# Sprinter Physiology or Low hanging fruit? **URL:** \ **Category:** Training\ **Created:** [October 11, 2026, 8:45am UTC](https://www.trainerroad.com/forum/t/sprinter-physiology-or-low-hanging-fruit/115228 "2026-10-11T08:45:16Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 19\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Tom\_Barnes](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/trainerroad/forum/user_avatar/www.trainerroad.com/tom_barnes/32/164293_2.png) [@Tom\_Barnes](https://www.trainerroad.com/forum/u/Tom_Barnes)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2026, 8:45am UTC](https://www.trainerroad.com/forum/t/sprinter-physiology-or-low-hanging-fruit/115228/1 "2026-10-11T08:45:16Z")
Hi all training/physiology question. When cycling i have a max HR of 195 and have my zones set from that using the Karvonen method. One thing I have noticed is when i get up to my V02 power zone once i get up to 181-182 my HR wont go any higher unless I’m doing an anerobic effort/sprint. Is this normal for someone with my power curve? Is it an indicator in a gap in my fitness or just a side effect of being more towards fast twitch dominant? I’m interested more in terms of increasing my aerobic fitness, not sharpening my v02 efforts exclusively. Aka is something here low hanging fruit that i need to address at some point that is limiting my FTP? It seems weird that I have a somewhat unusable range. | Time | w | w/kg | | | --- | --- | --- | --- | | 1s | [1381](https://intervals.icu/activities/9363757036/power) | 15.52 | | | 5s | [1347](https://intervals.icu/activities/10513167955/power) | 14.90 | | | 15s | [1076](https://intervals.icu/activities/10513167955/power) | 11.90 | | | 30s | [830](https://intervals.icu/activities/9363757036/power) | 9.33 | | | 60s | [563](https://intervals.icu/activities/14387293785/power) | 6.25 | | | 90s | [490](https://intervals.icu/activities/i172156271/power) | 5.58 | | | 2m | [414](https://intervals.icu/activities/11470733576/power) | 4.60 | | | 3m | [374](https://intervals.icu/activities/i110473427/power) | 4.25 | | | 4m | [356](https://intervals.icu/activities/13734119922/power) | 3.96 | | | 5m | [346](https://intervals.icu/activities/13734119922/power) | 3.85 | | | 6m | [336](https://intervals.icu/activities/13734119922/power) | 3.74 | | | 7m | [326](https://intervals.icu/activities/13734119922/power) | 3.63 | | | 8m | [323](https://intervals.icu/activities/i121012543/power) | 3.64 | | | 10m | [304](https://intervals.icu/activities/i125942652/power) | 3.42 | | | 12m | [299](https://intervals.icu/activities/i96500401/power) | 3.38 | | | 15m | [298](https://intervals.icu/activities/i96500401/power) | 3.37 | | | 20m | [281](https://intervals.icu/activities/i111705678/power) | 3.12 | | | 30m | [272](https://intervals.icu/activities/i167110941/power) | 3.12 | | | 35m | [270](https://intervals.icu/activities/i167110941/power) | 3.10 | | | 40m | [271](https://intervals.icu/activities/i121012543/power) | 3.06 | | | 45m | [270](https://intervals.icu/activities/i167110941/power) | 3.10 | | | 1h | [269](https://intervals.icu/activities/i167110941/power) | 3.08 | | | 1h30m | [238](https://intervals.icu/activities/13681159392/power) | 2.65 | | | 2h | [222](https://intervals.icu/activities/i118726548/power) | 2.46 | | | 3h | [187](https://intervals.icu/activities/10703385597/power) | 2.04 | | | 4h | [176](https://intervals.icu/activities/8624740634/power) | 2.12 | | | 5h | [171](https://intervals.icu/activities/i102697924/power) | 1.94 | | | 6h | [164](https://intervals.icu/activities/i96941797/power) | 1.85 | | | 7h | [159](https://intervals.icu/activities/i96941797/power) | 1.79 | | Heart Rate Training Zones | Z1 | Active Recovery | 0 - 77% | 0 - 137 | | --- | --- | --- | --- | | Z2 | Aerobic Capacity | 78% - 86% | 138 - 152 | | Z3 | Tempo | 86% - 93% | 153 - 165 | | Z4 | Threshold | 94% - 101% | 166 - 179 | | Z5 | VO2 Max | 102%+ | 180 - 195 | ---
**Author:** ![Helvellyn](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/trainerroad/forum/user_avatar/www.trainerroad.com/helvellyn/32/95205_2.png) [@Helvellyn](https://www.trainerroad.com/forum/u/Helvellyn)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2026, 9:12am UTC](https://www.trainerroad.com/forum/t/sprinter-physiology-or-low-hanging-fruit/115228/2 "2026-10-11T09:12:56Z")
There’s no such thing as “VO2 Power Zone” if we’re talking about prescribing power as a percentage of FTP. If you have a big anaerobic capacity then doing, say, 5 × 4 at 115% of FTP might be too easy for you. What sort of VO2 intervals have you been doing? What power? What cadence? ---
**Author:** ![Tom\_Barnes](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/trainerroad/forum/user_avatar/www.trainerroad.com/tom_barnes/32/164293_2.png) [@Tom\_Barnes](https://www.trainerroad.com/forum/u/Tom_Barnes)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2026, 9:31am UTC](https://www.trainerroad.com/forum/t/sprinter-physiology-or-low-hanging-fruit/115228/3 "2026-10-11T09:31:28Z")
Well whatever you call zone 5. (see below) Aka when i do an all out 5-7 min effort in a race i don’t get above 182 bpm unless i sprint the last 30-60 sec of it. Seems like most people can slowly tick all the way up to like 5 bpm from their max and hold it for a while. Whereas i need to be doing 500+ watts after doing a hard effort to even get to within 10 bpm. I’m more looking at during racing actually going all out than in training. I don’t tend to not do much v02 intervals as I focus on my weakness of long duration power. Hence the question 😃 | Z1 | Active Recovery | 0% - 55% | 1 - 165w | | --- | --- | --- | --- | | Z2 | Endurance | 56% - 75% | 166 - 225w | | Z3 | Tempo | 76% - 90% | 226 - 270w | | Z4 | Threshold | 91% - 105% | 271 - 315w | | Z5 | VO2 Max | 106% - 120% | 316 - 360w | | Z6 | Anaerobic | 121% - 150% | 361 - 450w | | Z7 | Neuromuscular | 151% + | 451w+ | | SS | Sweet Spot | 84% - 97% | 252 - 291w | ---
**Author:** ![KonaSS](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/trainerroad/forum/user_avatar/www.trainerroad.com/konass/32/7725_2.png) [@KonaSS](https://www.trainerroad.com/forum/u/KonaSS)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2026, 11:10am UTC](https://www.trainerroad.com/forum/t/sprinter-physiology-or-low-hanging-fruit/115228/4 "2026-10-11T11:10:02Z")
First - so many things impact heart rate - heat, humidity, fitness, medications, fatigue, caffeine, hydration that it is very hard to draw strict conclusions as long as you are in the ballpark of where you should be. Second - how did you determine your max HR? Are you sure that is an accurate number? In short, HR is good at showing trends, but not a metric I use for precise analysis. ---
**Author:** ![Elgro](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/trainerroad/forum/user_avatar/www.trainerroad.com/elgro/32/166633_2.png) [@Elgro](https://www.trainerroad.com/forum/u/Elgro)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2026, 12:13pm UTC](https://www.trainerroad.com/forum/t/sprinter-physiology-or-low-hanging-fruit/115228/5 "2026-10-11T12:13:01Z")
I’ve got similar numbers/heart rate. Can hold 181-183 for a while(hours) in races. VO2 intervals on the trainer usually cap around 191-195. Really going for it in races or group rides I get up to 203-205 for max. I just follow the training by power and let heart rate do its thing. I think the bigger difference at VO2 heart rate is whether you are going for steady consistent efffort or more of a peak and fade interval where you hang on. ---
**Author:** ![GoLongThenGoHome](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/439d5e/32.png) [@GoLongThenGoHome](https://www.trainerroad.com/forum/u/GoLongThenGoHome)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2026, 1:27pm UTC](https://www.trainerroad.com/forum/t/sprinter-physiology-or-low-hanging-fruit/115228/6 "2026-10-11T13:27:55Z")
How often have you hit that max HR of 195 bpm on your bike. What were you doing at the time? ---
**Author:** ![Saddlesaur](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/trainerroad/forum/user_avatar/www.trainerroad.com/saddlesaur/32/33237_2.png) [@Saddlesaur](https://www.trainerroad.com/forum/u/Saddlesaur)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2026, 1:39pm UTC](https://www.trainerroad.com/forum/t/sprinter-physiology-or-low-hanging-fruit/115228/7 "2026-10-11T13:39:29Z")
I have only ever hit my max HR doing extremely hard successive anaerobic efforts in competitive situations. ---
**Author:** ![Tom\_Barnes](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/trainerroad/forum/user_avatar/www.trainerroad.com/tom_barnes/32/164293_2.png) [@Tom\_Barnes](https://www.trainerroad.com/forum/u/Tom_Barnes)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2026, 1:42pm UTC](https://www.trainerroad.com/forum/t/sprinter-physiology-or-low-hanging-fruit/115228/8 "2026-10-11T13:42:21Z")
It’s just the highest I’ve seen on the bike multiple times doing the sort of anaerobic effort mentioned. Running I’ve seen 203 but have separate zones for that ---
**Author:** ![Tom\_Barnes](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/trainerroad/forum/user_avatar/www.trainerroad.com/tom_barnes/32/164293_2.png) [@Tom\_Barnes](https://www.trainerroad.com/forum/u/Tom_Barnes)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2026, 1:43pm UTC](https://www.trainerroad.com/forum/t/sprinter-physiology-or-low-hanging-fruit/115228/9 "2026-10-11T13:43:44Z")
Not often, doing what I described above. Or a simpler explanation would be doing a ramp test like effort I can get up there (where it’s anaerobic at the end of a very hard effort) ---
**Author:** ![Tom\_Barnes](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/trainerroad/forum/user_avatar/www.trainerroad.com/tom_barnes/32/164293_2.png) [@Tom\_Barnes](https://www.trainerroad.com/forum/u/Tom_Barnes)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2026, 1:44pm UTC](https://www.trainerroad.com/forum/t/sprinter-physiology-or-low-hanging-fruit/115228/10 "2026-10-11T13:44:33Z")
Yeah this sounds similar to me, just curious if it’s a hole in my fitness or just the way it is for punchier riders ---
**Author:** ![GoLongThenGoHome](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/439d5e/32.png) [@GoLongThenGoHome](https://www.trainerroad.com/forum/u/GoLongThenGoHome)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2026, 2:13pm UTC](https://www.trainerroad.com/forum/t/sprinter-physiology-or-low-hanging-fruit/115228/11 "2026-10-11T14:13:59Z")
Got a heart rate trace of these 5-7 mins you can share? ---
**Author:** ![Tom\_Barnes](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/trainerroad/forum/user_avatar/www.trainerroad.com/tom_barnes/32/164293_2.png) [@Tom\_Barnes](https://www.trainerroad.com/forum/u/Tom_Barnes)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2026, 2:56pm UTC](https://www.trainerroad.com/forum/t/sprinter-physiology-or-low-hanging-fruit/115228/12 "2026-10-11T14:56:37Z")
I’ll see if I can find some better ones as it’s more a pattern I’ve noticed rather than something I’ve just seen on one or two rides This was me pushing not long ago, having to back down on power in the middle with a bit of a push at the end (but I went a bit late and still had some left) ![Screenshot_20261011-154120](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/trainerroad/original/3X/b/a/bafaeb4dee7d414ce9fab7c86df2c89d7ac5724f.png) This one is an anaerobic effort at the end of a tiny race ![Screenshot_20261011-153953](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/trainerroad/original/3X/4/8/48e9ccd0b2c00b8b356eba87fa148ee5896f4632.png) An old ramp test ![Screenshot_20261011-155318](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/trainerroad/original/3X/c/a/ca35a5bb422df8d863c202f2e9f9ef15c678a60d.png) ---
**Author:** ![Saddlesaur](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/trainerroad/forum/user_avatar/www.trainerroad.com/saddlesaur/32/33237_2.png) [@Saddlesaur](https://www.trainerroad.com/forum/u/Saddlesaur)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2026, 3:34pm UTC](https://www.trainerroad.com/forum/t/sprinter-physiology-or-low-hanging-fruit/115228/13 "2026-10-11T15:34:33Z")
> [@Tom\_Barnes](#): > > Yeah this sounds similar to me, just curious if it’s a hole in my fitness or just the way it is for punchier riders I don’t think it’s either. For me, I just can’t push myself hard enough outside of competitive situations to hit my max. Even then, no matter how hard I went in the first effort, I wouldn’t hit max as I’d run out of steam before my HR maxed out. I needed closely spaced repeated all out efforts to hit max. If it wasn’t for situations like that, I wouldn’t really have known what my true max was. I’m under the impression that many riders don’t really know what their max is simply because they don’t encounter situations where they actually reach it. ---
**Author:** ![Helvellyn](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/trainerroad/forum/user_avatar/www.trainerroad.com/helvellyn/32/95205_2.png) [@Helvellyn](https://www.trainerroad.com/forum/u/Helvellyn)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2026, 4:47pm UTC](https://www.trainerroad.com/forum/t/sprinter-physiology-or-low-hanging-fruit/115228/14 "2026-10-11T16:47:52Z")
In races you want the most power for the least effort, so your heart rate not going super-high isn’t an issue. If you were training, that power’s too low for an ~8 minute interval (assuming entered FTP is vaguely correct) and cadence too low (if you’re looking for central adaptations) If you want a workout to see if you can drive that HR into the high 180s maybe try between 5 and 7 × 3 minutes with roughly equal recovery intervals (but if you need a bit longer rest, take it) Start each interval about 30 watts above what you think you can hold for the 3 minutes. Spin up to 105rpm or so and hang on. You’ll probably end up just below your target power, but that’s not a problem because the priority is keeping cadence, HR and even more importantly _breathing_ elevated. If you pitch it right you’ll maybe lose ~5 watts from interval to interval. Do not get out of the saddle to start the first interval … or you’ll probably get exactly 1 interval. 🤣 ---
**Author:** ![grwoolf](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/trainerroad/forum/user_avatar/www.trainerroad.com/grwoolf/32/7725_2.png) [@grwoolf](https://www.trainerroad.com/forum/u/grwoolf)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2026, 7:45pm UTC](https://www.trainerroad.com/forum/t/sprinter-physiology-or-low-hanging-fruit/115228/15 "2026-10-11T19:45:32Z")
> [@Tom\_Barnes](#): > > I’m interested more in terms of increasing my aerobic fitness, not sharpening my v02 efforts exclusively. Aka is something here low hanging fruit that i need to address at some point that is limiting my FTP I wouldn’t read too much into what your HR is doing to determine what your FTP limiters are. If you want to raise your aerobic fitness, executing a progressive training plan will get you there. Any decent plan will pick up the low hanging fruit. > [@Tom\_Barnes](#): > > I don’t tend to not do much v02 intervals as I focus on my weakness of long duration power. Hence the question It’s fine to lean into longer duration stuff if it’s a weakness, but Vo2max intervals are going to help improve aerobic fitness as well. Most people subscribe to the concept of “push from the bottom and pull from the top”. Vo2max is the pull. The optimal mix of intensity is really a function of how many hours you have to train as much as it’s about your physiology. ---
**Author:** ![GoLongThenGoHome](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/439d5e/32.png) [@GoLongThenGoHome](https://www.trainerroad.com/forum/u/GoLongThenGoHome)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2026, 7:56pm UTC](https://www.trainerroad.com/forum/t/sprinter-physiology-or-low-hanging-fruit/115228/16 "2026-10-11T19:56:37Z")
Are you able to provide a zoomed in view, just where you hammer the power? ---
**Author:** ![Tom\_Barnes](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/trainerroad/forum/user_avatar/www.trainerroad.com/tom_barnes/32/164293_2.png) [@Tom\_Barnes](https://www.trainerroad.com/forum/u/Tom_Barnes)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2026, 8:24pm UTC](https://www.trainerroad.com/forum/t/sprinter-physiology-or-low-hanging-fruit/115228/17 "2026-10-11T20:24:15Z")
on which one? thats the end of tiny race ![image](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/trainerroad/original/3X/a/c/aca052b34b07a1336cb7aecd8285cb62cc961004.png) ---
**Author:** ![Un-QuittingBikes](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/bb73d2/32.png) [@Un-QuittingBikes](https://www.trainerroad.com/forum/u/Un-QuittingBikes)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2026, 9:17pm UTC](https://www.trainerroad.com/forum/t/sprinter-physiology-or-low-hanging-fruit/115228/18 "2026-10-11T21:17:03Z")
> [@Tom\_Barnes](#): > > One thing I have noticed is when i get up to my V02 power zone once i get up to 181-182 my HR wont go any higher unless I’m doing an anerobic effort/sprint. > > Is this normal for someone with my power curve? Yes, normal. > [@Tom\_Barnes](#): > > Aka is something here low hanging fruit that i need to address at some point that is limiting my FTP? Volume. ---
**Author:** ![GoLongThenGoHome](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/439d5e/32.png) [@GoLongThenGoHome](https://www.trainerroad.com/forum/u/GoLongThenGoHome)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2026, 6:57am UTC](https://www.trainerroad.com/forum/t/sprinter-physiology-or-low-hanging-fruit/115228/19 "2026-10-12T06:57:10Z")
Does look like that HR has not plateaued and would have increased if you had kept the power on for longer.