Becoming a Mindful Athlete with Rate of Perceived Exertion
Mindfulness has expanded from a strategy for managing life’s stresses to an athletic training tool.
Photo Credit: Becca Heuer
Introduction
Rate of Perceived Exertion (RPE) is a valuable tool for strength and conditioning coaches. It gives an objective programming framework while empowering athletes to develop their intuition and self-awareness.
As a strength coach, I've discovered an additional role for RPE training mindfulness in my clients. This experience aligns with recent research showing it improves sport performance.
Training Mindset like a Muscle Group
Mindfulness isn't a touchy-feely concept; it's a practical tool for athletes with solid support in emerging research. Many findings point to direct impacts on achieving flow state and "attentional processes."
Below are a few highlights from a growing field of evidence:
In one study, the authors pointed to several benefits. These included reduced stress and anxiety and reduced injury risk "through improved attentional processes." In the event of injury, it may even hasten a return to sport. (Click here to read the full article.)
A paper from 2012 proposed theories as to the effectiveness of mindfulness. They concluded: "Mindfulness seems to be a holistic intervention fostering the development of several personal, sport, and performance-relevant psychological skills. These range from cognitive flexibility to self-regulation. (Click here to read the full article).
Another paper specifically examined mindfulness in female collegiate rowers. The authors found that "mindfulness training into athletic programs could improve psychological well-being, sleep quality, and performance of [student-athletes]. The study design suggests the findings are applicable more generally. (Click here to read the full article.)
A study of college baseball players reported "significant decreases in stress and increases in resilience, athletic coping skills, mindfulness and dimensions of flow following the intervention." (Click here to head the full article.)
RPE for Barbell Lifting
I use RPE in my strength coaching in two ways.
An RPE table can force you to be present in the moment, allowing for less self-judgment.
Assigning percentage-based barbell lifts during strength mesocycles
For working towards max effort lifts or targeted PRs, RPE informs training.
As seen in the sample table to the right, lifters can use simple formulas to work within the correct parameters. The data becomes more refined for each athlete over time. For example, one client may need weekly exposures at 85% of their e1RM to progress. Another may crash if they exceed 75% anytime before a testing week.
Using RPE to guide workout decisions or as broader estimates during general physical preparedness (GPP) cycles.
All lifters can experience upwards of 10% variance in their performance during any given session.
While percentage-based drives programming, an athlete must use intuition to adjust accordingly. This reduces the risk of pushing past their limits on one day, which could leave them depleted for the subsequent workouts. It's also possible that they undershoot RPE, limiting progress. This occurs more commonly in general population trainees or beginners.
Either way, RPE can smooth out some of the training process. By preventing overreaching or under-reaching, a lifter will stay within their physical capacity.
RPE for Mindfulness
Mental training deserves equal attention to physical training, which I’ve covered in depth (click here to access the article). Like anything else, you can improve mindfulness with repetition.
RPE is uniquely valuable because it's a tool that bridges the physical and the mental. By definition, it requires an active awareness and commitment to the present moment without judgment. For example:
It removes you from expectations about past or future performance. Instead, you focus exclusively on the task or rep at hand, doing your best to hit the numbers for the day.
It permits you to avoid self-criticism. If you grind through your warmup and your first working set feels like a maximum effort, you have an approved tool for adjusting. You mark your RPEs accordingly for that top set and then find the lower weight that corresponds to RPE for that day.
CONCLUSION
Strength training belongs in any fitness or strength and conditioning program. Adding mindfulness alongside your barbell exercises can level up results even more. Athletes, and particularly powerlifters, gain additional advantages ranging from greater enjoyment of their sport to more self-acceptance. Personal trainers and coaches can use RPE within their scope of practice as part of sport performance.
