MPA recovery

General
#1

Looking for some help adjusting my MPA burn down and recovery. In my last ride for example, I was dropped 3 times and was only able to rejoin based on the group slowing. I was essentially pinned, but looking at the analysis, there was supposedly a large gap remaining in my MPA. I can say with certainty, there was no way I had that many watts left to make an effort/bridge.

So for me, my physical type, strengths/weaknesses, current fitness, etc, the MPA recovery is too generous. For me, it should take much longer to return to ‘full’. How can I adjust this so it’s more inline with I am actually feeling?

#2

This is a great query, and mostly speaks to the accuracy of your Xert’s threshold power (given that max power seems to be less relevant for MPA depletion/recovery). So, the best path for you is to make sure your estimated threshold power is closer to your real abilities, bring it down if necessary. A long threshold effort should validate it. Can you hold your TP for 30-40 min?. Xert’s TP uses a formula similar or identical to critical power, sometimes you can bias that with short power.

#3

It may be a signature issue but could also be that you had a bad day / we’re fatigued, or failed due to difficulty rather than MPA? These would B and C from this article. How did difficulty score compare to your training load when dropped?

It’s also normal to struggle to draw down MPA later in a ride due to fatigue (signature is ‘when fresh’). Xert doesn’t model that, or indeed fatigue due to efforts close to but below threshold, so if you had a lot of time there it’ll also impact (you for sure get tired and can’t hold threshold forever, but MPA doesn’t move). In my experience Xert is very good at capturing fatigue above threshold, including dynamic efforts though

Otherwise your signature could be out - you can check here to start with, or contact support directly and they will check if there are any unusual activities (usually power spikes) a d can adjust if actually needed.