BORG effort score

It is difficult to describe how much effort an activity takes, so we use a scale of perceived exertion or effort from 0-10, to help you gauge the “right” level of exercise. The numbers correspond to the intensity of exercise. We call this the BORG score. For example a score of 0 means that you’re lying down and 10 means your pushing a car up a steep hill.

For the cardiac population the benefits for your heart are to achieve moderate exercise, which is around level 3-4. This is where your heart gets the most benefit from exercise and it is a safe level to exercise at.

How does this feel: You can hold a conversation - you're a little short of breath but you are not gasping for breath. During exercise you should feel warm, but comfortable. You should be able to maintain this pace for 20 to 30 minutes. Your arms and legs may be feeling a bit tired but your breathing and effort are comfortable.

Please remember - STOP exercising if you have any of these symptoms

• Discomfort - neck/arm/jaw pain or Chest pain
• Undue shortness of breath
• Feeling unwell
• Nausea headaches or dizziness
• Inappropriate tiredness
• Persistent palpitations

If you are working above a moderate pace you won’t feel you can maintain this pace for a very long time and will feel very short of breath.

If you are feeling that you are working above 5 on the effort scale slow down your pace.

If you can whistle or sing you are working below level 3/a moderate pace, you will still get benefits from keeping active but not as beneficial as working at a moderate pace. It might be that your cardiac rehabilitation clinician has advised you to stay at this pace at present and to build intensity later in your recovery.

When giving a score, think how do I feel at this time? Take into consideration feelings of physical effort and fatigue; disregard any factors such as leg pain but focus on the whole feeling of exertion. Please inform the cardiac rehabilitation team if any other pain or discomfort is limiting your exercise.

Remember your warm up and cool down are important, you have to gradually build up to moderate exercise and reduce the pace before you finish your exercise session.

Think of the warm up as going through the gears of a car. You build the pace gradually from 0/no effort to gear 1/very light exercise, to gear 2/light exercise then to gear 3/moderate pace. This should take approximately 15minutes.

For the cool down, remember you would not suddenly stop driving a car while driving on a motor way, so think of gradually slowing the car down from levels 3 to 2, to 1 before coming to the end of your exercise session. This should take approximately 15minutes.

Use the BORG tracker in the My Readings tile to record your level of exercise. You can do this after the session. Add as many readings as you wish. Click the notes symbol to add details such as 'peak', '5 minutes post', etc to your record.