YouTube
Before you start defending yourself—hear me out.
If you’re not seeing the strength gains, muscle growth, or performance improvements you’re working toward, there’s a good chance you’re simply not lifting heavy enough.
Here are three practical ways to determine whether you’re lifting heavy enough, so you can start making real progress in your training.
Let’s clear something up first: lifting heavy doesn’t mean maxing out every workout.
But it does mean training close to failure to actually stimulate change.
If your goal is:
- Building strength
- Increasing muscle mass
- Improving performance
…then your workouts need to challenge you enough to move the needle.
Here at Kathletics, we typically aim for RPE (Rate of Perceived Exertion) 6-9. This means you have about 1-4 reps left in the tank. So you’re working hard, but not quite to failure.
This matters because muscle growth requires getting close to failure, whereas strength gains can occur without going all the way to failure.
RPE 6-9 allows for both progress and recovery over time, which is key for long-term success.
There are times when you might intentionally stay below that RPE 6-9 range:
- You’re recovering from an injury
- You’re feeling unusually fatigued
- You’re coming back from time off (vacation, illness, etc.)
- You’re brand new to strength training
In these cases, starting at a lower effort is smart.
If you don’t know what “close to failure” feels like, it’s hard to train near it.
Try this:
- Pick an exercise
- Gradually increase the weight
- Perform reps until you can’t complete another rep
That’s your RPE 10 (true max effort).
From there:
- Work backward to find what RPE 6-9 feels like
- Use that as your training range
You don’t need to max out often, but doing it occasionally helps build awareness.
As you approach higher RPE levels, you might notice your rep speed or tempo unintentionally slows down, the exercise requires more focus and concentration, and/or you might feel a little shaky toward the end.
This is one of the best ways to learn RPE, because it teaches you to rely on feedback from your body, not just numbers.
If your program calls for 2–3 minutes of rest, but you feel ready to do another set after 30 seconds… the weight is probably too light.
When you’re lifting heavy enough, you’ll need that full rest period. Your muscles will feel fatigued enough to require recovery in between sets.
If you’re constantly rushing your workouts or turning everything into circuits or supersets, you might be sacrificing your progress.
That’s fine occasionally, especially if it is programmed that way, but not if you have strength goals.
Learning the RPE scale is a skill. It takes time, practice, and awareness to dial in. Plus, the more you gain strength, muscle, and consistency, the more your perceived efforts will evolve. That’s why we prioritize teaching RPE early in our hybrid training programs—because once you understand it, your training becomes far more effective. Want to take the guesswork out of your training? Join one of our hybrid training programs.
Get strength and endurance tips, running recs, and all the Kathletics updates right to your inbox.
