Guides · Planning · 9 November 2026 · Thomas Schüller
Estimating training load with session RPE
How the load of a session follows from duration and effort, what the weekly value is good for and where its limits lie.
How hard was the session? The answer is more than a feeling. The session-RPE method asks about half an hour after training for the perceived effort on a scale from 0 to 10 and multiplies it by the duration in minutes. Sixty minutes at an effort of 6 give 360 units. The value is simple, needs no device and works for running, strength, games and technique alike.
What the weekly value shows
Summed over the week, the value shows whether load rises, stays level or falls. Foster and colleagues described monotony: if every day is equally hard, recovery is more likely to fall short. A good week has easy and hard days. Haddad and colleagues summarise that session RPE agrees well with other load measures in many sports.
What it does not show
The value is self-reported. It says nothing about technique, sleep or stress outside sport and does not predict injuries. Ratios such as acute to chronic load are disputed; Impellizzeri and colleagues show why they are easily misread. The tool therefore shows every figure with its formula and its limit.
How to proceed
Enter duration and effort after every session, always at the same time after training. After four weeks look at the trend, not at single days. Increase weekly load step by step and plan easier weeks regularly.
Key point: Duration times effort gives the load; what matters is the trend over weeks, not the single day.
References
- Foster, C. et al. (2001): A new approach to monitoring exercise training. Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research 15(1), 109-115.
- Haddad, M. et al. (2017): Session-RPE method for training load monitoring: validity, ecological usefulness, and influencing factors. Frontiers in Neuroscience 11, 612.
- Impellizzeri, F. M. et al. (2020): Acute:chronic workload ratio: conceptual issues and fundamental pitfalls. International Journal of Sports Physiology and Performance 15(6), 907-913.