How does a serious training plan include 4 interval sessions in succession and expect such insanity to be followed!!!
Disappointed doesn’t begin to express my regret in thinking an AI race plan would be functional!
Time to go back to the drawing board for whom ever is in charge of inputting such nonsense into a functional training plan!
2 Likes
Not broken. Just a different approach. 
HIT in Xert is any activity with time spent > TP which will include “mild” HIT days with Polar specificity (mostly endurance).
XFAI meters out dosages of low/high/peak strain and tracks associated recovery load across your low, high, and peak systems. That calculation is shown under the Today page, Remaining Recovery (X hours/days for low, high, and peak).
The result is also reflected in the form gradient changes shown on the Planner.
IOW I can do HIT, go red for a few hours afterwards, and I’m back to blue ready for more HIT the next day.
It’s only when the HIT activity has sufficient high/peak recovery load do I see red/yellow over 24 hours later.
The same will occur with LIT if I exceed my normal Low strain XSS. E.g. if I’ve only been riding 2 hours of LIT and suddenly do 4+ hours, I’ll go red/yellow for more than a day.
Another factor is what is my TL status (stars count) and my form preceding a HIT day.
If I’m at 3 stars with sequential rests days in blue (fresh) or gone to green (v. fresh), I can tackle a HIT activity rated 3-diamond Difficulty and readily recover by the next day.
If pushed into 4-diamond territory, I’ll be red or red/yellow through the next day.
A traditional two HIT sessions per week (staggered) plan was never adaptive nor did it track recovery load across three dimensions like Xert does.
Weekly distribution of LIT/HIT/Rest in Xert won’t mimic the old-school approach.
Ditto with fixed 4-week blocks.
If you’re unhappy with the week’s distribution you can reshuffle the deck by tapping Adapt Forecast. Or you can manually swap days. But I wouldn’t assume back-to-back HIT is “wrong” until you’ve tried it. Most likely you’ll realize “Hmm… I am ready for more HIT today”. If not, it’s your choice to do otherwise and the platform will adapt.
2 Likes
Coaches often will “micro-dose” high intensity interval training as part of a plan with days in succession of smaller high intensity training doses. That’s not broken. It’s optimal.
Don’t get hung up on seeing a day with “high intensity training” as some exhaustive training day. It just means there is some, sometimes the smallest, amount of high intensity training in the workout. These are easily done in succession and can be optimal based on your availability and overall plan.
1 Like
Yes however not 2 weeks out from a 4 hour gravel event. Recovery is challenging and change is not going to occur prior to an event that close
Hi,
how do I know when a planned high-intensity workout is too demanding?
I’m trying to guide my training using health metrics like HRV and resting heart rate, and if those markers start trending in the wrong direction, I’d like to adjust the workout accordingly. What’s the best way to handle this in Xert?
Unnecessary detraining will make you flat before a race. Many of the best coaches have their athletes training right up until race day. If you think about it, you don’t need 2 weeks to recover from a ride. Perhaps just 2-3 days, even for the hardest of rides. Besides, XFAI won’t schedule anything you won’t recover from. If you open the chart, and click on Form on the legend, you can see what your Recovery will be up until the day of the race.
1 Like
Age related differences between young and old are significant when training, especially issues of higher intensity.
Yes. If you find that you need more recovery, use the “Recovery Demands” slider and slide it to the right. Forecast a new plan with that to see the differences. Note, it may result in an unreachable goal or race outcome that was reachable before.
Also reminder to pick workouts that you find more appealing. Also consider using races as part of your training, even days before so long as they aren’t too taxing. Monitor the recovery needed. This will keep you sharp leading into the race you’re planning for and not get stale.