A question for all the Trainers, physiologists and so on

What is the maximal treshold heart rate in Relation to your maximal heart rate?
Is a “maximal achievable treshold heart rate” your final Personal limit of progress/training.
Im a bit irritated. My Maximum is 181, maybe i have Seen 183 one time.
Last week i did baxter-3 and another one very similar. I had an average heartrate of 171 for Over an hour and I felt really well After the workouts. So i guess, my treshold is Near this mark?

The maximum HR in cycling is a bit difficult to find or define. HR depends on how much of your body you are using, how hard you are working, and some other factors (temperature, hydration). Also age, and maybe even fitness. Typically your max HR would be higher when running than when cycling, for example. It could also differ between mountain biking and road cycling, because of the amount of upper body muscles you are using.

Your threshold HR is the HR you end up with when riding at threshold (FTP). I wouldn’t think that Baxter-3 puts you at that for an hour? I think it would usually be about 90% of your max HR, maybe a bit less.

I think it’s likely that you haven’t seen your “cycling max HR” yet. For me I typically see the highest HR values during the ramp test.

Thanks for your answer!
My highest heartrate at the ramp test is 180. Im nearly 44 years old…
You are right about baxter-3. Maybe i will try some other workout to see what happens with my heartrate.
Greets from Austria!

I don’t know a huge amount about this but I do know you have two thresholds based on blood lactate.

The first is called your lactate threshold and will be the top of your Z2 HR, the second threshold is called your LTP (lactate turn point) and this will be around the top of Z4.

I got mine tested at a local sports university as part of a physiology report where they test your lactate levels during a ramp test as I’m interested in the numbers, I think you can test yourself out on the road using methods described in Joe Friels training bible, this should enable you to get close to the actual numbers.

It rather depends on your definition of ‘threshold’, which is a term that is used in different ways by different people.

If we go with the very simple/TrainingPeaks one - the highest HR average you can hold for 60 minutes - then a ballpark average is 90% of max. I believe the vast majority of people will be between 88-92, though I have heard of elite marathoners being at 95. Whether they are at 95 because they’re an elite marathoner, or are an elite marathoner because they are at 95, is a different question…

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I am definitely not an expert but the most I’ve hit recently is 196bpm (99% max) and didn’t die and I guess that’s my maximum threshold. Although I like to keep it below 95% (188bpm) in the middle of a ride, which I suppose you could call my psychological max threshold hr. I guess my absolute max would be around 198bpm but I don’t want to find out :hushed:

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I hit 182 - theoretical max of 183 - during my last TTE FTP test. God it was unpleasant.

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What is your purpose in asking this question?

If it’s to find your FT HR (HR equivalent of FTP), then do an FT HR test.

If it’s to find out your athletic potential, you’re barking up the wrong tree. Heart rate is loosely tied to performance. As you get fitter, your HR will go down for the same power output. Your FT HR will also ride closer to your Max HR. Comparing HR to power is definitely useful, but mainly for long term trends. Comparing max HR across people is pointless.

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Thanks to everybody for the answers! Im just surprised by myself.
I started last year in march with cycling. And i can now hold 171 beats for one hour, that would be about 95% of my highest heartrate i have ever reached in an ftp test and also on Sprints oudoors. This year in the midlle of march i was about 4w/kg, now its about 3.8.
I think 4w/kg is not sustainable for me. So im asking myself, is this my Peak…i wouldnt be disapointed☺️

I doubt most people would push their body to its genetic potential in under 1.5 years. Cycling is a sport where the improvements build month over month and year over year. If you’re consistent I think there is plenty of space for progression given the volume your schedule allows.