I am a 51 years old recreational rider. No interested in racing but I like to do structured training and monitor progress because it was motivates me the most. I only ride indoors using RGT app.
I have been riding for a year but only 2-3h a week but recently progressing to 4-5h/week because I purchased a High North Performance conditioning plan (excellent). After finishing this plan I have to decided if I continue purchasing plans or subscribe to an app like Xert or similar.
I have no events in the calendar, I am only interested in getting fitter so I can do group rides in RGT without getting dropped. For this reason I chose first “continuous improvement” but many of the suggested workouts were too intense so I switched to the classic base-build-peak plan.
I also selected Century rider because as I beginner I feel I need to improve my muscular endurance.
Now the suggested plans looks more logical but there is one thing that looks wrong. My threshold power in the signature is 150W which is ok but my 2h power is 149W. By no means I can ride 2h at 149W. What did I do wrong?
Related to the above question: Yesterday I did my longest ride ever: 2.5h . I would expect this to be marked Breakthrough in Xert but actually is not. In activity details I can see:
Ok, I think I got it. After examinig my power curve in intervals.icu I can see that the model predicts I can actually do 155 W for 2:30h (I doubt it). In conclusion, my ride was the longest ever but not maximal according to the model, so not a Breakthrough in Xert.
Setting an imaginary TED to initiate a phased progression is a good way to learn Xert.
During Base phase only endurance level workouts will be recommended.
Setting Athlete Type to Century Rider (endurance quadrant) means goal focus duration will also be endurance. If you want more variety during Build/Peak phases you can switch to a lower focus duration point (ex. GC Specialist).
How much historical power data did you import into Xert to establish a starting signature?
Another method is to enter known values into the Power Curve Calculator.
Thanks. I uploaded all the activities I was allowed from Strava. I think it was 3 months.
I actually had just read that article before I saw your reply. I think it is clear to me know.
Looks an interesting approach. The possibility of monitor the MAP live is very encouraging to push my limits. I will keep reading, there is so much to learn. I’m glad that Xert allow us to enjoy 30 days trial period.
Xert is at a disadvantage with a 30-day trial. There’s much to learn about what’s different and why then apply it. That takes longer than four weeks.
Here’s my all-indoor 120 day experiment with Xert from a couple years back – Pre-Base to TED; 120+ days; 100% recommended workouts completed at 100% difficulty
One thing to note is I started with a TL of less than 30 (1 star) and progressed to 100 (3 stars) by my imaginary TED. Then I rode up to 15 hours/week (4 stars) during the summer because I could.
Increasing TL over time and your ability to complete any plan is going to be the key contributor to fitness gains. The maximum hours you can invest will also affect the types of workouts you choose to do. Xert provides a set of guidelines to follow but you decide what to do within that framework.
