Are You Really Strength Training? How RPE and RIR Can Transform Your Workouts

Are You Really Strength Training? How RPE and RIR Can Transform Your Workouts

A lot of runners do some form of strength training, which is great. However, most runners aren’t pushing themselves enough with their strength training to achieve its full benefits: increased strength, improved durability and resistance to fatigue, and better performance (like running economy and VO2 max).

Some early strength training exercises for runners might include bridges, clamshells, banded side steps, squats with a dumbbell or bodyweight, single-leg RDLs, and calf raises. These exercises hit most major muscle groups used in running and are a great start if you haven’t done any recent strength training.

That said, most runners strength train to improve their durability and resistance to fatigue—key factors that can significantly reduce the likelihood of developing overuse running-related injuries.

Like many things in nature, our bodies adapt well to the physical stress we place on them (or don’t). Provide a new stimulus consistently, and what once caused significant soreness becomes easier. Remove a stimulus for a while (like taking weeks or months off running), and reintroducing it can cause new aches and pains. This is your body adapting to tolerate more or less stress.

To make our bodies better at withstanding physical stress, we need to continually progress our strength training (and sometimes running variables too).

How do we ensure strength training provides enough stimulus to cause adaptations?

Use Relative Perceived Effort (RPE) and/or Reps in Reserve (RIR), instead of relying solely on a pre-set number of repetitions for each exercise.

Note: The following assumes you’re looking to keep getting stronger. If you’re already injury-free and not trying to increase your activity level, a maintenance program could work better for you, depending on your performance goals. Strength adaptations take longer than cardiovascular adaptations: it takes longer to build strength, but once you have it, it also takes longer to lose it. That means maintenance of strength requires much less time & potentially effort.

How to Use RPE

RPE is often measured on a 1-10 scale (the most familiar version).

• A 1/10 RPE means you could keep doing the exercise all day.
• A 10/10 RPE means you finished with absolute maximum effort.

How to Use RIR

To measure RIR, ask yourself: “How many more reps could I have done, if I had to go to failure?” This assumes you keep the same form without compensating.

• An RIR of 1 means you could have done one more rep before failure.

RIR also correlates with RPE. For example:

• A 9/10 RPE usually means 1 RIR (1 more rep possible).
• A 6/10 RPE usually means about 4 RIR (4 more reps possible).

Using RIR can help beginners get familiar with estimating RPE values.

Why Use RPE and RIR?

To ensure enough stimulus for adaptation, you generally want to finish each set of strength exercises in the 7-8/10 RPE range—meaning you could have done 2-3 more reps if absolutely necessary (2-3 RIR).

While it’s fine to occasionally push beyond this, just like in run training, you shouldn’t always train to failure. Doing so increases fatigue, overtraining risk, and injury potential.

Make Your Strength Training Count
Learning to assess RPE and RIR takes practice, but it can help you better judge whether your strength training is worth your time. Progress will inevitably plateau if you stick to the same exercises, weights, sets, and reps for too long.

If you’ve been at the same level for a while, try adding a little more weight or a few more reps occasionally. The RPE/RIR framework can help ensure you’re getting the most out of your training time.