Hi- I’m new to Xert and I’m still figuring things out. I uploaded this years training and here is my current fitness signature:
184 W Threshold Power, 115 Low Threshold Power
27.6 High Intensity Energy, 1,156 Peak Power, 272- 5 Minute Power
Couple of questions that I’m curious about-
Am I correct in saying that the most important thing that I can do in order to get ready for an event in the end of April would be to raise my LTP?
115 seems very low to be riding at but it also might be an indication of my aerobic system being poor?
To raise the LTP the easiest plan is to spend a lot of time riding at/around the LTP?
Not any longer effort fitness test. Only short max effort hill climbs of aruond 40 seconds over the past several months. That might lead to the TP being too low. I’ll try some longer efforts (aruond 8 min or so) next week at max effort to see how it changes things up.
I think that the PP is actually pretty accurate.
Thanks for the input!
Sounds like you primarily ride outdoors rather than using a smart trainer on a regular basis.
With a trainer you can select one of the BT workouts to validate your signature.
If riding outdoors you should take a look at the BT workouts to understand the type of efforts you need to perform during a ride to sample your power curve and dial in your signature.
Another option is a group ride that includes much of the same (some hammering at various % above FTP plus an all out sprint for 5-7 secs).
Thanks. Winter is on the way so I’m switching over to more indoor riding. I’ll give one a try- any better suggestions than Xert Fitness Test for Breakthrough Version 3?
I like that one but worth doing without trainer control (slope or resistance mode) despite what the workout description says (they should really update that)… if your signature is out by a bit, you can run out of time / ride to the end of the last ramp step, and still have something left in the tank I.e. you’ll get a BT but not fully reflect your fitness
Other tip is that if you’re finding the last ramp step too easy after a few minutes, you should really increase the intensity, otherwise you’re in for a long painful interval…
You should try them all over time and see which ones work best for you.
It helps to click on the title and review the details in Workout Designer.
They vary in approach working off TP, PP, and/or MMP.
I like BT - Under Pressure with trainer control even though it suggests not to do that.
It also helped me to add notes to the activity so I could review my notes before tackling the same workout the next time.
If you finish one and think “well that wasn’t so bad” you need to try harder the next time or switch to slope mode and force the issue.
Sprints should be all out jumps at the maximum rpm you can muster.
The Workout Designer has evolved and now includes the ability to fine tune intervals to include mode changes. I thought at least one of the BT workouts slips into slope mode automatically, but I don’t see any setup that way. Maybe it’s just my legs.
Mission Accomplished- Completed the workout and it went fairly well. The 1st set of ramp up intervals went great and the last set was fine until the last high wattage minute. Definitely easier to do high wattage on the road than on the trainer for me.
Updated Numbers from workout:
Thanks for the info! I’ll give the Under Pressure a shot next week. I think that one or 2 more BT workouts on the trainer and my numbers should have enough information to be accurate.
1112 PP, 30 HIE and 209 TP surely is possible, but I’d argue that the average (!) person has lower HIE and higher TP in that scenario.
Just one more thing to be sure we’re on the same page: A maximal effort that really represents ALL you can do should not feel “hard” and you should not feel “done” afterwards.
You should think the end is near and that it is impossible to replicate that effort ever again
