I haven’t seen this mentioned before but I have been using Xert for 5 months now and I’ve settled into a certain way on how i record my indoor activities. It’s a concept I’m very happy with and wonder if others do the same.
I record all my indoor virtual rides activities via IQ remote player on the Garmin head unit. I also do all my Xert workouts via IQ remote player while on Zwift. I don’t upload anything via Zwift to strava or garmin. All info is uploaded from Garmin head unit to Xert and on to Strava. What you get when you do this is all power and heart rate data and training load and effect from Garmin. Garmin is keeping track of how productive your training load is and Xert is doing the same.
How you do this is start a workout via the Garmin IQ remote player on the head unit but instead of starting workout press do workout later as if your where doing an outdoor ride. This will record your data via Zwift whether its a race or Zwift workout or group rides then save it when finished. What will happen here is the activity will be recorded as what ever the workout was meant to be, but you can edit it after in Garmin and Strava. What you don’t get is any of the gps and segment info from Zwift or speed or distance from Garmin but you’ll have this on Strava. What you do get is a recorded history of your training load and effect on Garmin and Xert. To me this is all that matters. What you can’t do is use overlay features on PC when doing this because for some reason the Garmin head unit makes it glitchy, having said that you can not get training effect in Garmin from a 3rd party app, not from Zwift, or Xert mobile app etc. Why do I do this … I like to know if my training load was productive, Garmin has an interesting way of doing this via Firstbeats I think it called, which will only work via a Garmin device.
I’m very addicted to this method and I’ve been doing it for 4 months now.
Happy to hear peoples thought on this.
I use my Forerunner (745 at the moment) to record everything. It goes from there to Garmin to Xert and some other platforms like Sporttracks. I tend to delete my Strava account every once in a while but then I open a new one to try something someone recommends
No matter if I use Xert IQ on the Edge or Xert EBC on Android or whatever else to control the trainer, I record it with the watch and discard all other data at the end of the ride once the upload to connect got through and the data looks ok.
Same outdoors, I use the Edge to view data and maps and whatever I want but the recording that actually gets saved is always done by the watch. Outdoors I usually have the Edge set to autostop ‘on’ to get relevant avg driving speed (non racing) but the watch is set to autostop ‘off’ to record the real heart rate data to get the most relevant training load and effect and also record all the data, time and moving time can then always be sorted out later offline.
The recording is always done by the same watch that also records walks and runs and swims and whatever else I might do and keeps track of all of it.
I only connect the watch to power (Neo), cadence (crank sensor) and heart rate (strap) indoors, so no fake distance or fake speed that is wrong anyway since I neither moved far nor fast but not at all.
I guess everyone does things the way they like for the reasons that are most important to them. It’s nice to see some other perspectives and ideas.
Can see the value of recording in garmin and I actually always record in garmin as well as whatever other app I’m using (Zwift, Xert), in case one crashes… plus Zwift doesn’t record time warming up in the starting pen
I assume you’re using the garmin remote player to see MPA in real time? If so, you could also try the Xert garmin data fields for your purposes. The main downside I see with the garmin player are that your garmin edge device is basically locked so you can’t see any other screens or access the maps (outside)… using a data field means you just use the edge like normal and can access other functions still. Some users (including me) also have an issue that the garmin player disconnects all sensors every time you use it, so I don’t bother with it anymore
Thanks for the feedback guys much appreciated I’ve posted a few images just to give you an idea what I’m capturing during a race or workout from xert when recording it from the remote player
Does this not end up uploading duplicate activities?
My main purpose to using remote player on the garmin is to record training status from garmin image below. If don’t do this for xert workouts it doesn’t work. Remote player shows HR, RPM, speed, MPA, XSS and focus. I haven’t felt like i missing any other field but this is a personal preference.
Garmin training effect this is why I record my activities like I do.
Most people will not get the training status from garmin because they don’t know how and others probably don’t care. @idefix gets all this data from his garmin watch which is very cool that he can get power data as well plus other activities other than cycling. For me I like to know if my training was productive and whether I’m at optimal load. Like a cross reference between xert and garmin data.
I don’t get those garmin metrics - presumably my device is too old
My point was actually if you just want to record a ride (not a workout) in garmin eg to get the garmin metrics, you don’t need to use the Xert garmin player (though you can of course). Just connect your powermeter to your garmin and record the ride as normal with your garmin (though you may want to use / set up an ‘indoor’ profile with gps off). And, if you want to see MPA eg during a race, you could use the Xert MPA and power data field. It can be sized quite small so you can have it in screen with HR, cadence, time, plus any other Xert data fields you want. Some of those metrics are not visible in the player and are quite insightful (focus, time to exhaustion). And you can then still use your garmin as usual (mapping, laps function) if you want, and you won’t have to reconnect sensors every time you ride
Do any of you use the Garmin training metrics along with Xert? I find that Garmin tells me I’m unproductive while Xert is telling me to keep adding on the activities.
Garmin will have more rest time prescribed as well, telling me to take a day or two off while Xert prescribes an endurance activity.
Wish Xert would have a Garmin widget I could use instead?
If you want to be productive in garmin you need to keep the dotted line topped up in all 3 areas. This may not be possible if you are in a let’s say in base period of your training, like I am here. Try not to be disheartened it doesn’t know your sport, plans or where you’re at in your training.
Mine always seems to say I’m doing too much HIIT. In general my HR trends higher than others with similar fitness levels. My heart rate zone is always about 10 points higher than the corresponding power zone.
Not getting disheartened just wish things lined up because I do feel productive
Basically xert and garmin training load do not work hand in hand. You may very well be productive but garmin basically doesn’t understand the context of your training.
I took it as generic commentary, as Garmin now do the calculations on the Connect platform instead of the device -
Can I Get Training Effect from Third Party Activities?
You can now see training effect when you upload third party activities from apps such as Zwift, Concept2, etc. Training effect will update when you have a training status capable device associated with your account
In my past experience you need to record your third party app activity via garmin device with HR monitor and upload via garmin device. Never seen training effect work via zwift upload. I guess thats the update your talking about and is supposed to happen.
You uploaded your activity to Garmin Connect from TrainerRoad or Zwift.
Your primary training device synced and saw the new activity.
The primary training device calculated the metrics.
The primary training device synced with garmin connect.
So, as you see, there were a lot of steps as the calculations were done on your device, not by Garmin Connect. If you set your Garmin Edge as our primary device and it was off, then you would not get the training effect until you turned it on again…
Has this been resolved? I saw my first issue today where I uploaded an Xert .FIT file to Garmin Connect today and it had all the heart rate and power data, but no exercise load was imputed. The activity was through the iOS EBC app, not a native Garmin device.
