Adaptive program is suggesting doing endurance rides on day 1 of my “build” phase. It that common and expected behavior?
It’s very likely! Depends what your selected athlete type is, but most athlete types will still see a weekly focus of 20:00, which is mostly Endurance focus. If you’d like, you can always pick a harder workout and Xert will adapt! You’ll also be recommended sub-2.5 diamond endurance workouts when your training status is tired (yellow stars in profile).
I’m currently just entering my build phase this week for a Gravel Race at the end of April, and I’ll still see fairly low(er) intensity hard rides for the next couple of weeks. In fact, I won’t see 10 min focus until about halfway through my build phase (with a Breakaway Specialist Athlete Type):
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Common and expected IME.
You are not flipping a switch as you move from one phase to the next. It’s a smooth progression controlled by your ramp rate. Some are able to handle an Aggressive rate for weeks then scale back (recovery week) and proceed in steps. Others prefer a gradual approach (like me) at Slow or Moderate rates with the intention of reaching their max hourly commitment by summer.
Everything below TP is considered the endurance quadrant in Xert.
The result is Xert includes a wide range of “endurance” workouts from easy (all blue, <= LTP) to “hard” endurance that rises above LTP (aqua) with time spent in traditional tempo/SS zone (green).
I’m a couple weeks into Build with “endurance” level workouts like this (Endurance - 0:46:00 Polar Specificity) –
That is substantially different than a Base phase entry like this (Endurance - 3:00:00 Pure Specificity) –
Focus minutes is a quick indicator of the strain ratio difference between workouts within the endurance range. However, differences are most evident by viewing the interval colors in the thumbnail chart. For example, this workout is rated Endurance - 3:00:00 Pure Specificity with intervals that reach up to 100% TP.
Another factor is your selected Focus Duration. If you select an athlete type within the endurance quadrant (20:00 minutes to 3:00:00), changes in focus during a progression are narrow (endurance to endurance) compared to swings with a shorter focus duration such as Puncheur (endurance to 4:00 minutes) as shown in this chart.
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