Let’s be real. Most people in the gym are focused on numbers. How much did you bench? How heavy was your deadlift? Did you hit a new PR? And hey, I get it. Numbers are motivating. But if you’re always chasing weight just for the sake of hitting a number, you’re setting yourself up for frustration, plateaus, or even injury.
As a coach, I use RPE, Rate of Perceived Exertion, all the time. And I think more lifters, especially the everyday gym-goer, could benefit from it.
What Is RPE? I've covered this in more detail in the past. Here's the short version: RPE is a scale from 1 to 10 that tells you how hard a set feels.
- RPE 10 means you gave it everything. You couldn’t do one more rep.
- RPE 9 means you had maybe one rep left in the tank.
- RPE 8 means you had two more reps.
- And so on.
If you're doing a set of five squats at RPE 8, it means you could’ve done seven reps if you absolutely had to. You didn’t max out, but you trained hard and left just enough in the tank to recover and come back stronger.
That’s the beauty of RPE. It lets you train hard without overdoing it.
Why It Beats Chasing Numbers
A lot of lifters walk into the gym with a number in their head. “I need to squat 315 for five today.” But what if you slept like garbage? What if your joints are beat up from work or you skipped breakfast? That 315 might feel like 400.
And RPE lets you auto-regulate. You adjust the weight to match how your body actually feels that day, not how you felt last week or how your buddy is lifting next to you. That’s smart training.
Here’s the thing: You can still push yourself. You can still track progress. But RPE gives you built-in flexibility. It keeps your ego in check and puts longevity first.
Here's what that looks like in practice: Let’s say your coach programs 3 sets of 6 reps at RPE 8 on bench press. Week one, you do 185 pounds and it feels like an 8. Week two, you’re feeling strong and 190 feels like an 8. Week three, you’re tired, but 180 still hits that same RPE.
Guess what? You’re still training at the right intensity, even though the weight changed. You're not failing reps. You’re not grinding. You're training consistently with the right effort.
That’s how you build strength over time.
But Don’t I Need to Track Weight Too?
Yes, absolutely. RPE isn’t about ignoring numbers. You still record your weights, your reps, and your sets. You just also record how hard it felt. Over time, you'll start noticing trends. Maybe your RPE 8 squat used to be 225 and now it’s 255. That’s real progress. That’s how you know the system is working.
Here’s something nobody talks about: RPE teaches you to feel your body. It builds that mental connection to your training. You stop guessing. You stop blindly following cookie-cutter percentages.
Instead, you start asking yourself:
- How many reps did I have left?
- Did I stay tight under fatigue?
- Could I have gone heavier without breaking form?
That’s powerful stuff. That’s how real lifters train.
If you're always chasing numbers, you're eventually going to hit a wall. That wall might be a missed lift, a nagging injury, or just mental burnout. But if you use RPE, you give yourself permission to train hard and smart. You still push yourself, but you stay in control.
So ditch the ego. Learn the RPE scale. Use it.
Because the lifters who last the longest and make the most progress?
They’re not the ones who chase numbers.
They’re the ones who train with intent.
Want to use your RPE to track maximum effort lifts? Try this RPE calculator.
