Borg RPE Scale

The Borg Rating of Perceived Exertion scale, or Borg RPE scale, is a 15-point scale used to rate how hard physical exercise feels. Developed by Gunnar Borg, it ranges from 6, representing no exertion, to 20, representing maximal exertion. Intermediate values are paired with verbal descriptions, including 9 for very light, 11 for fairly light, 13 for somewhat hard, 15 for hard, and 17 for very hard exertion .^1,2

The scale measures perceived exertion rather than a specific physiological variable. A person selects the number that best represents the overall sense of how strenuous the exercise feels, including sensations associated with muscular effort and breathing. Ratings generally increase as exercise intensity rises and can be used alongside measurements such as heart rate, oxygen uptake, or external workload .^1,2

The 6-to-20 numbering was chosen partly so that, in healthy young adults performing aerobic exercise, multiplying an RPE value by approximately 10 could give a rough correspondence with heart rate in beats per minute. For example, an RPE of 15 might broadly correspond to a heart rate near 150 beats per minute. This relationship is only approximate and varies with factors such as age, fitness, medications, and exercise mode, so RPE should not be interpreted as a direct heart-rate measurement .^1,2

The Borg RPE scale is distinct from the Borg CR10 scale. The original RPE scale runs from 6 to 20 and is widely used for rating whole-body exertion, whereas the CR10 scale uses a category-ratio format with numerical and verbal anchors commonly spanning 0 to 10 and can also be applied to more localized sensations and symptoms .²