This morning, the advisor recommended a short workout with a XSS of 42 and selected “Where the streets have no name”. I promptly ignored it and went with a 75 XSS workout instead (Save Yourself - 60, and increased the threshold as Xert’s calculation is a bit low for me).
After the workout…I don’t understand what this is telling me. That I now have to do another workout in addition to what I did earlier today? As far as I can tell, the Workout Goal is identical. The Training Surplus seems off too, as I was carrying a surplus of over 100 XSS prior to this and have been trying to hit the recommended targets, with an exception of yesterday. I don’t recall what the Surplus was before the workout, but it should not have dropped that much in 12 hrs.
Today’s Training Surplus : 10 XSS
Phase : Build
Estimated Break Until Next Workout : 0.0 days
Focus Type : Endurance (Focus: 03:00:00 | Interval Targets: 187W)
Workout Goal : 42 XSS (Optional)
Difficulty Rating:
Advice is based on your recent activities performed on Fridays.
Hi Newton. If you completed a workout and have moved to a surplus, you don’t need to do another workout. The advice is based on average workouts you do on the given day. If you decided to do another workout, you could it that is what is recommended. The XSS of the activity you completed will get deducted from the Deficit (or added to the surplus) that you have today. There isn’t anything wrong with doing “two-a-days” if you have the time.
Have kind of the same remarks about it. @Newton Cheung: Do note that your 6 hrs is not that you should do a workout for 6 hr. It’s telling that you are 6 hr behind the optimal.
Focus 03:00:00 means with your current fitness, you can perform at least 3:00:00 for that given intensity. The 186 watt means, that if you ride freely and doing intervals, 186 watt is the intensity you should focus on. From what I understand, the only recommendation is the workout recommendation.
But I can’t declare your issue either. Coming from a surplus to a deficit. And even more with such high numbers. A difference of 500 XXS is likely at least 5 workouts.
I’m trying to get my head around Xert too, it notices it does things randomly that I can’t always declare. But I guess we both come from a structured plan.
I think it need to settle down for a few weeks.
What I find hard is: let’s say it’s Saturday evening, training is done for the day. I plan a workout “X” for Sunday, as advice from the Training Advisor.
Coming back on Sunday morning, it’s suddenly workout “Y”? I’m old fashion saying I look the night before what workout I do (part of the mental process) but find another in the morning? I get stressed
I know it’s another approach and dynamic but isn’t there a point that you just plan your workouts for 2 days ahead? Or do I miss the dynamic bit then?
Hey guys. There’s a few things here. Firstly, look at our glossary for Focus Duration. Focus of 3:00:00 / interval targets at 186W is saying that your workout should “focus” on your 3:00 power, i.e. 186W. Focus Duration is like zones only much more precise and much more athlete specific. In this case, it’s saying to do efforts at around 186W. You need to do an Endurance ride because your Training Status is yellow. Check the glossary on Training Status. Secondly, the deficit isn’t something you need to bring down all at once. It’s giving you an idea of how far behind you are. If it’s too much training for you, you’ll need to reduce your Improvement Rate since you don’t have the available time to maintain that rate. That’s ok. The goal is always to improve steadily at a rate that is manageable within your schedule. Again, check the blogs and help on the Adaptive Training Advisor. Lastly, look at things as more of a guide than “Do exactly this.”. You can choose different workouts, for example, that better fit your available time so if you have more time availab le to bring down the deficit, by all means, pick a different workout form the list. They are shown in order of which ones would be most appropriate for you. The recommended workout is chosen from the top 4 so if it changes, that’s ok. Pick the previous one!. Xert is different in that it guides you and makes sure you improve by taking everything you have done into account. It’s different from regular training plans that have you feeling like if you miss a workout, you’re somehow failing the plan. There’s no failing in Xert. It just helps you get the most out of yourself by adapting to what you’ve done and where you stand in terms of fitness and freshness.
OK great reply. I thought as for “deficit” we need to bring it down on Sunday to “0” in order to have a complete week. I have currently a deficit of 163 so I was looking to fit that in tomorrow. So, not a good idea this. (fitness doesn’t stop at the boundaries of date and time or ands on Sunday night).
So I can bring it down (raw) to: “go train whenever you want and do a suggested (or not, or a different) workout from the Training Advisor, go with the flow and let Xert guide you instead of “force” you to do a workout or take a rest?”.
I’ll certainly give it some time because when I start thinking about it…to mention another one concerning the Improvement Rate. I can imagine a “Slow” selection progress with daily workouts is harder then a “Aggressive” progress with only 2 workouts? Because that’s is something I van do with Xert.
The deficit is a rolling week, not Sun-Sun. You’ll see an increase in deficit (decrease in surplus) every day. Slow means less training time but Aggressive means much more time needed … but eventually you’ll need to back off because it’s not sustainable. Again, see the glossary on Improvement Rate. Btw, it’s okay to keep switching your improvement rate to your available time. It’s what been adaptive is all about.
Following this as I have been using Xert for a month now and am starting to get my head around the differences between it and following a set plan, however I (ans I’m sure other athletic types) struggle when I see I have a deficit! This week I’ve picked up a virus and have a terrible cough, so training isn’t really sensible, how am I best changing the improvement rate (or other options) to avoid amassing a deficit that I then chase when I hopefully feel better in a few days?
Remember that it’s a rolling week so if miss a few days and then pick back up again, after 7 days those missed days don’t factor in any more. If you are insistent on maintaining your improvement rate, then you need to make up for the missed days. If you’re sick, this isn’t wise. Generally if you’re missing days and pick up a big deficit, it’s a good reminder that you’ll need to add training time to keep improving at the rate you set. Either that or accept the fact that you’ll need to reduce your expectations, i.e. improvement rate. Nothing wrong with that. Remember you can’t fail your program. It helps you maximize what you can do within your means.
