bar/DB/implement speed is a factor in this conundrum. The slower the speed, the more accurate the measure of RPE/RIR. If we look at the bench press, the bar speed for failure is (roughly) <0.23 meters per second. The closer the speed is to that number, the closer we are to failure in the set. Although most will not have access to VBT, you can see when there is a significant drop in bar speed.

Where this becomes more complicated is when we are looking at power or repeat power training in the gym. Aside from the olympic lifts, the athlete/client is likely going to be able to complete more reps than the intended rep range for the set. This means that RPE/RIR may be trickier to judge because that sense of ‘failing a rep’ may be further away.

Without VBT, this may be up to the coach to determine a drop off in speed to ascertain RIR. RPE can still be gathered from the client.

We haven’t even touched on how RPE can be used outside of the gym! Or even sessional-RPE (s-RPE). Which can be a quick way of measuring intensity of the session (RPE (out of 10) x Session Duration = RPE Score).

In summary, RPE + RIR can be used in conjunction with each other with varying degrees of success depending on experience and the type of exercise.

I have had some success in autoregulation in a team setting and more successfully with individual clients due to the ability to tailor the intensity of the set to a range for RPE/RIR.

Exercises with an emphasis on peak power need more exploration (particularly for me) to be able ascertain whether this can be a useful method.