Hi! I was training with a volunteer coach from the cycling club before, but they’re not available anymore so I thought to give Xert a try.
I have a cycling holiday planned for mid March that will involve a lot of climbing up mountains. I’d like to maximize my fitness for that week. I currently have it set for March 16 event date at a progression rate of moderate 1, polar specificity, climber focus. The holiday is 16-23 March. I want to arrive ready for a full week of great riding, not burnt out and overtrained. Do the settings I’ve chosen make sense, or should I modify the adaptive training program to something else?
It is difficult to say not knowing your current training history but assuming the following you should do fine with your settings.
Loaded enough cycling history with power to generate a starting fitness signature.
Have established a base training load of at least one-star status.
Have selected the 120 Day Program option (blank calendar, day to day training guidance from XATA)
March 16th is 61 days out which will place you in Build phase of Xert’s 120 Day progression (45 days Base, 45 days Build, 30 days Peak with 1 week taper prior to event date).
I was doing a bunch of base training in November, ramping up “sweet spot” intervals and just zone 2. Nothing really harder than that. Then I got sick in early December and did 5 days off and then mostly zone 2 rides for the rest of the month.
This past week has been my first crack at some decent intensity for a while, somewhat guided by the XATA for the second half of the week. It says I’m currently in the build phase of the program. It recommended that I do a workout today, but I’ve had six days in a row (with three back to back 130+ XSS days) and slept quite poorly last night, so today is a rest day.
I’ll eventually check out the newbie guides. I just haven’t had time so far. I’m used to knowing my planned sessions in advance, the whole find out the day of thing is kind of stressful! Makes planning around work and such much more difficult.
Sorry meant to say Build phase which will include increasing intensity moving into Peak.
If not feeling particularly fresh on a day when Xert has you in blue, you can move the Freshness Feedback slider to the left to scale back recommendations for that day. Move back to neutral (0) when a return to normal recovery.
With XATA you are fully in control and can change duration as needed, be mindful of selections, take a day off, dial things back, modify your schedule, etc.
You are not bound by the default recommended workout which isn’t necessarily what you should do that day. You have choices. This will seem unnerving if accustomed to planned itineraries weeks in advance.
If you don’t have much time to investigate the docs and video tutorials, I suggest you at least take a look at my 120 day experiment on XATA with a blank calendar. Opened my eyes to a new way of training. Unbound, flexible, and effective.
@Mneszt is using the 120 Day Program with a selected Improvement Rate in play.
This option is the tried-and-true XATA based phased progression when training for an event (real or simply a date to prepare for).
FAI is a more ambitious endeavor by Xert that will appeal to a wider range of users with various training goals. FAI is in Beta and evolving with changes and frequent updates. IMO this is best utilized by those familiar with Xert who are willing to test, experiment, and provide feedback.
Certainly, newbies have valuable insights too. Just be prepared for updates that may change things without notice. The Beta is in flux.
This will seem unnerving if accustomed to planned itineraries weeks in advance.