The goal of Walk 100 Miles in 100 Days® is to get you excited about exercise and to walk at least 1 mile (about 2000 steps) every day for the next 100 days. Walking is a great form of exercise that is easy to do and can be done almost anywhere. NEW! Please click here to view a list of all team participant miles up to Week #5 (week ending May 15)
Using Rating of Perceived Exertion (RPE) To Determine Exercise Intensity
Rating of Perceived Exertion (RPE) Scale
Rating of Perceived Exertion (RPE) is a way of measuring physical activity intensity level. Perceived exertion is how hard you feel like your body is working. It is based on the physical sensations a person experiences during physical activity, including increased heart rate, increased respiration or breathing rate, increased sweating, and muscle fatigue. Although this is a subjective measure, a person's exertion rating may provide a fairly good estimate of the actual heart rate during physical activity.
Practitioners generally agree that perceived exertion ratings between 11 to 13 on the RPE Scale suggests that physical activity is being performed at a moderate level of intensity. During activity, use the RPE Scale to assign numbers to how you feel (see instructions below). Self-monitoring how hard your body is working can help you adjust the intensity of the activity by speeding up or slowing down your movements.
Through experience of monitoring how your body feels, it will become easier to know when to adjust your intensity. For example, a walker who wants to engage in moderate-intensity activity would aim for a RPE Scale level of "somewhat hard" (11-13). If he or she describes his or her muscle fatigue and breathing as "very light" (9 on the RPE Scale) he or she would want to increase his or her intensity. On the other hand, if he or she felt his or her exertion was "extremely hard" (19 on the RPE Scale) he or she would need to slow down his or her movements to achieve the moderate-intensity range.
*A high correlation exists between a person's perceived exertion rating times 10 and the actual heart rate during physical activity; so a person's exertion rating may provide a fairly good estimate of the actual heart rate during activity. For example, if a person's rating of perceived exertion (RPE) is 12, then 12 x 10 = 120; so the heart rate should be approximately 120 beats per minute. Note that this calculation is only an approximation of heart rate, and the actual heart rate can vary quite a bit depending on age and physical condition. The Rating of Perceived Exertion is also the preferred method to assess intensity among those individuals who take medications that affect heart rate or pulse.
Instructions for Rating of Perceived Exertion (RPE) Scale
While doing physical activity, we want you to rate your perception of exertion. This feeling should reflect how heavy and strenuous the exercise feels to you, combining all sensations and feelings of physical stress, effort, and fatigue. Do not concern yourself with any one factor such as leg pain or shortness of breath, but try to focus on your total feeling of exertion.
Look at the rating scale below while you are engaging in an activity; it ranges from 6 to 20, where 6 means "no exertion at all" and 20 means "maximal exertion." Choose the number from below that best describes your level of exertion. This will give you a good idea of the intensity level of your activity, and you can use this information to speed up or slow down your movements to reach your desired range.
Try to appraise your feeling of exertion as honestly as possible, without thinking about what the actual physical load is. Your own feeling of effort and exertion is important, not how it compares to other people's. Look at the scales and the expressions and then give a number.
(9) corresponds to "very light" exercise. For a healthy person, it is like walking slowly at his or her own pace for some minutes
(13) on the scale is "somewhat hard" exercise, but it still feels OK to continue.
(17) "very hard" is very strenuous. A healthy person can still go on, but he or she really has to push him or herself. It feels very heavy, and the person is very tired.
(19) on the scale is an extremely strenuous exercise level. For most people this is the most strenuous exercise they have ever experienced.
Adding Intensity to Your Walking
Walking is by far the most popular low impact exercise, but in order to get your heart rate up there are some things you may need to do.
Walk faster. One mistake we often make is walking too slowly to get the heart rate up. Picking up the pace can help you up the intensity of your workouts.
Try interval training. By adding short bursts of speed or an occasional steep hill to your walking workouts, you can increase the intensity of your workouts as well as your calorie-burn. Try one of the hill workouts on the treadmill or one of the beginner interval workouts to get started.
Use your arms. Make sure you’re not holding onto the treadmill and, when you’re outside, swing your arms to keep the intensity up. Holding weights as you walk can lead to injury, but consider using walking poles as an alternative.
Mix things up. If walking is your sole source of cardio, cross-train with other activities to keep your body challenged. Walking is something we do every day and, therefore, we’re very good at it. Learning something you’re not as adept at can be a great boost to your endurance and fat loss.