For example, a walker who wants to engage in moderate-intensity activity would aim for a Borg Scale level of “somewhat hard” (12-14). Through experience of monitoring how your body feels, it will become easier to know when to adjust your intensity. Self-monitoring how hard your body is working can help you adjust the intensity of the activity by speeding up or slowing down your movements. During activity, use the Borg Scale to assign numbers to how you feel (see instructions below). Practitioners generally agree that perceived exertion ratings between 12 to 14 on the Borg Scale suggests that physical activity is being performed at a moderate level of intensity. These include a rating of 6 perceiving “no exertion at all” to 20 perceiving a “maximal exertion” of effort. Although this is a subjective measure, your exertion rating based on a 6 to 20 rating scale, may provide a fairly good estimate of your actual heart rate during physical activity* (Borg, 1998).Īs you exercise you can rate your perceived exertion using several anchors. It is based on the physical sensations a person experiences during physical activity, including increased heart rate, increased respiration or breathing rate, increased sweating, and muscle fatigue. Perceived exertion is how hard you feel like your body is working.
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The Borg Rating of Perceived Exertion (RPE) is a way of measuring physical activity intensity level. Check out Target Heart Rate and Estimated Maximum Heart Rate to determine if your heart rate is within the target zone during physical activity.