Sets, Reps and Intensity
Lifting prescriptions
Most exercises in your programme will have a description that looks something like:
3 x 5 @ RPE 8 each set
What does this mean?
The first number is the number of sets. A set is a group of repetitions done consecutively
The second number is the number of reps or repetitions of an exercise per set
The final part of the description (“@ RPE 8”) describes the intensity — how hard each set should be/feel. In the example above, it’s a rating of perceived exertion (RPE) of 8/10
So in this example, you would do:
3 sets of 5 repetitions at a perceived effort level of 8/10 each set
Lifting intensity (RPE & RIR)
Intensity is a complicated and nuanced term in a sport science and physiological sense. However, to keep things simple, it’s helpful to just think of intensity of either how much force you need to produce, or how close to your maximum a given set, exercise or workout is.
There are several ways to measure and/or prescribe intensity. The common ones that you are likely to see in your training programme are:
Rating of Perceived Exertion (RPE)
Reps in Reserve (RIR)
Rating of perceived exertion (RPE)
RPE is a helpful way of prescribing and/or measuring how hard you are trying, relative to your maximum. It is a subjective number out of 10 that you use to describe how close to your maximum you are.
RPE and Reps in Reserve are closely related — see the table below for more detail.
The way we estimate RPE for conditioning exercises (e.g., aerobic) and RPE for lifting weights is slightly different.
Reps in Reserve (RIR)
Reps in reserve is another helpful way of prescribing and/or measuring how hard you are trying, relative to your maximum. It is your subjective assessment of how many reps of best form you have left before you can’t do any more — see the table below for more detail.
RPE and Reps in Reserve are closely related — see the table below for more detail.
Learning to esimate RPE and RIR
It takes time and training experience to learn how to accurately gauge your RPE. The three biggest considerations to take into account are:
Reps in reserve means best form reps in reserve. If you are using any old horrendously dangerous way to get the bar back to it’s starting position, it’s not training, it’s just risking injury.
RPE 10 (0 reps in reserve) means that you literally couldn’t do another rep of good quality if your life literally depended on it. When you think about it, this is quite an intense effort! Which means that RPE 8 (2 reps in reserve) is also quite an intense effort!
When you are starting a training programme don’t worry too much about whether you are, for example, at exactly 2 reps in reserve or RPE 8. Just roughly gauge your effort out of 10. As you train more, become stronger and get more familiar with how hard certain exercises feel, you will become better at estimating intensity.