RPE: The Smart Traveler’s Tool for Training Anywhere
Don’t make excuses about not having your smartwatch or gym. You don’t need them! Here’s why-->
Most people don’t know their exact heart rate zones or VO₂ max anyway, unless you are an elite athlete or working with an exercise physiologist. And even if you do, not everyone has a fitness tracker strapped on.
This is where RPE, the Rate of Perceived Exertion, comes in. It lets you measure intensity without relying on expensive gadgets or complex testing. You get a reliable tool to track efforts that works anywhere in the world, with no extra gear required.
If you do have a fitness tracker, that is great! You can pair the data with RPE for even better feedback. But for now let’s keep it simple.
What RPE means
RPE is just a way of rating how hard a workout feels. Most people are used to 1–10, but here’s why I don’t use it: the Borg 6–20 scale was designed to line up with heart rate. An RPE of 12 usually means about 120 beats per minute, which makes it way more practical and research backed than just saying “yeah, that was tough.”
And here’s the cool part. When I’m programming for clients and someone messages me saying their squats felt like a 16 out of 20, I know exactly the effort they’re talking about. There’s no guessing. It takes two seconds to record, we’re speaking the same language, and it shows real progress week after week. Whether you’re lifting in a hostel gym or running through a new city, it keeps training simple, effective, and consistent.
Why Does RPE Beat Your Fitness Tracker?
Research shows that RPE is one of the most valid and reliable ways to measure training intensity. A 2020 meta-analysis found that RPE strongly correlates with heart rate, blood lactate, and oxygen consumption across a wide variety of exercises and populations (Zourdos et al., 2020). In other words, your own perceived effort is often just as good a guide, and sometimes better, than the numbers on a watch.
Fitness trackers are not perfect. Studies have found that wrist worn heart rate monitors can be off by 10 to 30 beats per minute, especially during high intensity exercise or strength training (Shcherbina et al., 2017). That means the number on your watch may actually be less accurate than simply rating how you feel. Chest strap monitors, on the other hand, have been shown to provide much higher accuracy because they measure the electrical signals of the heart directly rather than relying on light sensors at the wrist (Wallen et al., 2016). The problem is that chest straps are not always convenient to wear, especially when you are on the move. This is where RPE shines. It is quick, simple, and always available, making it the most practical choice for travelers who want to train effectively without extra gear.
Putting RPE into practice while traveling
I get my clients to focus on RPE primarily for running and for their main compound lifts such as the squat, deadlift, and bench press. These are the movements where intensity matters most, and RPE helps gauge how hard they are pushing when your environment is changing consistently and there are too many variables in running terrain or different gym setups.
For accessory movements such as bicep curls, lateral raises, or light core work, RPE is not as necessary in my opinion, but can be used. The load is lower, the fatigue risk is smaller, and research shows that exact effort levels in isolation work do not carry the same training importance as compounds (Helms et al., 2016). Instead, I have clients focus on form, control, and consistency for accessories, while letting RPE guide the big lifts and runs.
When traveling, this system works perfectly. You can run anywhere, track effort on a scale of 6-20, and know whether you are building endurance or pushing into harder training zones. You can hit a hostel gym, load up a barbell, or even just use bodyweight variations, and still have a way to measure intensity without overthinking.
RPE is not just a training tool. It is a mindset that teaches you to listen to your body, adapt to your environment, and keep progressing no matter what life throws at you. Whether you are training in a state of the art gym or running through the streets of a new city, RPE gives you a reliable and portable way to keep moving forward without needing perfect conditions.
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References
George Washington University, Himmelfarb Health Sciences Library. (2024). Study design 101: Meta-analysis. https://guides.himmelfarb.gwu.edu/studydesign101/metaanalysis
Helms, E. R., Storey, A., Cross, M. R., Brown, S. R., Lenetsky, S., Ramsay, H., & Zourdos, M. C. (2016). RPE and velocity relationships for the back squat, bench press, and deadlift in powerlifters. Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research, 30(2), 401–409. https://doi.org/10.1519/JSC.0000000000001090
Shcherbina, A., Mattsson, C. M., Waggott, D., Salisbury, H., Christle, J. W., Hastie, T., & Ashley, E. A. (2017). Accuracy in wrist worn, sensor based measurements of heart rate and energy expenditure in a diverse cohort. Journal of Personalized Medicine, 7(2), 3. https://doi.org/10.3390/jpm7020003
Strava. (2023). Understanding heart rate zones and how they impact your training. Strava Stories.https://stories.strava.com/articles/understanding-heart-rate-zones-and-how-they-impact-your-training
Wallen, M. P., Gomersall, S. R., Keating, S. E., Wisløff, U., & Coombes, J. S. (2016). Accuracy of heart rate watches: Implications for weight management. PLoS ONE, 11(5), e0154420. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0154420
Zourdos, M. C., et al. (2020). Exercise intensity and perceived exertion: A systematic review and meta-analysis. Sports Medicine, 50(11), 1859–1876. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40279-020-01304-5
