Prescribing Exercise Intensity For Healthy Adults Using Perceived Exertion

Prescribing exercise intensity for healthy adults using perceived exertion. Rating of perceived exertion (RPE) is endorsed as a useful adjuvant for prescribing and monitoring exercise intensity. In this paper, I describe a rationale for the use of RPE and other exertional symptoms as an alternative to traditional exercise prescription procedures for healthy adults. Errors associated with using RPE for producing exercise intensity are discussed along with limitations with the use of HRReserve as the standard for judging the accuracy of RPE for prescribing relative exercise intensity.