CARIUS TRAINING GUIDE

RIR vs RPE: What's the Difference?

RIR describes approximately how many repetitions remained at the end of a set; RPE describes perceived difficulty on a scale. In common strength-training usage they are closely related: 0 RIR roughly corresponds to RPE 10, 1 RIR to RPE 9, and 2 RIR to RPE 8. Neither is exact, and that is fine.

RIR	Approx. RPE	Meaning
0	10	No clean reps left
1	9	About one rep left
2	8	About two reps left
3	7	About three reps left
4+	≤6	Relatively comfortable

RIR is intuitive when a program is already rep-based: ask, “How many more good reps could I have done?” RPE can be useful when an athlete already thinks in perceived-exertion terms. Pick the scale you understand and use it consistently.

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