I can see the appeal but there is also the idea that you don’t need to be so precise that you need ERG mode. It’s ok to just ride and come close. If you really want precision with ERG mode, you’ll be able to generate a workout (this will likely be a replacement or in conjunction with the autogen feature) that you can do just like a regular workout. But doing it in MB and having it switch from ERG to manual with the click of buttons seems like a bit too much to implement, perfect and then maintain for what it’s worth.
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@hpbieker what is your setup when you record everything on your Garmin? I am using my 1040 and I have an indoor profile with Magic Buckets, the XERT dashboard and a few other fields I want to track. Then I just free ride to fill my buckets. Is there a better / more efficient way?
The autogen feature could be coolt too. At the moment autogen isn’t working for me, never generate the right focus / strain required by the AI plan.
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Overall I have a Wahoo Kickr Bike with a Garmin mount and a Quadlock mount for my iPhone. In front of me I have 40" 4K TV connected to a Mac Mini where I run YouTube or smiliar and the Xert Session player.
I have fried various approaches here. One is to have a simple Xert workout with 2x10 x 30/30 + Endurance at the end. The hard intervales are in slope mode and the rest in ERG. Then I just take directions from the Magic Buckets on the power targets (should I go harder or softer this time) and how many repetions I should take. If I need more intervals I just press rewind a few times to add more intervals. When I am done with the hard stuff I press forward until I get to the endurance part of the workout. Note that the Wahoo Kickr Bike allows multiple BLE connections, which is not the case with all trainers or power meters.
I have also tried using just Garmin Edge. You just pair your trainer as a smart trainer and start the activity in slope mode, e.g. at 1 % incline. Then you just follow the instrudtions from the Magic Bucket datafield. You have to use your gearing to put out higher watts during the work intervals, but you quickly notice which gear you have to be in. Maybe go to 4-5 harder gears in the work intervals vs the rest intervals. It also depends on if you are standing or seated.
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But it is generating a workout with the correct Xlss, Xhss, and Xpss?
That’s how I have been doing it too. Every workout so far seems to devolve into some variation of 60-30 to 30-30.
I’ve only used Magic Buckets indoors though, I’m looking forward to trying it outside soon. I think that is where it will really shine.
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These are exactly one of the ways that I anticipate people using the data field. Doing it this way allows people to get all the “stuff” that Garmin offers when you record from their devices, the speed/distance data based on your gearing/cadence, all while getting the SMART benefits of Xert via Magic Intervals!
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I do want to point out that this is not how we designed it to work, but it’s what the math suggests is the most optimal/efficient way to achieve the XSS needed, especially if you need to achieve large doses of High XSS. This doesn’t appear to be a coincidence, given the known efficacy of various micro-intervals: 30-30’s, 30-15’s, 20-10’s, etc.
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If the high / peak strain is low (around 15-20 points) it generates a workout but almost never the right focus… if demands are higher it doesn’t even goes closer to the target.
Maybe you can show the XSS targets and the autogenerated workout.
Are you trying to create a workout to ride indoors or do you have the option to use XMB outdoors?
XMB should handle that Forecast fine on a long ride (4+ hours?), but it doesn’t appear Autogen is up to the task. My guess is there is a duration limit.
Xert could fix that but I wouldn’t try to follow a workout like (indoors or outdoors) if I can use XMB instead. For one thing I could shorten the duration required to fill the buckets by controlling the rest interval durations and how deep I decide to go on work intervals (Challenge Level).
Not a support issue, per sae, but a limitation of how Autogen currently works. We limited AutoGen to the # of intervals it’s allowed to use, since we wanted them to always be available to send to Garmin, who limits structured workouts to <50 intervals. Since the power required to achieve that much High/Peak XSS is so high, you can’t hold the interval long (because you’d quickly become limited by MPA), which means that you need loads of shorter intervals, with short recoveries, to achieve the necessary High/Peak XSS. This also supports the reported efficiency of various micro-intervals (30-30’s, 30-15’s, 20-10’s, etc.).
Now that Magic Buckets is here, we can effectively bypass sending structured workouts to Garmin, since we’re now allowing you to do a dynamic workout on the fly via a single data field. For me and my signature to achieve your targets ( 266 | 16.6 | 4.1 ) and performing the intervals at a CL of ~3, I would need approx. 68 intervals of 15s ON w/ 40s OFF recoveries. By bringing my MPA down further and doing my intervals at a CL of ~6, I’d cut down the number of intervals needed down to 44. But with Magic Buckets, you can follow along the data field and go as hard (or as easy) as you’d like - the data field will adjust on the fly and get you to hit your targets, however many intervals it takes 
Pretty neat!
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You can do the high intensity as longer intervals but the collection of XSS isn’t as efficient.
On a related note, I’d love to be able to use the magic buckets feature as it’s available on Garmin (along with segment hunter and a number of other Garmin-only features), but I own a Wahoo (bought before I started using Xert), and can’t justify the cost of changing to Garmin when I have a perfectly functional device. I appreciate there’s barriers to putting apps on Wahoo (much as I’d love you to keep trying), but in the absence of that is there a possibility of integrating Magic Buckets into Xert? While not an issue for structured workouts, when free riding it’d be great to be able to know how far I am off hitting what I need to for the day.
Getting MB working in our app is certainly on our development roadmap.
We’d like to get the “magic” math hooked up to our autogenerated workouts feature to allow users without Garmin devices to create & export the workouts to their unit of choice. In the absence of dynamic, updating power targets, our integration with Wahoo will at least allow us to export the structured workout directly to your Wahoo head unit, and you can aim to follow along from there. That should get you ‘close enough’
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Interesting. I’ve read in some of the literature that different types of riders handle different types of intervals differently ie sprinters can do 30-30 & 30-15 VO2max intervals easier with less fatigue than longer 2-4 minute ones. Would the maths therefore prescribe different interval lengths dependant on an individuals signature?
The primary driving factor for interval “length” is the intensity of the interval itself, which is calculated on the fly from your remaining Low, High, & Peak XSS targets. The higher the power target, the shorter the interval duration will be. Makes sense… I can hold a 350 W interval a heck of a lot longer than a 900 W interval 
I don’t think there’s anything special per se, about 30-30 intervals or 30-15. I think these sorts of micro-intervals generally allow athletes to accumulate a high amount of fatigue & continue working under that fatigue, which allows them to generate loads of strain (XSS) in relatively short periods of time. It’s what makes those types of workouts so hard, yet very efficient.
FWIW, when I’m doing very high-power magic intervals I don’t generally watch (or care) about the duration of each interval. I usually push up my CL to 5-6 or so and then aim to achieve +1 CL with each “interval” (e.g. push from level 5 → 6) and then ease up and recover according to the recommended recovery target & duration. Rinse and repeat!
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I’ve only glanced at the tutorial for running Zwift.
Do I simply search for “Road to Sky” and start a workout or free ride?
TIA