Red Star(t)

I did not train for a while, so my Training load is low and recovery load high, therefore continous red star is something I dont care about. I suppose, that as my CTL or TL(speaking in xert words) will grow and with updating my fitness signature outdoor, when weather allows, I will get freshness to normal number and that this could happen in a month doing just 4 hours a week. Am I correct? Or should I change starting training load in profile?
And one thing interested me, when I listen to podcast no 7 now, where Armando said that yellow star comming from high intensity training and read from peak intensity. Does it mean that doing endurance, long ride will end up with maximally blue start, saying me, that another endurance rides can follow up. It must be wrong, right?

Whether or not should change your starting TL, depends on what you think would (have been) a good number for Xert to start with. Red stars mean your overall form <= -40% of your TL.

I wouldn’t think it to be normal if you continue to show red, while doing nothing. You could adjust starting TL, or use the freshness slider to tell Xert you’re less tired than it thinks you are.

I suggest you file a support request (support@xertonline.com) to verify your current settings are valid. Something seems amiss.

I think this may be one of the strengths of Xert. We really try to help athletes identify when they’re at risk of overtraining. If you were off the bike for some time without any other training, then I would recommend starting slow for a few weeks before resuming training at your typical training hours. You can slightly override the system by using the freshness feedback slider as well.

See the chart posted here to see a diagram of your form is determined by looking at TL/RL across multiple dimensions (low, high, and peak).

If I annotate this chart, this is conceptually what is happening… for all following points, we’re going to assume we’re starting at the white dot. When you recover/dont train, both low and high/peak freshness increase (red/brown line), which, if allowed to continue long enough will place you into detraining. When you perform endurance training (black arrow), your high/peak form are increasing meanwhile your low form decreases, moving you up and to the left. How far left you go depends on your TL and the total low XSS achieved from the training. Finally, HIIT training (purple arrow) results in decreased high/peak AND decreased low form, shifting your form left AND down. Hope this helps!

Hello Scott,
If I understand correctly after long endurance ride, or 2 subsequent shorter rides I could come to red star too just with low form training. And when having red star my low form would be decreased and needed to rest. But my high+peak form should be increased, so could I go for HIIT training?
Sorry I am not physican, so just learning from you.

About my red star freshness I thought, that its quite normal to have it for longer period (3-6 weeks) as there is no training load built and every training will put me in red number with increased recovery load. I was just doing 4 hours/week and it did not look much, but I might take it easier and more listen to body

You’re 100% correct on the first half. But the last little bit isn’t quite correct… If you notice on the chart, you can reach Red status with only LOW strain. This doesn’t mean you can add high/peak training into the mix, since you have to go THROUGH low system to get to high/peak system. And it’s important to always listen to your body. Xert tries to calculate how you might feel, but ultimately you need to remember that Xert only knows what you tell it, so it doesn’t know about other stressors (sleep, work, etc) and you may need to account for that yourself. Hope that helps!