My Road (back) to 300W Threshold

To test this inflated signature point, I think you would need to BT on Ronnestad and then try your 20 min test a few days later/ when recovered, and compare… double the fun! :wink:

Actually for your goals you should probably just follow a similar BT approach to usual…? That’s most consistent and I guess that’s less disruption to your training as well.

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I free-ride indoors with the Android Xert EBC app (basically means I don’t select any workout).

I can then switch my trainer into ERG mode and then tap the +/- buttons to set the target power. :slight_smile:

:frowning: :frowning: :frowning:

Its +/- 5 W per press!

Im right at the end of my build phase , it has my training hours at 14. which for me is big, the level of fatigue is really high and i have to manage it really well. Im only doing 2 workouts a week , one will be at my recommended interval target . Right now thats 387w so i ll incorporate that into a hill repeat workout outside, then ride an hour, then add a sprint workout. Other workout is on the trainer id ride whats recommended. Races on sundays for next few weeks. So i ll have to see how much XSS that gives also
Ive gottten use now to managing XSS for a ride to estimate how long i should go if im doing jst zone 2

I couldnt care if never done a 20 minute test again
What i do is test 10 minute and 5 minute power , pushed for BT’s at these powers

I also got a gold BT at 20 minute but on a climb just pushing threshold

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It’s pretty safe to assume that you can average ~60 XSS/hr for ‘Zone 2’ rides :slight_smile:

there was a simple formula lol i didnt know it i was just looking through old rides all the time

We’re half way there, Scott!
Fingers crossed for some outdoor training in March.

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Sorry, I meant %, not watt. But are we talking about the same thing?
These lower right buttons for me certainly do +/-1%

Here’s several options which won’t require adjusting % intensity to vary the workout.

Option A: Change mode from AUTO to ERG and the increment change is +/- 5 watts.

Option B: Search for “free ride”, select a duration such as this workout for two hours, switch to Slope mode and make it more outdoor-like by using gears/cadence and adjusting slope +/- .5%.
You can monitor the LTP line on the Session Player or power chart pop-out to gauge how you’re doing. I rarely view the EBC power chart for this purpose.
Some would argue it’s best to forgo ERG control for this type of workout. I.e., don’t make it mindless. However, if I’m watching something on the big screen, I prefer the mindless route which brings me to my preferred options C and D.

Option C: Copy an LTP workout like Everlong - 60 and make it whatever duration you want by adjusting the rep count.

Option D (only works with Android EBC): Ride whatever LTP workout you want, end the workout (not the activity), and select another LTP workout to extend the session. You can skip warm-up. Session will be saved as one activity with name of first workout, but that doesn’t bother me as easy to tell it was appended to by the thumbnail chart.

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This option D is exactly what I’ve been looking for…I think. Do you know if the difficulty level stays consistent between the two workouts. Ie is accretive and continues to climb, doesn’t start over again.

Yes, accumulative including the stats box and XSS total at the top of the Session Player page.
Example of back-to-back <LTP and o/u LTP workouts –
Combo1
Takes a couple of practice sessions to get the hang of it. You can select the next workout on XO then swipe down on the app to update the workout list with your selection. Or select workout on the EBC app then refresh the browser page to update Session Player with the next workout.

Thanks, A sounds useful for my purpose. I didn’t expect there might be a difference in resistance control between auto and ERG.
I had guess I had the expectation that auto would fall back to ERG if the workout doesn’t specify otherwise.

Hi @ManofSteele
Any update on progress toward your goal? Hope it’s been a good summer so far with plenty of opportunity to train

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Hi @wescaine, Not sure how I had missed this originally - so sorry!

It was a fantastic summer - I was able to go on holidays for 2 weeks in Europe. I had never been outside North America before, so it was great to see new places, cultures, and was overall a very memorable trip! :smiley:

Unfortunately, there was zero free time for training during that time and I also caught a nasty illness upon returning home, which sidelined me further. Throw in a few other summer trips & my goal seemed just a fantasy at that point. While I had hoped to reach ~100 TL & 300 W TP, the reality is that I ended up mostly riding “for fun” and maintained a ~1.5 star TL & 250 W TP. Such goes life (and training) sometimes!

Here’s how the rest of my summer ended up looking, with the initial big dip after holidays & illness:

Rather than starting a new thread, I guess I can continue this one :smiley: Let’s try this again!

I think when thinking about fitness, you can’t focus too much on the past. Instead, I think the proper approach is how can I get from where I am today to where I want to be, which is something that Xert can truly excel at!

In November, I re-committed to my goal & started using the Continuous Improvement option to initially restart my training & get base fitness back. I had roughly a weekly schedule that I tried to maintain & aimed to keep my training pacer close to 12 o’clock. Other than a few minor cold/flu bugs (and a sinus infection), I’ve been able to steadily progress my fitness without really feeling the ‘need’ for a dedicated recovery week.

Since the release of Forecast AI, I’ve been using it to help further guide my training with great success so far! Assuming I am able to complete all the required training, Forecast AI predicts that I can reach a TL of 104 and a Threshold Power of 294 W by my TED of 6 July. In my opinion, the only way I can really think to prove it ‘wrong’ is to do the training and see where my fitness ends up! :man_shrugging:

  • Side note: interesting that XFAI projections seem to be on par with my previous calculations that a ~100 TL would be minimally required to reach 300 W TP.

Here’s how my XPMC has looked for me since the end of Nov:

  • Side note 2: Xert has detected all these increases in my fitness without any Breakthrough activities! I’ve been on Slow Decay for like ~2 years now at this point :smiley:
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Hi Scott,
Do you think Ai Forecast can be useful in a scenario where you have 4-5 weeks to the event?

Hi @oldandfast , good question!

Yes, I suppose that Xert can help structure those last few weeks of training before an event. I can imaging that will be significantly less flexibility with just a few weeks before your event, as opposed to a target event that’s a little further out.

What event do you have in mind? And what’s your training load, roughly? E.g. how many stars do you have in your profile?

It’s a 20min hill climb, off-road
TL is 73 now but I’ll do 30h next week then I take a week off and then I have full 4 weeks b4 event.
At the moment I have 3 stars.

The other thing is that my signature is way OFF, I need to get that fixed first.

Thanks