Hi, It would be nice to be able to create workouts based on the perception of effort. Using the cr10 scale.
Thanks
8 Likes
I would find this feature extremely helpful when creating workouts for coached athletes.
2 Likes
Don’t I only know the RPE value after training?
You can definitely use an RPE value as a guide for intensities when setting workouts.
Warmup @ 3-4RPE, 8 x 20sec @ 9RPE, etc.
Setting workouts with RPE is very handy for trail runners. I use it a lot when coaching trail and ultra runners. Some runners definitely prefer the flexibility of a less structured workout while still having the RPE to guide them.
I know it can be done with just putting the workout in the description. However, it is very helpful to be able to see the visual structure of the workout. Especially when glancing at the upcoming weeks training.
2 Likes
In the 3-zone system of easy (1), medium (2) and hard (3), it’s very easy to prescribe workouts for athletes without power meters, and even heart rate monitors.
- Easy efforts (breathing under control) would be 3-5.
- Medium efforts would be 5-7
- Hard efforts (max sustainable) would be 8-10
For new athletes it’s a learning curve that takes time to get right, but eventually makes workouts so much easier to achieve.
Their measure of performance then becomes speed over a known course, or distance covered in a specific time.
4 Likes
Okay and thank you, learned something again 
Hello
Garmin devices support RPE workouts and my wife uses Training Peaks to push RPE based plans to her watch, and it works well according to her.
I’m about to start a triathlon plan that uses RPE as a metric for the swimming portion of the plan (IM plan by Don Fink).
I can see Intervals caters for: Power, Heart Rate, Pace, Cadence.
Would it be possible to add Effort to that list please? I think a scale of 1-10 or a % range would work well (or both).
Many thanks,
Phil
7 Likes
I would love to have this feature. I do all my running workout based on RPE. On Trainingpeaks you can create workouts based on RPE and it even associates certain paces to it.
Hi @david
Following up on this previous discussion around perceived effort, I’d like to show some examples for how I would use Rate of Perceived Exertion (RPE) as a primary target option within the workout builder.
Why RPE?
While HR, Pace, and Power targets are fantastic, incorporating RPE would offer significant advantages for both coaches and athletes, particularly in endurance sports:
- Reflects Daily Readiness: RPE is the ultimate expression of how an athlete feels on the day, inherently accounting for fatigue, life stress, weather, sleep quality, etc., allowing for crucial auto-regulation.
- Essential for Varied Terrain/Conditions: For trail running, hiking, or even road running in very windy conditions, maintaining a specific Pace or Power can be impractical or misleading. RPE allows for consistent effort prescription across changing gradients and surfaces. As many coaches emphassze, ultrarunners fundamentally rely on RPE for successful pacing.
- Intuitive for All Levels: It’s a highly accessible metric for beginners still learning their zones, athletes returning from injury needing to moderate carefully, or even experienced athletes doing recovery sessions purely by feel.
- Cross-Training Applicability: RPE provides a universal language for effort across different modalities (swimming, rowing, elliptical, hiking) where HR responses can differ significantly from running, or where Pace/Power data isn’t available.
- Strength Training Integration: RPE (often expressed via Reps In Reserve - RIR) is a cornerstone of modern strength programming. Enabling RPE targets would allow for more effective strength workout prescriptions within Intervals.icu.
It’s worth noting that prescribing workouts using RPE doesn’t diminish the value of the objective data Intervals.icu collects and analyzes so well. Heart rate, power, and pace data are still recorded during the workout, providing the same rich dataset for post-activity review. The primary advantage of RPE targets lies on the prescription side – enabling coaches to guide effort more effectively based on subjective feel, promoting better athlete auto-regulation, and fostering clearer communication about workout intent, especially when objective targets might be inappropriate due to external factors or fatigue.
Example Use Cases:
- Running:
- Trail Tempo 30m RPE 6-7(Maintain threshold effort regardless of terrain)- Easy Run 60m RPE 2-4(Ensures easy days stay easy based on feel)- Fartlek 6x(2min RPE 8 / 3min RPE 3)(Effort-based intensity changes)
- Basic Strength Workout: Currently, I use workarounds like timed blocks with HR placeholders, but RPE targets would be much clearer and also allow a visual skyline chart to represent the workout.
This would allow the athlete to adjust weight/reps based on daily strength to hit the desired effort stimulus. - Hiking/XT:
- Uphill Hike 60min RPE 5-7,- Elliptical Steady 45m RPE 4
Implementation Idea:
Adding RPE as a target type alongside Pace, HR, Power, with the ability to input a single number or a range (e.g., “RPE 6-7”) on perhaps a standard 1-10 scale, would be incredibly valuable.
Integrating RPE prescription would significantly enhance the versatility and real-world applicability of the workout builder. It supports more nuanced coaching, better auto-regulation for athletes, and aligns perfectly with the subjective nature of effort in endurance sports, especially trail and ultra running. This feature would be a fantastic addition to an already brilliant platform.
Acknowledging Complexity:
While I don’t fully appreciate the technical complexities involved on the development side & feasibility of implementing this, the potential benefits for coaching and athlete experience seem significant.
Thanks for considering!
Cheers
Glen
3 Likes
I agree with the above, and I think this would be fantastic. I am currently using RPE to prescribe training for some (most?) of the trail runners I work with. Some of it I do in trainingpeaks, which is very handy, and some of it I do in intervals, which gets a bit more complicated.
It would be fantastic if we were able to have simply RPE as the only variable of input in a workout prescription, ie:
5x
-5’ RPE 7
-2’ RPE 2
And then, using the colors from the RPE scale, create the workout graph for the athlete to be able to identify the workout intensities at a glance.
Currently I’m doing this:
Adding HR zones as a place holder, but I’m afraid that may confuse some athletes, who will then go based on HR zones (which may not even be properly set for them) instead of focusing on their effort levels.
It would be fantastic if, in some cases, I could simply take HR out of the prescription and have the full workout prescription and the graph using only RPE.
3 Likes