3x20 at 90% should be there now. Close/restart the app if you are using it to run your workout.
It is back indeed ;). But you extended the breaks and it has been rated down from 3 â 2.5. Why that (just for the sake of interest, I can just modify it back to its original state)?
How long should the breaks be?
The breaks are much lower than 3 diamonds (~75XSSR) so difficulty comes down.
Those recovery Intervals seem excessive. Iâm used to 5min recovery intervals during 3x20min SS intervals.
I created myself a 3x15@101% FTP workout with 5 min breaks - 3 Stars? Seems underrated. Keen on the algorithm.
Ok. The 82 and 90 have 5 minute breaks. Seems more reasonable.
Diffculty Score is a based an exponentially weighted moving average of XSSR. In Xertâs math, sweetspot efforts donât generate a lot of XSS since they arenât performed under fatigue and donât lower MPA. TP is the threshold where MPA declines. SST intervals play harder than their score indicates. There are likely other second-order influences to the sensations you get when training. Difficulty Score doesnât encapsulate all of them.
Having said that, there are some workouts where we are experimenting with how things feel. For example, there are a few versions of Funeral in Carpathia. You may want to check those out, in particular compare how the original 90 minute version feels versus the V2 version. They are good threshold workouts which you should be ok with replacing your 90% SST workout with.
Ah, I understand, efforts over FTP have some kind of a âmutiplierâ. I noticed that in my individually created 10x0:30 SIT (175% FTP@30 sec, LTP@4:30). It is quite an easy workout mentally, but Xert rated it 4/5. And great that you address the Carpathia workout. I already tried the âoriginalâ 60 minute Carpathia workout, it indeed feels harder than the score indicates. Actually, it feels harder and more tedious than the SIT workout I mention above. Today, I replace my 3x20 SST with 3x15 FTP ;). The weeks (âTreshold Wednesayâ I call it) before I did Hour-of-Power 140/85 and 120/90 (found the latter harder). Then I thought, if I can do the 3.5/% HOP-workouts, 3x15 FTP should be fine.
What does âmodified to increase complianceâ mean?
Should feel âeasierâ to do compared to the original, at least for some people. Itâs one of those workouts where, unless youâre motivated, youâll abandon. Iâve only ever done them in our group sessions format and the group dynamic got me through it. I did find V2 a bit easier than the original.
Yeah, I also had the impression that the lack of recovery after the above FTP intervall is being carried through the whole block which makes it very tedious. Still, if you add a recovery between the above FTP section and the Sweetspot-FTP âwavesâ, this might yield the same XSS on paper, but removes the ârecovery under pressureâ aspect aka âlactate shuttlingâ which is what you want to be good at as a TTler (which is the reason why doing Carpathia).
We donât attempt to model or explain things with physiology. We try and stick to the math and make repeatable / validatable predictions from it. Youâll get different answers from different physiologists on how the body responds to exercise. We donât try and model these.
The principle behind V2 vs. the original is a priming effect from the high-intensity interval that precedes the waves. Even though MPA drops, the effort âfuelsâ the waves by priming the system. This, in effect, allows the power available from your low intensity system to be fully utilized. This can also be trained we believe and can get expressed as improved MPA and/or improved ability to reach MPA in the trained athlete during dynamic efforts. Try it and see if it works for you.
Yeah, next âTreshold-Wednesdayâ I will climb the Carpathians ;).
1 Like
Did the original 90 minute Carpathians. It is not really hard, but somewhat tedious. Time does not pass and it indeed feels harder than it should given the power range (85%-105%) requested. The 4x16 Seiler âfeelsâ easier although it is 95%@16 minutes and should feel harder. However, I guess the 30 seconds directly before the 12 minutes have more impact than one might think. The Seiler intervall starts to crawl into the legs after ~3 minutes and then it is a constant but managable burning (as intended in treshold zone). In the Carpathians, there is more âburningâ all the time, I think you carry that small amount of lactate accumulated in the 30s intervall through the complete 12 minutes as you do not ride easy enough for long enough to get rid of it and also have some âflashbackâ in the ~45 seconds that you are @ and over threshold.
Next treshold Wednesday I try a customized HOP, 140% and 87% (as a mixture of 125%/90, 140/85%). Xert says it is 4 stars and I do not want to go above on âTreshold Tuesdayâ (but on "VO2Max Friday 
), so the 140%/90% @ 4.5 stars is too hard.
1 Like
Great feedback. Yes the original Carpathian (or just âfuneralâ ) does have that fast-start for each of the threshold intervals. V2 has simllar but there is a short delay in between. There is a reason for that and suspect it may make it easier for some athletes.
The HOP workouts are traditional workouts commonly found elsewhere. Weâve adapted the concepts behind it into a lot of other workouts. Iron Man series is an example thatâs quite similar. It uses smart intervals and an intensity taper to make them much more doable and far less likely to be abandoned. The 4 diamond HOPs are as much a test of mental fortitude as physical. Many athletes simply abandon them at some point in the workout.