I am pretty new to cycling and decided to hire a coach from November until March of this year. I am a little confused about setting up my workouts and was looking for a bit of help. I did an FTP test through Zwift in November, and my FTP was 265, based on this ftp I was given a program to use 5 days a week. Now that my training is done, the TP calculated using XERT from November of last year until now is 237 and the LTP is 149. If I try to use any of the training programs provided through Xert based on these numbers, it is way too easy. What should I do?
Do I set TP at 265 with no decay? Do I ty a breakthrough test based on the 237 TP that xert gave me and see what happens? I would love to use these training programs but the numbers are off right now. Any feedback or advice is appreciated.
While you could adjust your signature, I’d suggest riding a BT (breakthrough) workout on your smart trainer as the quickest way to validate your signature.
The best time to tackle a BT workout is when you are feeling especially fresh (blue/green) such as after a rest day or low intensity days. Search the workout library for “breakthrough” and pick one. Ride it in Slope mode on EBC using gears and cadence to hit targets and exceed them where you are able (without blowing up). The most important section is the wind up to a sprint effort as MPA is drawn down. Right before you are about to collapse, stand and spin to high rpm and try to go all out for 5-7secs or longer.
No Decay setting is useful for long periods when you don’t expect to challenge yourself much.
Optimal Decay ensures more BT’s more often especially with sufficient training load (ex. 3+ stars) and a desire to push yourself on high intensity days with BT potential workouts or hardness level workouts or simply group rides with similar efforts (ZRL or IRL).
Fully agree with @ridgerider2 especially re doing it in slope mode and exceeding targets. If you’ve not had a breakthrough since November and have been training a lot, it’s possible your TP is (quite a bit) above 265, so you’ll need to go much harder (or longer) than the workout suggests to truly reach failure. It’s likely down at 237 now due to decay, so you can aim for at least 10% above whatever the workout suggests (if you follow one).
It’s also worth doing a sprint when fresh on a separate day, ideally outdoors, to get a PP figure that’s broadly right.
Of course Xert is different to a ramp test, so you may have higher or lower HIE than average which will lead to lower or higher TP (relatively) respectively, so it’s not directly comparable… curious where it ends up!
By default EBC runs workouts in AUTO mode (at bottom of screen) but when you tap AUTO you can select other modes such as Slope.
You can also adjust slope to a percent that you are comfortable with pedaling on your trainer depending on the gears and cadence you want to use to hit targets.
Looks like a great start to me.
TL (training load) is the overriding factor to improvement over time.
Continuous is similar to Build phase in a progression and will recommend a variety of workouts around your selected athlete type (dependent on predicted form for the day).
You can switch things up by changing athlete type either under Goals or on-the-fly using Filter (ex, duration or focus).
Also consider learning how to ride to focus outdoors using some Xert data fields on your Garmin.
Thanks for your insight. I will do the under pressure breakthrough workout tomorrow and wanted to make sure I get it correctly. Should I use slope mode for the entire workout or just during the BT attempts? Should I increase the workout by 10% to make it more challenging? Does slope mode allow me to push past the target numbers? I am so sorry if I sound ignorant on the topic; I’ve only been cycling for two years and want to make sure I get this right. I will post my results for you to see.
" Additionally, if you are using SLOPE mode for a breakthrough effort, you can continue pushing until you truly reach a point of failure, even if that point is beyond when an interval ‘ends’. When using AUTO mode, the interval will end exactly when it’s told to, even if you haven’t been able to fully express your fitness signature, or if you have even more to give."
Yes, slope mode just puts you in charge of the power - both level and duration… just like riding outside. So you can use the ‘workout’ as a rough guide… and you don’t have to wait till the final sprint to hit the breakthrough (eg if you go too hard too early) since Xert just looks at what you do (not what your workout said you’d do)… you just want to make sure you reach failure… it really doesn’t matter whether you use a workout or not, but some like the structure and having an indication of power and what’s to come
I managed to get a gold breakthrough, but I had more in the tank; I will have to do this again to get the numbers correct. I was afraid if I’ll use slope mode for the entire workout, I might be too ambitious at the start and not be able to finish. Next time I’ll use the current TP and maybe add 5 or 10 %, thoughts?
I’d stick with Slope mode for BT workouts. It is a learned skill you’ll get better at as you experiment with different BT workouts and determine your favorite(s).
I typically start out in AUTO mode for the warm-up but switch to Slope before any TP intervals (yellow to red).
The main advantage is you can exceed targets by watts or duration when you feel up to it. Plus, you can really go all out on sprint efforts to failure. You don’t want trainer control capping the watts or ending the interval when you have more to give.
OTOH if you collapse before the end of an interval that’s fine too because you generated a maximal effort under fatigue – expressing your signature.
I’ve only been using Xert for a couple of months so take it for what it’s worth, but after some experimentation I’ve found that I prefer to do my breakthrough workouts outside. I tend to push much harder on a local segment or up a hill on my favorite loop. My motivation is just higher when I’m outside going full gas, attacking on a fast group ride, or trying to beat my PRs.
Anyhow, this is what works for me. I tried structuring breakthrough workouts at first using slope mode and percentage of MPA on the trainer, but lately I just pick a few days per month that I feel really fresh, roll out the door with no particular plan, and just go absolutely HAM. I seem to get some sort of breakthrough every time I do this and it’s way more fun than sitting on an indoor trainer with a fan blasting you in the face.
I hear you, brother, I am in Toronto, and yesterday it was minus 14! Thanks for the feedback; I appreciate it! Once it gets warm, I will take my training outdoors and push it.
