How Target Exertion and Training Load Work Together

Athlytic uses two complementary guides:

1️⃣ Target Exertion (Recovery-based)

This is day-to-day.

It’s based on how well your body recovered last night.

• High recovery → it’s okay to push a bit more
• Low recovery → rest or do something lighter

2️⃣ Training Load

This looks at the bigger picture — how much you’ve been training over time.

If Training Load gets too high, it increases fatigue and injury risk — even if today’s recovery looks good.

So which one do I follow?

👉 Use both together.

• Well recovered + Training Load reasonable → train harder if you want
• Low recovery → back off, even if Training Load looks fine
• Overreaching → you’ve been training above Target Exertion for a few days, so ease up

About Training Goals

Your Training Goal influences both Target Exertion and Training Load:

• Peaking → slightly higher guidance (for race prep, big fitness push, etc.)
• Maintaining or Tapering → lighter guidance

Choose the goal that best matches what you’re trying to do right now.

Tip: Set a custom Max Heart Rate

In More → Settings, set your own Max HR.

If not set, Athlytic uses the highest HR from the last 30 days — which may be inaccurate if you haven’t done intense workouts.