%FTP Basic Workout Library

General
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For those of you that might be looking to do a very simple workout, perhaps simple enough to do outside even, we created a coach community with 1800 different workouts (woah that’s a lot!!) but all very simple %FTP-based, similar to those that you may find elsewhere.

To use these workouts, click here: Join the Basic Workouts Library Community

But note, that there are a lot of workouts and you’ll likely get them recommended by XATA with greater frequency. If you’re not a fan of these simple workouts, don’t click the link or leave the coach community if you joined it already. You can also just use the workout/recommended training filter and uncheck the “Community” box.

Happy to get your feedback.

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Thanks!
Will give it a shot to see how it goes.

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Hi! I joined Xert a few weeks ago. I downloaded lots of workouts to Zwift to have them ready going forward. My TP has since risen from 270 to 295 watt and my LTP has risen to. Are the workouts based on blocks of watts? And hence are they to easy now? I guess adjusting FTP in Zwift workout section wont help? But I could use bias on Zwift Companion and increase the workout «load» with for example 10%? But if my LTP increase is different from my TP increase that will not be 100% presise?

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The best way to make sure the workout is always set to your current fitness level is to use the Xert EBC app :slightly_smiling_face: Especially for many of the SMART, dynamic interval workouts.

Our exports to ZWO make the workouts solely based on %FTP

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Thanks! I’ll try that :+1:

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When I filter by “Endurance” type workouts I get pages and pages of VO2 max and Threshold workouts. Am i doing something wrong?

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…which is precisely why using %FTP as interval targets doesn’t work that well for everyone. Also, the workouts are characterized by their “on” power targets and do not include the rest-in-between in classifying them which is typical of the older method. Do remember too that everyone’s percentages are different and should be adjusted to each athlete. Hence why you rarely see intervals in our library use %TP.

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I’ll definately try the EBC app. But you say:

« Our exports to ZWO make the workouts solely based on %FTP»

If I export the ZWO file while having 270w FTP and then my FTP increases to 290w, is it enough to adjust my FTP to 290w in Zwift to keep the workout up to date?

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SMART workouts scale as your signature changes whereas a ZWO export is a snapshot in time.
A simple bias change might help but values can be dynamic so that won’t be the same as current signature. You’ll also miss out on functionality inherent with SMART intervals executed with a Xert player app.

If your equipment configuration doesn’t preclude you from running Xert EBC with Zwift, here’s the setup guide –
The Ultimate Guide to Training with Xert and Zwift – Xert (baronbiosys.com)

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That will work for workouts based only on %TP, but doesn’t always work for SMART intervals (since they’re based on TP, HIE, & often real-time MPA).

For example, if a SMART workout has intervals done at “5 MMP” (5 min power).

  • Fitness A (1200 W PP | 25.0 HIE | 250 W TP) would do these intervals at 330 W (132% FTP)
  • Fitness B (800 W PP | 13.0 HIE | 250 W TP) would do these intervals at 289 W (115% FTP)

If an athlete exported the ZWO with the SMART 5 MMP intervals when their fitness was A and tried to do the workout when their fitness is B, they would find the workout far too difficult, since the workout would be done at ~130% FTP instead of ~115% FTP. So as fitness changes over the course of a season (or season to season), a ZWO exported from earlier in the year (or last year) might not be as precise as originally intended.

ZWO also doesn’t allow you to leverage the curvilinear intervals (look at the SMART - Closer 170 Workout, for example):

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When exported to ZWO, those curvilinear sections become ramps, increasing the difficulty of the workout from tough to very, very tough :hot_face:

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But can bypass all this by using Xert EBC, which always uses your current fitness signature :slight_smile:

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Thank you very much! Understood! EBC it is!! :ok_hand::blush:

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Thank you very much! Understood! :pray::blush:

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Hi Scott, I have used the EBC a lot but I have to say I am enjoying a lot this year running the workouts in Zwift, something about seeing a finish line approaching on the screen helps a lot with motivation! Some workouts translate really well, others less so due to the linear fit. I was wondering you could subdivide curved intervals into smaller time steps for the zwo export? Feeling This looks like it has curves as an example when it doesn’t really

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Another option is to start the EBC workout player at the same moment you start the Zwift workout and let the app control the trainer. You’ll get the benefit of smart intervals with the finish line in Zwift.

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I thought about smaller steps as well. Today its 5 watt steps isnt it? Is that a limitation on Zwifts part, or due to the way the ZWO file has been prepared? A lot more work of course, but if the ZWO file had steps of 2 or 1 watt they would more closely mimic the curved intervals of Xert.

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Its zwift forcing 5w steps

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Zwift doesn’t force 5W steps, for some inexplicable reason the display just rounds to 5W… I have done Xert workouts on Zwift and linear ramps map exactly in ERG mode

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Same thing

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Erm, it’s not…. Zwift controls the trainer correctly, ie to 1W resolution (or less) and records correctly the measured power, but will display on the screen a figure rounded to 5W. If the trainer control was rounded to 5W you would see steps in any linear ramp interval, but you don’t… this is covered in Zwift forums

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So how small are the steps in the ZWO file from Xert? Curved intervals are exported as separate blocks, so the more blocks, the more the ZWO workout in Zwift can resemble a curve, correct?