Training load calculator (RPE)
Enter the session duration and how hard it felt, and get the internal load in arbitrary units. No sign-up: it runs in your browser.
Minutes that athlete actually trained, not the planned session length.
Hard
Session internal load
300AU
60 minutes × RPE 5
What internal load is
It is session duration multiplied by the effort the athlete perceived. The result is expressed in arbitrary units (AU): it is not calories or watts. Its use is comparative — between sessions, and added up across a week.
The scale used
The Borg CR-10 scale runs from 0 to 10, where 0 is rest and 10 is the hardest effort that athlete can sustain. It is rated by whoever trained, not whoever planned, and it is best asked about thirty minutes after the session ends: answered immediately, the last exercise weighs more than it should.
An example
A 90-minute match at RPE 8 gives 720 AU. A 60-minute gym session at RPE 5 gives 300 AU. A 40-minute session at RPE 3, just 120 AU. Added up, those three sessions are 1,140 AU of weekly load for that player — and the substitute who played 20 minutes instead of 90 ends the week on little more than half.
Frequently asked questions
- What are arbitrary units?
- A scale with no physical unit: 720 AU is not 720 of anything in particular. Its value is relative — it lets you compare one session with another and follow one athlete over time.
- When should RPE be asked?
- About thirty minutes after the session ends. Asked immediately, the end of the session weighs too heavily in the answer.
- Can AU be compared between two athletes?
- With care. RPE is subjective and each athlete has their own frame of reference, so the most reliable comparison is an athlete against themselves over time.
- What if the athlete did not train?
- That day's load is 0, and it is worth recording as such. Rest days are part of the weekly calculation: leaving them out distorts monotony and the total.
Run this for your whole squad, automatically
Training Feel does this calculation for every athlete and every session without anyone typing it: the player rates from their phone and the load appears summed, by week and by player.