Subbed last night to try the Forecast AI as I wanted something flexible that could handle impromtu large changes in training volume.
So!
First thing I notice is it’s not clear to me how to get Xert workouts onto my Garmin. I saw a support doc which says there is a watch icon and that sends it across but don’t see that icon on my end. I downloaded Xert player but this seems to be for indoors only?
Next thing - I want a really aggressive AI forecast that will give me up to 20 hours of work but when I input 20 hours available, it only uses around 5 to 8 hours pw for the next couple of months. I’ve been training low volume recently - is it using my recent low volume as a limiter on what it can prescribe, and if so, would me going out and doing a 15 to 20 hour week free it up to prescribe heavy volume?
The FTP jump seems to be really restrictive and sensible too - but doesn’t make much sense for someone coming back after a break. I can get 30 to 50 watts FTP jump in a month by just being random and doing some volume. It’s always like this and then obviously it becomes a grind. I take it situations like mine aren’t baked in and it’s really just assuming you’ve had newbie gains etc already?
What I’m trying to get out of Xert right now is a 4 week high volume polarised plan, with mostly outdoor rides. I have a 4 week window coming up to go hard and don’t really see another platform that would be flexible enough to pull this off. I can just do it myself as I have in the past, but would be cool to have something that does analysis and has clever recommendations etc!
You should use the native Garmin workout option. Here’s the Garmin export article – Sending Workouts To Garmin – Xert (baronbiosys.com)
Not all library workouts will show the necessary icon but Autogen can create a simple workout to be ridden outdoors on your HIT days.
As to your other questions, I’m not sure you can do that with XFAI as it currently doesn’t try to max things out as you describe plus the routine does consider your recent volume.
You could jump to a fitness test workout to verify your current signature then play around with XFAI options such as leaving Polarized at default (80/20) and nix Periodization.
What’s your current training load? There’s no sense in burning yourself out with 20 hours a week if your body (training load) can’t actually sustain that. I’d be surprised if you could find a coach who would willingly start an athlete with such a workload if they are not adequately prepared for it. Injury or burnout is more likely than any positive training experience.
It’s doing exactly that - using your historical data & analysis of your training load(s), Xert’s ForecastAI is going to prescribe what you can handle without being perpetually in a very tired state. Riding one week at 15 hours won’t make a difference (and may likely set you back with a very tired training state).
I don’t say any of this to discourage you, but I think it’s very, very important that our platform discourages such radical changes in training load/volume. As stated above, any good coach would never start an athlete on a 20 hr/week plan unless they were confident the athlete could handle the training without injury/risk. I think having high goals/targets is great, but also having realistic expectations is important too. If you’re completely exhausted after 1 or 2 weeks of high volume, then that only sets you up for disappointment if you’re unable to continue hitting your 20 hr/week goal because you’re too fatigued to train.
That being said, you can move the recovery demands slider from the Program > Settings list towards the left (less recovery), which will allow the system to ramp up your training a little more quickly, but it’s still not going to prescribe 20+ hours immediately. Again, I would be very cautious of leaving it here, as it increases the risk of overtraining and/or injury.
And thus is the problem with a typical high volume plan. Progressive overload means a manageable, incremental improvement process. If you’re only doing 3 hours a week, your first 20 hour week will leaving you hobbling and if you continue, you’ll likely get sick.
Sometimes though, athletes can have hidden training load - maybe from cross-training or commutes or not having a power meter on another bike. This might mean you’re doing more hours and can handle more. Sometimes, althletes don’t upload all their data and there is a big gap that reduces training load below what it should be in reality. A good plan starts with good data and a good recent breakthrough.
If you “know what you’re doing” and want to train more, you can move the Recovery Demands slider under Program/Settings to the left and re-run your forecast. This should stack more training and likely give you more training in the timeframe. Alternatively, you could switch to using Continuous Improvement a follow a more Aggressive/Extreme Improvement Rate. … again… too much of good thing is a bad thing so monitor feelings and responses. Going from a few hours to sustaining 20 hours a week is the very definition of overtraining.
Thanks guys - recovery slider did help a little but I’m still shackled. I’ll go and do a few big weeks next and come back to Xert before my month’s sub runs out and try the Forecast AI again to see if I inspire a little confidence in it then see if I can find a way to get it to work for me going ahead.
And sorry, should have said in the original post it’s far from my first rodeo and saved you going over all that - cheers!