I have a bike with Favero assioma dual sided power meter pedals, a HR monitor and an original Wahoo Elemnt. No indoor trainer and no space for one either.
I have done a lot of hours this year and I’m not getting any stronger so I want to try something structured to try and improve FTP, go for more Strava segments, get faster etc.
Does this make Xert inappropriate for me and my current equipment?
I also like to ride at least 10 miles everyday, I am autistic and it’s the obsession for the streak of minimum 10 mile rides every single day that gets me out there on the bike so I want to keep this going for the time being. Would this skew Xert seeing me not having any rest days so won’t prescribe me anything intense or will it let me do an extremely easy ride instead of a day off?
I’m aware everyday isn’t optimal but I think I should still be able to improve with that frequency.
Lots of Xert users ride almost exclusively outdoors especially in season.
Power data is all you need. HR, of course, is useful and the combination supports HRDM (heart rate derived metrics) if you happen to ride with HR only on some days. For example, on a bike without your Favero pedals.
From what you describe I’d go with XATA Continuous as your program type and vary the Focus (Athlete Type) from time to time. That means the calendar will be blank and recommendations will be linked to your calculated form and recovery load.
You can continue to maintain your minimum 10 mile/day goal.
What matters most for adaptive training advice is how much strain you accumulate per hour.
For best results you want to vary your Trainiing Load (TL) by increasing time in the saddle or strain per hour or both.
A recovery ride would be a very easy spin. Less than 45 XSS per hour.
A Difficult ride would require enough HIT intervals (time >TP) to push you above 75 XSS per hour.
This doesn’t mean you need to reach 4 status stars to use Xert.
2-3 stars TL will work fine with a mix of 1-3+ diamond workout activities.
You’ll miss out on some Xert features lke SMART intervals indoors and Magic Buckets outdoors, but you can still use the Magic Buckets Workout Generator to create simple workouts to download to your Wahoo unit. Or glance at the workout parameters and roughly execute those intervals during a ride.
For example, insert 6-10 intervals during a ride of approximately X watts for approximately X seconds as terrain and traffic allow. The more spaced out those intervals (easy pedaling in between) the lower the Difficulty score. Bunch them together with minimal recoveries and you’ll reach 3-diamond level.
A higher difficulty score at sufficient duration will trigger your calculated form to go red/v. tired. If that extends into the next day recovery/rest will be recomended. If yellow/tired endurance level will be ecommended.
On endurance days try to keep watts below LTP.
On rest days pedal super easy for 10 miles.
Occasionally stomp on your pedals for at least 5-7 seconds to establish Peak Power (PP).
Or try executing a sprint workout now and then. E.g., three or more max efforts for 20 seconds with plenty of rest in between. Repeat until you start to fail them. Then ride home easy.
Thanks for the detailed explanation, I have done basically what you said anyway with the XATA Continuous, I did try the suggested recovery ride it gave me today which downloaded to my wahoo for me to follow.
I think maybe Xert might be a little too advanced for me currently there is a lot to take in I just want something to say do this today and I’ll do it the best I can taking outdoors into account. It also seems to get the most from Xert I would need to buy a garmin.
If you have an Android phone (or buy one used; no cell plan needed) you could mount the phone on your handlebar to run Magic Buckets (XMB) using EBC.
XMB fetches the daily dose of XSS (low/high/peak) when you start an activity on EBC. No need to select a workout. Just swipe to XMB page views and ride.
You’d get HIT when intervals are recommended and LIT when endurance is the goal for the day. During HIT days you can follow XMB guidelines to complete the intervals. On LIT or recovery days the rainbow gauge is all you need glance at. The Endurance layout tells you how much time you’re spending in 75-100% LTP “zone”. (Z2 ride)
The downside is a phone isn’t so practical as a head unit when it rains. If rain or shine is a major concern switching to a Garmin Edge makes more sense.
Thanks again, I’ve fiddled with the settings and tried using goal rather than continuous as it kept just giving me recovery rides. I’m going to follow it for the trial period and see how I feel. I think the daily workouts downloaded to my old wahoo is probably good enough tbh. I love my wahoo so would probably buy a newer one of those rather than a garmin so I will probably never get to use magic buckets
That describes XMB to a T.
XMB works with XATA or XFAI program types.
Hopefully you’ll be able to try it during your trial.
One issue you may run into is Endurance/Recovery days need a course that lends itself to easy pedaling. If surrounded by hills that can be a problem if you don’t have gears to keep it easy.
The advisor should recommend recovery the next day if training load (low/high/peak) was sufficient to warrant that.
Post a desktop-view screenshot of your Planner showing current and past week.
How much historical data is loaded? (up to 90 days allowed on a trial)
Does that history include some activities with moments of maximal effort?
I’m not sure which workouts are available during a trial.
With an XFAI goal you’ll need to see what happens as you ride 7 days/week and how often the Adapt Forecast red dot warning appears. If so, investigate why by hovering over any magenta matchsticks on the forecast chart.
Your are definitely right about the hills thing as it is hilly round here but the frame on my carbon road bike is cracked so my riding this year has been on my 15 year old hard tail mountain bike which currently has the original triple chainset so I can go to a really easy gear and go extremely slowly! This will change for something more modern soon but atm it’s 3x 9 speed.
I can’t do a screenshot on desktop atm because I’m at work but I gave it my Strava data which is everything I’ve done. I started minimum 10 miles everyday January 1st so it’s around day 290 today, I average just over 100 miles a week sometimes more. I only got a power meter a few weeks ago so on Sunday I did do a very short hard effort to see what the power said but on Monday and Tuesday it gave me 40 minutes 74-90 watts or something which is so hard to do lol
my 290 days have been majority zone 2 I’m conditioned to ride loads I feel super fresh so I want it to up what I’m doing not down.
Using the goal program I set a certain wattage increase on 3 minute power by 1st May and so far it’s been ok.
If I didn’t want to get a Garmin, I’d still use Xert as it is one of the only platforms that properly takes into account outside rides of whatever intensity you choose to do. If it was me I’d take a note of the length and type of workout Xert recommended then just try and do it as closely as you can outside. The beauty of Xert is that it takes into account what you’ve actually done not what you were meant to do.
To be honest I wasn’t really sure what people were talking about with magic buckets so I watched a video on it, long story short I bought a garmin and have been enjoying magic buckets all week
I really didn’t want to let my wahoo elemnt go but I’m glad I did now.
I think Xert is the most appropriate for those that don’t ride on the trainer. Magic buckets is the reason I use Xert.. it makes riding outdoors whether on the road/gravel/MTB possible across any terrain ensuring you’re getting the right time in different zones.
Also there is a basic workout library if you wanted to use easier to use outdoor workouts. The recommended workouts are pretty complicated usually.
Magic buckets helps you use real segments for training grounds
