Hi, I’m currently trialling Xert and have only recently started using a power meter on my outdoor rides, so my only previous rides with power stats were a few rather infrequent smart turbo sessions. I normally ride around 6 days a week or 9-15 hours a week, and I’ve loaded my Strava data from February 1st into Xert. I also updated the XSS field on the outdoor rides without power stats with the Strava estimated TSS, and Xert now indicates that I am “trained”. However, since starting to ride outdoors with a power meter, my XSS scores have jumped a fair bit, and my form status has gone from “fresh” to “very tired” although my actual training load isn’t much different from what it had been before using a power meter. The result is that XATA only recommends recovery rides for me and the planner seems to indicate that I need a good few days off. Is there any way this can be corrected or will it self correct without taking an extended break? Are the Strava estimated XSS scores used in determining form/recovery or just “trained” status? I would like to start following the XATA training plan but it seems my data needs corrected to account for the new power meter. Any advice appreciated.
Check your XPMC to see if there are any major increases in TL. This will likely corresponding with an increase in “Very tired” status, indicating you’ll need more recovery time before you’re fresh again. This is the nature of how the exponential math used in the determination of Very tired works. Of course, you may want to consider you how you feel first and foremost but you should keep an eye on what the data is telling you in order to avoid digging too deep a whole. If indeed your power data has changed, it may take a bit for the system to gather enough data from the new power meter to give you a proper reflection.
Thanks Armando. Can you give any advice on how best to “onboard” with Xert as a new user? I have years of Strava data without a power meter except for rides that I have done on a smart turbo, and in the last couple of weeks I have bought Vector 3 PM, Garmin Edge 820 and an Samsung Android tablet specifically so I can get the best out of Xert. However, no matter what rides I sync with Xert (1 year, 3 years, or only outdoor rides with PM from last couple of weeks), the fitness advisor says I’m “very tired” (after only 2 rides when I only sync recent PM data!) and advises on recovery rides or 5 days off bike. Surely this cannot be right? Is there any point in syncing Strava rides from last few months without PM data if I manually input the XSS field from Strava estimates? (This seems to only up my training status from untrained to trained, but I assume it will affect Xata estimates too?). Also, is there anyway to get out of “Base” part of Xata plan early, i.e, can the initial parameters be tweaked to recognize that you’ve joined Xert in the middle of a training block or tha t you’re not actually “untrained” if you’ve been riding regularly for years? My trial is nearing an end, and I’m really impressed with Xert and all the ancillary tools, but getting out of this “very tired/untrained” state when my training load has been very consistent is really a problem for me.
Hi Stephen. You can adjust the Seed Value under Account Settings to set your starting TL value for your first activity. One way to assess this value is to look what your average daily XSS was for the past few months leading into that first activity. This essentially establishes how much training you had been doing when you first started using your power meter. Moving forward, you should use your power meter as much as possible and add manual activities (see your FAQ on adding manual activities) for activities without power.
Thanks Armando. Seems you can’t change the Seed Value under a trial account. Can you please explain the meaning and effect of the variables in this section (Seed, Training and Recovery Load Time Constant) as I can’t find any documentation about them?
We recommend to leave these values as their defaults unless instructed by support.
OK, fair enough. I’ve now signed up and I’m committed to using Xert as my primary source of training guidance. I’ve loaded my year-to-date data from Strava and manually input the XSS values from the Strava power stress estimates, which makes the training projections a bit more realistic now that XATA sees me as “trained”. I’m pretty convinced that Xert is accurately capturing my fitness profile so I am going to follow the advice and see where I end up. First thing is some rest, then try to figure out the best way to increase my puny peak power!
Welcome to Xert Stephen!