Xert thinks I’m in need of recovery and I’m wondering how to get back to normal aside from taking a 4-5 days of doing nothing. I don’t feel particularly tired and Strava has me @ -5 form.
Hi Marc. Have a look at your last few days of activities and you’ll see that you have built up your Training Load (TL) quite quickly on a relative basis, even though it’s not that high. This will trigger the Recovery calculation. When TL increases quickly, Recovery Load rises quickly too and Xert will then suggest Recovery. Xert’s PMC can be more sensitive to higher-intensity training that other PMCs since XSS accounts for fatigue during workouts to a greater extent than do other methods. Conversely, if you do rides with lots of rest and breaks, XSS values from Xert will be much lower. If you feel better than what Xert is displaying, this can be the result of Xert not having all your data or that you can absorb training more easily. As TL increases, monitor RL and Form. If Form is in the red and yellow for an extended period, you may risk becoming overtrained. Periods of red and yellow are actually good and necessary for optimal improvement. HTH
Thanks for the explanation…I’m starting to get my head around the concept.
I had a follow up question concerning Peak Power and indoor trainers. Although my sub 700w trainer numbers seem to correlate with what I might expect on the road, it’s just about impossible to squeeze out my max power out of the saddle on a stationary bike. If all of my winter riding is indoors, does this mess up the PMC algorithm?
Only if you’re training your Peak Power!! :-). Peak Power doesn’t have a big influence on your power much beyond 120s isopower, constant efforts or so. It would likely have an influence at 700W for most humans, but unless this is your focus, I wouldn’t be too concerned about getting a precise and accurate PP. If you test out a few scenarios using the calculator, you’ll see how much influence it does have based on your signature.
Having said that, you may have to adjust your techique for sure, but you should be able to stand on your trainer (being careful not to fall over of course) and be able to put down some good watts.
Thank for the reply. I seem to max out at 1080W on the stationary trainer while on the road, the side to side sway puts me over 1200W. If is doesn’t have much influence on the data modeling then I won’t worry about it.