RIR, RPE and tempo in the SmartWorkout log
Short answer
SmartWorkout is a free app where you log RIR or RPE for every set and tempo for every exercise. Pick your scale in Profile › Settings › Workout Settings, then enter RIR or RPE on the keyboard along with your reps. Tempo is four characters, like 3010, shared by all sets of the exercise.
How to choose RIR or RPE
RIR (reps in reserve) is how many more good reps you could have done. RPE (rating of perceived exertion) rates how hard the set felt: RPE 10 is maximal effort with nothing left, and each point lower means about one more rep in reserve. The app uses RIR by default.
- Go to Profile › Settings › Workout Settings. During a workout, the settings icon at the top of the screen opens the same page.
- Under "Effort scale", set "Scale type" to RIR or RPE.
You can switch scales at any time. Your logged sets stay the same, and the app shows them in the new scale.
How to log RIR or RPE for a set
- Enter the weight and reps.
- On the keyboard, tap the "RIR" key (or "RPE") and pick a value.
- RIR goes from 0 to 4 and RPE from 6 to 10, in steps of 0.5.
- If you prefer a separate column, turn on "Effort scale as a separate field" in Workout Settings. After you enter reps, the app then jumps to the RIR/RPE field.
- In a workout from a plan, the target RIR or RPE shows in the field as a hint, in the scale you chose.
- Your previous result also shows the RIR or RPE from that workout.
- Log a set to failure as RIR 0 or RPE 10. There is no separate failure flag.
- Warm-up sets and timed or distance exercises have no RIR or RPE.
How the app converts RPE to RIR
The app stores one effort value and shows it in the scale you chose. The conversion is fixed: RPE equals 10 minus RIR.
- RPE 10 = RIR 0
- RPE 9.5 = RIR 0.5
- RPE 9 = RIR 1
- RPE 8 = RIR 2
- RPE 7 = RIR 3
- RPE 6 = RIR 4
This is a simplified version of the RIR-based RPE scale.
How to log tempo
Tempo is four characters giving the seconds for each phase of a rep: lowering (eccentric), pause at the stretch, lifting (concentric) and pause at contraction. On a bench press, 3010 means 3 seconds lowering the bar, no pause on the chest, 1 second pressing up and no pause at the top.
- In Workout Settings, under "Workout Tempo", turn on "Show tempo".
- In the exercise, type the tempo in the "Tempo" field, for example 3010.
- Or tap the "Tempo" label and pick a preset: 2020, 31X1, 4020, 4210 or 42X1. The same list has the "How Tempo Works" explainer.
- Tempo belongs to the exercise, not the set: one tempo applies to all its sets.
- You can enter digits 0 to 9. "X", meaning lift as fast as you can, goes only in the third position.
- You can set tempo in the log, in templates and in plans.
- Exercises with reps have a tempo field. Timed and distance exercises don't.
More in our guides: Lifting tempo
RIR, RPE and tempo in plans
On the Workout tab, next to "My Plans", tap "See All", then tap "+". In "Create new plan", you pick one load indicator for the whole plan: RIR, RPE or %1RM. You set the target on each set and the tempo on each exercise.
The same menu has "Import plan": paste a ready plan as text, and the app copies RIR, RPE or %1RM and tempo exactly as written. Importing costs 10 AI credits.
From version 5.2, both are under Workout › Plans: "Create plan" and "Import plan".
Free plans with RIR and tempo
The free plans on our website have an RIR target on working sets, and nearly all of them also set a tempo for every exercise.
RIR/RPE calculator
On the Profile tab, under "Calculators", open "RIR/RPE Calculator". Enter your last set: weight, reps (up to 12) and RIR or RPE. Then pick the reps for your next set, and the table shows the weight for each RIR or RPE value.
RIR in progression suggestions (Premium)
With Premium, you know what to do in your next workout: add a rep, add weight or stay at your current target. Each suggestion looks at weight, reps, the RIR or RPE you logged and the exercise's history. It also works without logged effort, but the card then says it is less certain, so it pays to enter RIR or RPE on every set.