RPE chart: turning effort into a percentage of your max
Enter the reps and RPE your program asks for, read the percentage of your max and the load to put on the bar. Full chart from 1 to 12 reps and RPE 6 to 10, and how to use it without turning every set into arithmetic.
Your program says "5 reps at RPE 8" and you want to know what to put on the bar. The chart below does the conversion: a number of reps, a level of effort, and you get the percentage of your max.
1
Enter the reps
The number your program asks for on that set, from 1 to 12.
2
Enter the RPE
From 6 to 10, in half points. RPE 8 means two reps left in reserve.
3
Read the percentage
Add your max to read a load directly.
RPE chart
Enter the reps and the RPE your program asks for: the chart gives the percentage of your max, and the load if you know it.
Percentage of your max
Example: 5 reps at RPE 8. Replace with what your program says.
The full chart
Reps down the side, RPE across the top. Read the cell, apply the percentage to your max.
| Reps | 10 | 9.5 | 9 | 8.5 | 8 | 7.5 | 7 | 6.5 | 6 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 100% | 95.2% | 93.8% | 92.3% | 90.9% | 89.6% | 88.2% | 87% | 85.7% |
| 2 | 93.8% | 92.3% | 90.9% | 89.6% | 88.2% | 87% | 85.7% | 84.5% | 83.3% |
| 3 | 90.9% | 89.6% | 88.2% | 87% | 85.7% | 84.5% | 83.3% | 82.2% | 81.1% |
| 4 | 88.2% | 87% | 85.7% | 84.5% | 83.3% | 82.2% | 81.1% | 80% | 78.9% |
| 5 | 85.7% | 84.5% | 83.3% | 82.2% | 81.1% | 80% | 78.9% | 77.9% | 76.9% |
| 6 | 83.3% | 82.2% | 81.1% | 80% | 78.9% | 77.9% | 76.9% | 75.9% | 75% |
| 7 | 81.1% | 80% | 78.9% | 77.9% | 76.9% | 75.9% | 75% | 74.1% | 73.2% |
| 8 | 78.9% | 77.9% | 76.9% | 75.9% | 75% | 74.1% | 73.2% | 72.3% | 71.4% |
| 9 | 76.9% | 75.9% | 75% | 74.1% | 73.2% | 72.3% | 71.4% | 70.6% | 69.8% |
| 10 | 75% | 74.1% | 73.2% | 72.3% | 71.4% | 70.6% | 69.8% | 69% | 68.2% |
| 11 | 73.2% | 72.3% | 71.4% | 70.6% | 69.8% | 69% | 68.2% | 67.4% | 66.7% |
| 12 | 71.4% | 70.6% | 69.8% | 69% | 68.2% | 67.4% | 66.7% | 65.9% | 65.2% |
These percentages are computed with the same formula as our 1RM calculator, not copied from a chart: a set at a given RPE is treated as a set taken to the limit with the reserve reps added. Other charts circulate with values 1 to 5 points apart, mostly on long sets. Keep one source and stay with it.
What RPE actually means
A scale of margin, not of pain
RPE measures what you had left at the end of the set. RPE 10, you could not have done one more. RPE 9, one left. RPE 8, two. Half points exist for the in-between cases: RPE 9.5 is "maybe one, not sure".
It is a scale of margin, not of suffering. A set of 12 at RPE 7 can burn far more than a single at RPE 9, and yet it is the second one that sits close to your limit.
Why programs use it
A program written in percentages assumes today's max is the one from the day you tested it. It never is: sleep, the week, food move it by several percent.
RPE adjusts on its own. "5 at RPE 8" asks for the same relative effort on a good day and a bad one, at a different weight. It is more honest, and it is a decision made before the set, not a feeling noted afterwards.
How to read the chart
From effort to load
Your program says 5 reps at RPE 8. You read the cell, you get a percentage, you apply it to your max. That is the common direction.
From load to effort
You did 8 reps at 80 % of your max. The column tells you which RPE that set corresponds to, so whether it was harder than planned.
The bridge to your max
If you do not know your max, the 1RM calculator estimates it from a set you already did. Both tools use the same formula.
Where these percentages come from
They are not copied from any chart. They are computed, from one simple idea: a set at RPE 8 is worth a set taken to the limit with two more reps. Five reps at RPE 8 is therefore the equivalent of seven reps to failure, and the percentage of a set of seven to failure is something our 1RM calculator already gives.
It is the same formula on both sides, deliberately: two tools on the same site contradicting each other on the same question would be worse than no tool at all.
You will find charts elsewhere with different values, one to five points apart, mostly on long sets. None is right in absolute terms. Pick one and keep it: what matters is comparing one week to the next, not the decimal.
One detail that says everything about precision
The chart offers two classic formulas, Epley and Brzycki, like the 1RM calculator. They meet exactly at ten reps to failure, where both give 75 %. Below that, Brzycki is slightly more optimistic; beyond it, the reverse.
That gap is not a flaw, it is the margin of uncertainty made visible. The longer a set, the less you can infer a max from it. That is why the chart stops at twelve.
Using it without getting lost in it
The chart is for preparing a session, not for running one. Look at it before, write down the load, and forget it while you train.
What next?
RPE is only useful if it gets written down. A set of 5 at RPE 8 and a set of 5 at RPE 10 with the same weight tell two opposite stories about your progress, and in a month you will not remember which was which.
Once logged, RPE becomes the most reliable signal for when to add weight: when a set planned at RPE 8 ends at RPE 6, the weight has fallen behind you.
Read the cell, load the bar, do the set. The rest is bookkeeping.