“Breathing and muscle effort can feel very different, rate them separately.”
Respiratory effort
RPE | Breathlessness Description |
1 | Easy at rest |
2 | Slight change in breathing |
3 | Breathing a little faster but comfortable |
4 | Breathing moderately heavier, still easy |
5 | Breathing clearly harder but controlled |
6 | Breathing hard, noticeable effort |
7 | Very hard breathing, but manageable |
8 | Very breathless, difficult to sustain |
9 | Near-maximal breathlessness |
10 | Maximal breathlessness, had to stop or recover |
Muscular effort
RPE | Muscular Effort Description |
1 | Very little muscle effort |
2 | Light muscle effort |
3 | Mild muscle effort |
4 | Moderate muscle effort, comfortable |
5 | Moderately hard muscle effort |
6 | Hard muscle effort, noticeable fatigue |
7 | Very hard muscle effort, but manageable |
8 | Very heavy effort, difficult to sustain |
9 | Near-maximal effort, close to muscular failure |
10 | Maximal muscle effort, failure or could not continue |