Self-Assessment for Endurance
Measure your own exercise intensity using the Borg Scale
Sep 16, 2009
Apr 26, 2022
Nutrition & MovementLearn about our editorial policies
You can judge your own exercise intensity fairly well—and easily—using the Borg scale, named after Gunnar Borg, the Swedish scientist who developed it. The Borg scale measures your rate of perceived exertion (called RPE). "It can be quite accurate," says Christopher C. Dunbar, Ph.D., M.P.H., director of the Laboratory of Applied Physiology at Brooklyn College of the City University of New York, who has researched the method's effectiveness.
With this simple-to-use scale, you rate how your exercise effort feels to you. Of course, if you are planning to become much more physically active than you've been, you should check with your doctor first.
The Borg Rating Scale
Least Effort | ||
6 | no exertion | |
7 | very, very light | |
8 | ||
9 | very light | |
10 | ||
11 | fairly light | endurance training zone |
12 | ||
13 | somewhat hard | |
14 | ||
15 | hard | |
16 | ||
17 | very hard | |
18 | ||
19 | ||
20 | ||
Maximum effort |