blog

April 19, 2016

RPE

We routinely suggest a target level of effort to use during particular workouts, mainly during engine and interval sessions. The percentage we post is also know as RPE (rate of perceived effort). Working at 70% would mean working at 70% intensity of your all-out 100% effort.

To help you better understand how you should feel at each percentage, here’s a guide:

10-20% – Very easy/recovery pace
30% – Easy, you can still hold a conversation with no effort
40% – Moderately easy, you can hold a conversation with little effort
50% – Moderate, conversation requires some effort
60% – Moderately difficult, conversation requires quite a bit of effort
70% – Difficult, conversation requires a lot of effort
80% – Very difficult, conversation requires maximum effort
90-100% – Peak effort, no talking zone

When we post percentages, try your hardest

to get in tune with your internal engine and stick to our suggestion. Just as we don’t max out all the time in weightlifting, we don’t always want to “max out” in cardio workouts and metcons, either. There is a benefit and lessons learned in sticking to the prescribed efforts.

The art of pacing requires mastering RPE. For instance, when you approach a 5-minute AMRAP, you may know that you can quickly build to 80% and stay there for most of the workout, hitting 100% at the end. However, for a 20-minute workout, you should quickly build to 60%, move to 70% as you approach the halfway mark, kick in 80% for most of the second half, then all-out at the very end.

Awareness of RPE can definitely make you a

smarter athlete!

jason odom floored
Jason, showing us what 100% looks like!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ERIC JOHNSON!

Workout of the Day
:05
Gymnastics Complex:
Advanced: 3 sets of 3 strict pull ups+ 3 kipping Chest-to-bar pull-ups + 1 Bar muscle-ups
Scaled: 3 sets of 5 strict pull-ups

Rope climb tech work
If you don’t yet have rope climbs, work on wrapping and bringing knees up. If you have rope climbs, work on ascending in fewer pulls.

Check out this rope knee-up drill: https://www.instagram.com/p/BEKrX76M95v/?hl=en

:20
3 rounds for time:
400m run
50 double unders
3 rope climbs

:40
Midline – 3 sets:
10 stir the pot (each direction)
10 abmat sit ups
:30 hollow body hold

Post your scores to the Whiteboard.

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