Perceived effort (also referred to as subjective effort) is a runner's personal assessment of how hard or easy a workout feels, based on internal cues and sensations rather than objective measurements like speed or heart rate. This is commonly measured using a Rating of Perceived Effort (RPE) scale.
Within TrainAsONE, RPE/perceived effort is a key feedback mechanism that provides our AI with qualitative data about your training load, complementing objective metrics like pace, heart rate, and power, to ensure your training plan remains optimally personalised and responsive to your body.
Below is the standard 10-point scale used as a guide to Perceived (Subjective) Effort:
| Value | Rating | Description |
|---|---|---|
| 0 | Rest | Apart from lying, sitting or standing still, you are not doing anything! Get off that couch! |
| 1 | Very very easy | Very light exertion, such as gentle walk. |
| 2 | Very easy | Light exertion, such as a fast walk or even a gentle run. |
| 3 | Easy | An exertion level that you can easily hold a conversation. One you feel that you could maintain for hours. This is commonly the level for a typical easy run. |
| 4 | Moderate | You can still hold that conversation, it's just getting a little more difficult. |
| 5 | Somewhat hard | It is difficult to hold a conversation at this level, and you certainly need a little time between sentences to get your breath back. |
| 6 | Moderately hard | Your breathing's getting hard and you can only manage short sentences at a time. Generally, this is the level that TrainAsONE Threshold workouts are aiming for, though you might feel otherwise. |
| 7 | Hard | An intense level of exercise, where you are breathing hard and when asked to do it for 15 minutes your only thought is 'no way' (to put it mildly). |
| 8 | Really hard | A high level of exercise that you could maintain for at most 6 to 8 minutes. You might be able to utter a word or two, but you'd be gasping if you did. Generally, this is the level that TrainAsONE Interval workouts are targetted at, though you might think differently! |
| 9 | Really really hard | This is an extremely high exertion level that you could maintain for not much more than a minute - if you are lucky. Talking is probably out of the question. Generally, this is the level that TrainAsONE Repetition workouts are aiming for, though you might feel otherwise! |
| 10 | Maximal | Your maximum effort. This would be 'all out' efforts such as your fastest sprints or a race where you 'gave it your all'. Consequently, this should mean that this rating would include fast assessment runs. |