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Rate of Perceived Exertion
Dr. Borg’s Rate of Perceived Exertion is an alternative to using your heart rate to monitor the intensity of a workout. If you are using medication that influences your heart rate*, or if you have trouble finding or counting your pulse, you can still determine if your intensity level is within your training zone by using this scale. You must be able to listen to your body to use this scale. Many people will combine using this scale with The Talk Test.
To use this scale ask yourself, "How hard does this work seem to me?" If the intensity of work feels between fairly light (11) and hard (15) you are in your training zone (6 would feel like relaxing in a chair and 20 would feel like all-out effort).
| 6 | | | 7 | Very, very light | | 8 | | | 9 | Very light | | | | 10 | | | 11 | Fairly light | | 12 | | | 13 | Somewhat hard | | 14 | | | 15 | Hard | | | | 16 | | | 17 | Very hard | | 18 | | | 19 | Very, very hard | | 20 | |
Although the numbers are arbitrary and merely indicate subjective feelings, this scale has had overwhelming documentation in the scientific literature to correlate significantly with heart rate.
*Check with your physician if you are on medication that may influence your heart rate (blood pressure medication, allergy medications, etc,).??When in doubt, check with your physician or pharmacist.
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