I’ve posted about this before but I still don’t get it.
I’ve just returned from 10 days or so off and thought I’d just feed into the planner the recommended workouts. I’m on slow ramp rate and just starting base phase with a Climber rider type and obviously, as a result of the time off, I’m behind on my XSS. Having said that, the workouts recommended for my first week back would absolutely crush me. I put a limit of 1.25 hrs for the workouts because I need an extra 15 mins on top of the time to warm up properly. The workouts recommended were in order
Tues & Wed - 2 x VO2max workouts (Severe Domain)
Thurs & Friday - 2 x Threshold workouts (Mixture Hard & Severe Domain)
Sat 1 x VO2 max workout (Severe Domain)
Sunday - at last an easier day - 1 xTempo workout!!!
Don’t get me wrong I think Xert is a great platform & system but surely something isn’t right here with either the system or me.
Any thoughts anyone
What are you complaining about. Only 3 VO2 and 2 Thresholds workouts in a week. HTFU
As @havella said, given you can only do 75 minutes a day and it thinks you need to get a lot of XSS in that is the only way. Just do what you would normally and it will get back on track in a few days.
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I think the problem is that you’re at 3 stars so the amount of XSS that you need on a daily basis is pretty high at 75+ and given that you’re trying to cram that into 1 hour and 15 minutes, it’s not surprising that the workouts are tough.
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After a break I ignore the recommended workouts and just go to “endurance” rides and build back that way. Once I feel “normal” I start to use the suggested workouts by athlete type. There are limits to what Xert can do.
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You can manually add some endurance rides in. To explain why you’re seeing these recommendations (perhaps something we can improve in future iterations of the model)… The system is going to assign a lot of HIIT workouts because your high/peak form is going to be very, very high after 10 days off.
I’m coming off something nasty (been off the bike since last Wednesday) and thought this would make a great topic for a blog post - returning to the bike after some off time.
Did you have some form of routine before you were off? In my case, I tended to do harder workouts on Mon/Th and easier rides on Tu/Wed/Fri then a longer ride on Saturday. As I ease back into things, I’ll try and resume my schedule, rather than jumping into a few repeated days of HIIT.
Did you just set a TED to August 16 or earlier to start a progression?
Since you’re already at 3 stars you have sufficient TL to take things in whatever direction you want. As others have mentioned jumping back in at 3 stars level and restricting to 75 minutes/day will create a math problem. 
If coming back from “10 days or so off” you should ease back into it before considering XATA.
Are the activities on 10,12,15,16,17, and 18 considered as days off? 
Is the pacer needle in the red or did you lower IR?
I don’t recognize many of the workouts. Did you import them, create modified copies, or do you belong to a coaching group?
Yes coach😂
The thing about the Planner is you can always change things depending on results and how you feel each day. It’s more a what-if tool with some forethought applied rather than click and stick. See the Xert Academy videos (Improve Series) for best way to use the Planner.
Each workout can be viewed in Workout Designer to determine strain profile and classification before you select it. Note the XSS ratio and Focus plus your signature applied to indicate interval watts and predicted difficulty/fatigue (shaded portion and MPA drawdown).
I recognize the Tue entry (SMART - Good Times/Bad Times) from the Standard library folder. Assuming it’s the 3.5 version that means 95% low intensity XSS with work intervals primarily at or below TP. IE a “hard endurance” workout you should be able to complete at 3 stars status.
All intervals are tied to your signature including cooldown/warm-up and the RIBs are at walk-in-the-park levels well below LTP.
You know your physiology best, but I don’t see need for an extra 15 min warm-up. The two HIE spikes are on the low end of the spectrum (150 XSSR@30 secs). You are 14 minutes in before the first work interval. While 8 minutes long it’s not at traditional VO2max levels. The third and fourth intervals are easier. That’s typical of most Xert curated workouts found in the Standard folder.
OTOH if the recommendation was the 4.5 version (unlikely), that gets tougher quickly as you can see by this chart profile.
The Wed workout appears to be a mod of a Seiler 4x8 set to an easier 120 XSSR. Assuming your signature is dialed in that shouldn’t crush you by design either. There is a slight hard start (orange, not red), then low-level VO2max watts (yellow@TP).
While I dislike VO2max workouts I wouldn’t describe this as “Severe Domain”.
It may be uncomfortable for me, but I might select it if the alternates were worse.
Both of the recommended workouts qualify as “endurance” in Xert’s model (Focus ~20.00 minutes and higher) especially for someone who has reached 3 stars TL. Neither are the killer VO2max efforts you may have assumed.
I cannot determine specs for the other workouts since I can’t find them. In any case the Workout Designer chart will reflect your signature applied with specs shown. Unless intervals go deep into red for too long you may be surprised how well you do. I can tell by viewing details ahead of time if a workout will be iffy or risky. I’ll select an alternate if not up to the challenge. You can make that decision at the last minute regardless of what’s scheduled on the Planner.
If you do something different the planned entry disappears and XATA adapts to whatever you decide to do. That means you should re-check recommendations the next day since conditions have changed. That’s one reason many of us don’t populate the Planner unless we have specific goals in mind for next week (rain or shine). The progression logic works fine with day-to-day choices.
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I think this is the answer. I too have a three star TL and mine will almost always suggest a three hour endurance ride on a yellow star day if the filter is off. If, however, I filter to an hour or an hour and fifteen minutes, then I get the same exact results as @carytb.
For instance, I just finished a VO2 workout today and without filters the system suggests Lucy Sky Diamonds - 180 Minute for tomorrow. However, if I filter to 1.25 hours then hit the auto-suggest button I get Threshold @105% - 4x8 minute. And this is with my goal set to Maintenance. I’m not even trying to increase my TL at this point.
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