Sole Fitness F63 Owner's Manual page 22

RATE OF PERCEIVED EXERTION
Heart rate is important but listening to your body also has a lot of advantages. There are more variables involved
in how hard you should workout than just heart rate. Your stress level, physical health, emotional health,
temperature, humidity, the time of day, the last time you ate and what you ate, all contribute to the intensity at
which you should workout. If you listen to your body, it will tell you all of these things. The rate of perceived
exertion (RPE), also know as the Borg scale, was developed by Swedish physiologist G.A.V. Borg. This scale
rates exercise intensity from 6 to 20 depending upon how you feel or the perception of your effort.
The scale is as follows:
Rating Perception of Effort
6 Minimal
7 Very, very light
8 Very, very light +
9 Very light
10 Very light +
11 Fairly light
12 Comfortable
13 Somewhat hard
14 Somewhat hard +
15 Hard
16 Hard +
17 Very hard
18 Very hard +
19 Very, very hard
20 Maximal
You can get an approximate heart rate level for each rating by simply adding a zero to each rating. For example
a rating of 12 will result in an approximate heart rate of 120 beats per minute. Your RPE will vary depending up
the factors discussed earlier. That is the major benefit of this type of training. If your body is strong and rested,
you will feel strong and your pace will feel easier. When your body is in this condition, you are able to train
harder and the RPE will support this. If you are feeling tired and sluggish, it is because your body needs a break.
In this condition, your pace will feel harder. Again, this will show up in your RPE and you will train at the proper
level for that day.
To determine the benefit range in which you wish to train, you must first determine your Maximum Heart Rate.
This can be accomplished by using the following formula: 220 minus your age. This will give you the Maximum
heart rate (MHR) for someone of your age. To determine the effective heart rate range for specific goals you
simply calculate a percentage your MHR. Your Heart rate training zone is 50% to 90% of your maximum heart
rate. 60% of your MHR is the zone that burns fat while 80% is for strengthening the cardio vascular system.
This 60% to 80% is the zone to stay in for maximum benefit.
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