Stroke Prevention Exercise Program (S-PEP): The Borg Scale of Perceived Exertion
The Comprehensive Stroke and Rehabilitation Services programs at UW Hospital and Clinics have partnered to create a special exercise program for people who have had strokes. The Stroke Prevention Exercise Program or "S-PEP" has been designed to give you safe and fun exercise options to help prevent new strokes.
The Borg Scale is a simple tool to help you rate your level of effort when exercising—how hard you feel you are exercising. Your goal range of effort for all workouts is 13-14 (somewhat hard).
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How you might describe your effort
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Rating of your effort
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Ideas to help you rate your effort
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None
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6
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Reading a book or watching TV
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Very, very light
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7 to 8
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Tying shoes
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Very light
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9 to 10
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Household chores that seem to take little effort
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Fairly light
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11 to 12
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Activities that require some effort but not enough to speed up your breathing
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Somewhat hard
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13 to 14
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Workouts that require moderate effort and
speed your heart rate and breathing but
do not make you out of breath
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Hard
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15 to 16
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Workouts that take a lot of effort and get the heart pounding and make breathing very fast
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Very hard
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17 to 18
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The highest level of effort you can sustain
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Very, very hard
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19 to 20
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A burst of effort that you cannot maintain for long
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Modified from: Borg G.A. (1982). Psychophysical bases of perceived exertion. Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise, 14, 377-381.
Note: Review Signs of Exercising Too Hard and Exercise Safeguards before all workouts.
