RPE and reps in reserve: chart, logging and calibration

"Three reps at RPE 8" is one of the most useful instructions in strength training, and one of the most misused. Done well, it lets the bar weight match the lifter you are today instead of the lifter a spreadsheet assumed. Done badly, it becomes a polite way of saying "whatever felt okay".

Below: what RPE and reps in reserve (RIR) mean, how accurately lifters rate their sets, how to log and check your ratings, and how to use an RPE chart without over-trusting it.

TL;DR

• RIR is the number of reps you could still have done with good form when you stopped the set. RIR-based RPE is 10 minus RIR: RPE 8 means about 2 reps left.
• Studies on the squat and bench press found lifters' ratings tracked bar speed closely, but less experienced lifters rated true maximal lifts lower than experienced lifters did.
• The RPE chart below converts reps and RPE into an estimated percentage of 1RM. It is derived from the Epley formula, not measured, and individuals vary.
• Log the load, reps, RPE and one cue for every top set. On practiced lifts, you can optionally check your ratings with video and occasional supervised checks.
• RPE works best on stable, practiced lifts with 1–6 reps. It is less reliable on light, high-rep sets, new exercises and the Olympic lifts.

What to do this week

• Add an RPE column to your training log and rate the last set of every main lift.
• Write down your predicted reps in reserve for each top set. If you have been training a lift for a while, you can optionally run one supervised calibration check (see how to calibrate); it is not required to use RPE.
• If your program uses percentages, keep them, and just record RPE alongside. You will build a personal reference before you rely on it.
• Use the 1RM calculator with reps in reserve (0–3) to estimate your max from a set you did not take to failure.

What RPE and RIR mean

Reps in reserve (RIR) is how many more reps you could have completed, with your normal technique, when you racked the bar.

RPE (rating of perceived exertion) originally described how hard an effort felt overall. The resistance-training version used here, published by Zourdos and colleagues in 2016, anchors the upper part of the scale to RIR. Helms and colleagues note that a scale of this type first appeared in Mike Tuchscherer's Reactive Training Manual (Reactive Training Systems, 2008), written for powerlifting training.

The published scale looks like this:

Many lifters and coaches also use half points, such as RPE 8.5 for "1 or 2 reps left, not sure which". The published scale does not define them. In the chart below we treat a half point as half a rep in reserve, which is an arithmetic convention, not a measured value.

The scale describes the set you just did. It is not a target you hit by grinding. An RPE 8 set should look like a confident set of the prescribed reps, not a near-miss.

How accurate are lifters' ratings?

Two closely related studies (Michael Zourdos was an author on both) give a useful picture.

Squat (Zourdos et al., 2016). Twenty-nine lifters, split into experienced (about five years of training) and novice squatters (under a year on average), performed a 1RM, singles at 60%, 75% and 90% of 1RM, and a set of 8 at 70%. Ratings followed bar speed closely: as average velocity fell, RPE rose, with strong correlations in both groups. Experienced squatters moved more slowly at their 1RM and rated it closer to 10 than novices did (about 9.8 vs 9.0 on average, as summarized by Helms and colleagues). The authors concluded the RIR-based scale is a practical way to regulate daily training load.

Bench press (Ormsbee et al., 2019). Twenty-seven college-aged men, split into experienced and novice benchers, did the same protocol. Again, ratings and bar speed were strongly related in both groups. At a true 1RM, experienced benchers rated their effort 9.86 on average, novices 9.35. There were no group differences at submaximal loads.

What this means for you: ratings track something real (bar speed as you approach your limit), newer lifters on average under-rated true maximal efforts, and both studies were small, in young adults, on two lifts. They support RPE as a practical tool, not a precise measuring device.

Helms and colleagues' 2016 practical guide makes the same case: a scale built on reps left may be more precise than older "how hard did it feel" scales near maximal loads, and it lets load adjust to the lifter set by set. The same paper notes earlier work finding that estimates of reps remaining were more accurate when a set was closer to failure, which is why the scale only uses reps-left descriptions from RPE 5 upward.

The RPE chart

This chart estimates the percentage of your 1RM you can lift for a given number of reps at a given RPE.

How it was built: reps to failure = reps performed + (10 − RPE). The estimated %1RM = 100 ÷ (1 + reps to failure ÷ 30), which is the Epley formula rearranged; a single at RPE 10 is 100%. Values are rounded to one decimal.

Derived from the Epley formula, not measured data; individuals vary (Nuzzo 2024).

Cells are estimated % of 1RM. The jump from 100.0 to 95.2 in the first row is a quirk of the method: a true single to failure is a measured max, so no formula is applied to it.

Worked example: choosing a load

Your estimated squat 1RM is 140 kg. Today's program says 3 reps at RPE 8.

• Chart: 3 reps at RPE 8 = 85.7%.
• 140 kg × 0.857 = 120 kg (about 264.6 lb).
• Load 120 kg, do your triple, and rate it honestly.
• A separate pound example: with a 315 lb estimated max, 315 × 0.857 = 270 lb.
• If it felt like RPE 9, keep the weight for any remaining sets or drop slightly. If it felt like RPE 7, you may add a small jump next set.

Worked example: estimating a max from an RPE set

You bench 100 kg for 5 reps at RPE 8 (about 2 reps left). In the 1RM calculator, enter 100 kg, 5 reps and 2 reps in reserve. The calculator treats it as 7 reps to failure:

• Epley: 100 × (1 + 7 ÷ 30) = 123.3 kg
• Brzycki: 100 × 36 ÷ (37 − 7) = 120.0 kg
• Midpoint estimate: about 121.7 kg

A separate pound example: 225 lb × 5 at RPE 8 gives about 277.5 lb (Epley) and 270 lb (Brzycki), a midpoint of about 274 lb.

If your RPE was off by one (really RPE 7, 3 reps left), the estimate moves too. That is why it helps to compare your ratings with your log over time.

Why the chart is only a starting point

A large 2024 meta-regression by Nuzzo and colleagues pooled 952 reps-to-failure tests from 269 studies. It found that the number of reps people can do at a given percentage of 1RM varies between individuals, and that this spread is larger at lighter loads. It also found more reps on the leg press than the bench press at the same percentage, so the relationship differs by exercise.

In practice:

• Two lifters with the same 1RM may get a different number of reps at 80%.
• Your own chart may differ between squat, bench and deadlift.
• The chart is most useful for heavy sets of about 1–6 reps. Below roughly 75% of 1RM, treat it as a loose guide.

How to log RPE

Keep it simple and consistent. One line per top set:

Rules that make the log useful:

• Rate immediately, before you check your phone or talk yourself up or down.
• Rate the set, not the day. A hard day does not make a set an RPE 9 if you had two reps left.
• Use half points only between 7 and 10, if at all. Below 7, whole numbers are enough.
• Add a cue or condition: bar speed, a technique fault, poor sleep. Patterns appear over weeks.

The same weight and reps at a lower RPE, or more weight at the same RPE, is progress. In the log above, 120 kg × 3 at RPE 8 implies an estimated 1RM near 140 kg. If you later make 125 kg × 3 at RPE 8, the chart implies about 146 kg.

How to calibrate your ratings

You can use RPE without ever testing it, but your ratings get more useful when you occasionally check them. These checks are optional. Use them only on lifts you have practiced for a while, with safety arms set or a spotter in place, and skip them if you are in your first months of training or working around an injury.

1. Predict, then continue (optional). On a practiced lift, on a set where you planned 5 reps, decide your RIR at rep 5, then continue only while every rep keeps your normal technique. If you predicted 2 RIR and finished with 7 good reps, your rating was accurate. End the set as soon as technique changes; the point is information, not reaching failure.
2. Review video. If the last rep of an "RPE 7" set looked much slower or harder than your other sets, compare it with your rating; you may have been closer to failure than you thought.
3. Use bar speed as context. In the studies above, ratings rose as bar speed fell, so a clearly slower rep is a useful signal. It is not proof a rating was wrong: some lifters and lifts slow down earlier or later than others.
4. Calibrate one lift at a time. Squat RPE does not automatically match bench RPE.

Programs with AMRAP (as many reps as possible) sets can also give you calibration data, but AMRAP rules are program-specific, so follow your program's instructions on how far to push them. In GZCLP, Cody Lefever's novice linear progression, the last T1 set is an AMRAP; you can note the RIR you would have predicted at the prescribed rep before you continue. 5/3/1, Jim Wendler's program, takes a different angle: his beginner article says no barbell rep should be slow or grinding, and the training max does not go up if they are.

Using RPE in your program

You do not need to rebuild your training around RPE. Three common uses:

• As a check on percentages. Keep your program's percentages and record RPE. If your 80% sets keep landing at RPE 9.5, your max is probably overestimated.
• As a top-set target. Work up to a set of 3 at RPE 8, then do back-off sets at a slightly lighter weight.
• As a ceiling on hard days. "Stop at RPE 8 even if the plan says more" keeps fatigue in check when sleep or stress is poor.

If a whole week feels harder than usual at the same weights, see our guide to deload weeks.

Common errors

• Rating the effort instead of reps left. A painful set of 12 can still have 3 reps in reserve.
• Under-rating near-max sets. In the studies above, newer lifters on average rated a true max below 10. Treat your near-max ratings with extra caution until you have more experience.
• Using RPE on unfamiliar exercises. You cannot judge reps left on a movement you have not learned.
• Using RPE on the Olympic lifts. Misses in the snatch and clean & jerk are usually about speed and position rather than a slow grind, so "reps in reserve" is a poor fit. See our powerlifting vs weightlifting guide for why these lifts behave differently.
• Chasing the chart. If the chart says 85.7% but today it feels like RPE 9.5, trust the bar and adjust.

Who RPE is for, and who it is not for

Good fit:

• Lifters past their first few months who know their technique and can feel a rep slowing down.
• Lifters whose sleep, stress or schedule varies a lot week to week.
• Anyone running percentage-based programs who wants a check on whether the percentages fit.

Not a good first tool for:

• True beginners on a simple linear progression. Add weight by the program's rules first, and log RPE for practice.
• Lifters whose ratings are consistently far off. Build a few weeks of log data, and check with a coach or the optional checks above before you rely on them.
• Competition comparisons. For how you compare with other lifters, see strength standards explained.

Pillars Check

Workout. RPE is a tool for choosing load on the day, not a program. Pair it with a progression model from the Workout pillar or a guide such as 5/3/1, and keep most work sets between RPE 6 and 9 unless your program says otherwise.

Diet. Under-eating can show up in your log as rising RPE at the same loads. If that pattern appears over several weeks, check your total food and protein intake before you change your program. The Diet pillar covers practical targets.

Recovery. Sleep and stress change how a set feels. Adults should regularly get seven or more hours of sleep. Your RPE notes make the effect visible: if short-sleep days keep showing up as higher ratings, that is your cue to protect sleep. See the Recovery pillar.

FAQ

Sources

• Zourdos MC, Klemp A, Dolan C, et al. Novel resistance training-specific rating of perceived exertion scale measuring repetitions in reserve. J Strength Cond Res. 2016;30(1):267–275. doi:10.1519/JSC.0000000000001049. Supports the RIR-based scale, the velocity–RPE relationship and experience differences at 1RM.
• Helms ER, Cronin J, Storey A, Zourdos MC. Application of the repetitions in reserve-based rating of perceived exertion scale for resistance training. Strength Cond J. 2016;38(4):42–49. doi:10.1519/SSC.0000000000000218. Supports practical use of the scale, the published scale descriptors, the 1RM ratings in the squat study, the note on the Reactive Training Manual, and greater accuracy closer to failure.
• Ormsbee MJ, Carzoli JP, Klemp A, et al. Efficacy of the repetitions in reserve-based rating of perceived exertion for the bench press in experienced and novice benchers. J Strength Cond Res. 2019;33(2):337–345. doi:10.1519/JSC.0000000000001901. Supports the bench press findings, including 1RM ratings of 9.86 vs 9.35.
• Nuzzo JL, Pinto MD, Nosaka K, Steele J. Maximal number of repetitions at percentages of the one repetition maximum: a meta-regression and moderator analysis of sex, age, training status, and exercise. Sports Med. 2024;54(2):303–321. doi:10.1007/s40279-023-01937-7. Supports between-individual and between-exercise variation in reps at a given %1RM.
• Epley B. Poundage Chart. Boyd Epley Workout. Lincoln, NE: Body Enterprises; 1985 (as cited in Richens and Cleather 2014). Source of the Epley formula used for the chart.
• Brzycki M. Strength testing: predicting a one-rep max from reps-to-fatigue. J Phys Educ Recreat Dance. 1993;64(1):88–90. doi:10.1080/07303084.1993.10606684. Source of the Brzycki formula in the worked example.
• Lefever C (GZCL). GZCL Applications and Adaptations, 2016. Supports the GZCLP AMRAP structure.
• Wendler J. The 5/3/1 Philosophy for Beginners, 2011. Supports the rule against slow or grinding reps.
• Watson NF, et al. Recommended amount of sleep for a healthy adult. Sleep. 2015;38(6):843–844. doi:10.5665/sleep.4716. Supports seven or more hours of sleep for adults.