# Performance Curves

Canonical HTML: https://effortsignal.com/features/performance-curves/

Last content update: 2026-09-10

Compare your best sustained power, heart rate and running pace over different durations.

[![The cycling power curve and duration table compare the best efforts recorded in two periods](/marketing/product/catalog-progress-performance-desktop.webp)](/marketing/product/catalog-progress-performance-desktop.png)

The cycling power curve and duration table compare the best efforts recorded in two periods. Demo data · Web app 0.1.13.

## Facts and access

| Detail | Support |
| --- | --- |
| Actions | Compare your best sustained power, heart rate and running pace over different durations. |
| Open and use | Progress or Activity → performance/power/heart-rate curve → comparison period. |
| Data | Sufficient continuous samples for each duration |
| Sports | Cycling power, supported running power/pace, heart rate |
| Platforms | Web |
| Availability | Available with limits |
| Limits | A curve is a best recorded effort, not proof of physiological maximum; gaps and short recordings exclude durations. |

| Action | Free | Pro |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Sensor charts, zones and intervals | Included | Included |

All Pro features are free through January 31, 2027. No credit card or automatic charges. After Early Access, keep using Free or choose Pro. [Pricing](/pricing/).

<h2 id="power">Compare sustained power across durations</h2>

Activity analysis provides available power-duration bests; Progress compares period bests for cycling and supported running power. A point answers the best average recorded for that duration. A short sprint and a 20-minute effort therefore belong to different positions on the curve. Gaps or insufficient recording length can leave longer durations absent.

<h2 id="heart-rate">Inspect sustained heart-rate bests</h2>

The supported heart-rate curve uses recorded samples and duration checkpoints. Whole-activity comparison can display multiple heart-rate curves alongside power curves. A higher sustained heart rate is not automatically an improvement; interpret it with the activity, output and conditions.

<h2 id="pace">Use running pace in the running comparison</h2>

Progress exposes supported running pace performance separately from cycling power. Pace is a time-per-distance representation, so a smaller pace value means faster running. A GPS or speed gap can limit the available duration evidence; this page does not promise a generic pace curve for every sport or every comparison dialog.

<h2 id="history">Open the recording behind the point</h2>

Compare selected periods or seasons, then inspect source activities for the efforts that matter. The record is bounded by what was imported and measured. [Estimated FTP](/features/eftp/) uses selected cycling power evidence with additional model gates; the best-power curve does not itself apply a new FTP. [Power Intensity](/learn/power-intensity/) is a threshold-relative activity summary, not a duration-curve point.

Product behavior checked September 10, 2026 · Release 0.1.13