I am really getting into using Magic Buckets and I see it as an excellent addition to the Xert armoury.
My user case is that I am set for continuous improvement but do not do the workouts.
I use a Rouvy ride(s) and try and match the MB targets during sections of the ride. Watching the Garmin screen tells me a lot about how MB works but I have a few clarifications if someone can help please.
At startup I see V2.7 on my screen but when looking at Connect IQ I do not see version numbers. Where do I see the latest version and how do I tell if I can update. Garmin Express does not show an update as being available.
My TP is 230. I started off today with 31 intervals at 308w. I filled Peak pretty quickly by going pretty hard and well over 330w.
I then needed to fill the High bucket and I found this much harder. I now needed say 27 intervals at 308 watts. I would hold my power at between roughly 265 and 320 to hit the High bucket. At the end High XSS had risen and I might have 24 intervals left. That would then rise a few minutes later to 26. This happened regularly. The interval left was reduced and then raised again. Why is this? It was quite frustrating.
After filling High I was left with 1:18 (78 mins) at 187w described as easy. However I noted that despite me riding below LTP the remaining time did not coincide with actual time. So with 78 mins to do I rode for 10 mins at anything between 130 and 200w but I then had not 68 but 75 minutes left. I am assuming that it would take me 78 mins at exactly 187w to hit the target of 145 XSS and if I did less than 187w then it would take me longer than the initial 78 minutes.
Nothing negative here. I had a really good workout today using 2 Rouvy rides and MB without stopping/ restarting my Garmin and I felt I learned a lot.
Hi @johnnybike - happy to hear you’re exploring Magic Buckets a bit more!
We now put the version number bottom centre of the Summary Screen, which you can access by tapping the power gauge (touch-screen units like Edge 800/1000 series) or by flipping to another data page & immediately back (Edge 500 series devices).
I think the beauty of Magic Buckets is in the self-correcting nature of it. I suspect a LOT of users think, oh I have intervals so I need to stand and really mash out my intervals!!! FYI, I’m not saying that’s what you’re doing, but one of the most frequent comments I’ve heard from users is that they tend to fill Peak first, which often happens by riding too hard. You can ride hard to fill your peak bucket first, but that will effectively lower your target power (to reduce the strain on your peak system). This also increases the duration & possibly number of intervals needed to achieve your necessary High XSS.
The estimated time remaining assumes an average of 66 XSS/hr for the total amount of Low XSS remaining. The timer won’t increase if you ride slower, but it will count down a bit faster if you ride harder (like near Threshold). IMO, it’s not really meant to be an exact measure, but should give you a rough estimate of how much endurance riding you’ll need to complete your training for the day - I can see how it’ll help me plan a route back home based on whether I have 15 min, 60 min, or 120 min remaining (if the weather here ever warms up )
2). My experience was that I had filled peak but the target high remained at 308.
However, it was when I was doing high intervals that I would do a burst for say 90 seconds then go into recovery mode. That would show 24 intervals left. A couple of minutes later it would be back up to 26.
This happened repeatedly all the way down until I had completed the High target XSS.
Magic Buckets allows you to over-fill your High or Peak bucket a little without impacting the target power. However, once you’ve filled high or peak, I would expect that the target power stops adjusting (until you start really over-filling the other bucket - that’s an off-topic discussion for another day ).
The # of intervals left is also a bit of an estimate - obviously it depends on how long you choose to hold each effort, the challenge level that you’re at when doing your intervals (higher CL’s = less # of intervals), etc. I often do my intervals around CL5, so I’ll see intervals remaining yo-yo a bit between when I hit CL 6 at the end of my effort, & when I drop back down to CL 5 during the recovery intervals. As long as the number is decreasing over time, I’m happy and I’ll stop my intervals once I’ve filled my High/Peak buckets.
If you stick close to the recommended target watts all three buckets will fill in close proportion to each other.
Above TP all three buckets are filled in different proportions.
If you are short on High ~175% TP will fill that bucket the most.
If you are short on Peak a few sprints are in order (whatever you can muster at the time).
Outdoors you may decide to do the intervals later in your ride and accumulate more Low XSS during an extended warm-up or additional Low during a long cooldown.
The higher the CL you can reach (and maintain on successive intervals) the shorter the interval count. You can reallly beat yourself up if you want and shorten the ride.
Time remaining is simply an estimate. I use it to decide whether to modify my route on the way back in.
I also see the number of intervals going up and down during an outside ride, but I’ve put that down to the length and power of the previous interval is being used to calculate the number left to do. So, if I did a 3 minute interval at 330w then I might show that I need a further ten intervals to do to complete filling in that bucket, but if I did a 45 second interval then it would show me I needed another 25 (theoretical number plucked out of the sky) at that duration and intensity for example.
But I also find it a great feature of XERT and that even when you can not be bothered with intervals, by using MB and turning it in to a game then the buckets get filled! By a game I mean going for it between telegraph posts for example, first just one, and then perhaps going for two or three or maybe four before soft pedalling again. Motivation kicks in as you see the buckets filling up
I think we all agree that MB is a great feature and does offer a paradigm shift in the way we train.
I can definitely see myself using this a lot rather than pre-planned workouts.
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