So I am an amature rider but try to train intermittently every now and then.
My FTP on a ramp test where I never reached max HR was 225 6 weeks ago. Since then I had a few weeks almost no rides but picked it up again a couple weeks ago. I tried to give XERT a try over trainerroad because of the outdoor workouts being processed. Two issues came up:
Tired: It lists me as very tired. How can I be very tired if I am able to pull off more than what it thinks is my FTP for an hour??
TP: It estimated it at 194 which is definitely too low. I manually changed it to 215 because I think I mustve dropped a bit from my last ramp test. I then went into a zwift race. In the race I averaged 200 watts overy 65 minutes with an average HR of 170 ( Max is 194 for me). It was a hard effort for me though and I got dropped on the top of the very last climb by my group. By definition, my threshold power should at least be 200 W which is what I held for an hour. Instead it made it 197 which makes zero sense.
XATA (Xert Adaptive Training Advisor) needs consistent power data over a period of weeks to properly dial in your activity pattern and training load.
Form is not directly related to FTP/TP. Very tired (red) is calculated form based upon your recent activity and intensity (strain ratio). When form is red/yellow that indicates recovery is required and endurance workouts will be recommended. When form returns to blue/green recommendations will change to higher intensity workouts.
Status stars color indicates your calculated form as of right now. Color of the arrow in the pacer needle gauge indicates predicted form 24 hours from now.
Is your signature currently estimated based on historical data you imported and the single hard group ride you mentioned?
Your signature only needs to be a reasonable ballpark figure to start with. Then you move forward from there. Xert does not require RAMP tests and calculates your fitness signature after every activity or lack of activity (decay). A RAMP test does not include all the data points Xert is looking for to determine signature values. While FTP and TP numbers are often close for many users the metrics are not the same and testing protocols differ.
You can search the workout library for “breakthrough” and ride one of the BT workouts in Slope mode on your trainer to more accurately test your fitness signature.
You can edit your signature as you have done to get started or use XO (xertonline.com), Power Curve & Calculator in left menu to seed the starting numbers. Otherwise your signature values will float up and down week to week based upon your activity load intensity and frequency – without any formal testing required. Numbers will go up as TL and intensity increases (and you recover based on predicted form) and numbers will decline if TL and/or intensity decreases (called signature decay).
You can view the weekly variances under XO, Planner tab, Weekly Stats button.
I suggest you spend a couple weeks getting comfortable with the differences in Xert as XATA learns about you through your activity data and you learn more about Xert.
There are some major differences starting with a variable fitness signature, no populated calendar, and no RAMP tests required. There are also new terms to learn. For example, XSS (Xert strain score) is not the same as TSS (training stress score) although they are tracked for similar reasons to determine and prescribe training load (TL).