Hi all. Training Advisor is suggesting the following
Does this mean that it wants me to do intervals of ~48 mins at 229w ? OR accumulate ~48 mins, say 3 x 16 at 229w?
Thanks
Hi Hernan,
Great question! The focus type indicates where on the Power Duration curve you should be working. In this case, that happens to be your ~48 min power.
Therefore, I would read this as âwork at/near your 48 min power (229W) until you accumulate approximately 262 XSSâ. You donât necessarily need some form of structured intervals, but you easily could do some form of 4x10, 3x15 etc. if youâd like.
Keep in mind that if you were to do all 262 XSS, you would have a surplus of 242, so you likely wouldnât need to do all 262 
Hope this helps a bit!
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That is one of the best explanations I have seen of probably the most commonly asked question about Xert.
However, why is it suggesting 262 XSS when that will give a massive surplus? Indeed 262 XSS a in one session is a pretty big effort anyway.
The recommended XSS considers the surplus/deficit plus what you typically do on a particular day of week.
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Iâm going to hijack this thread a little, Iâm trying to calibrate my head to working out in the xert way. The training advisor suggested interval targets for 3hr hour, 297w
I went for a ride, warmed up for 15 mins then held average 300w for 50mins and ended up with a focus of near enough 1hr
@ManofSteele Would doing 3x15min @ 297w have resulted in the 3hr power focus?
Also looking at the workout creator it would be helpful to see the focus of the workout being created in a time (number) and not just âenduranceâ
The workout recommendations are simply looking to approximately match the total XSS and focus duration.
In my (personal) opinion, endurance rides are (sort of) an outlier simply because focus duration becomes less important once you get beyond 20 min power - this is because the contribution to power outputs less than your 20 min power is almost 100% low XSS. What I usually do when recommended focus is > 20 min power is to simply accumulate XSS below LTP. I start trying to match the training recommendations a little closer once the focus gets into the sub 20:00 focus. Hope that makes sense/helps!
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@ManofSteele Hello Scott, Your first answer made total sense to me until I read your 2nd/last answer.
1st you recommended to gather XSS at the focus time recommended by the ATA, which in the screenshot here is at 49min, which should be higher than his TP (1 hour) and therefore way higher than his LTP.
Also here I wonder if thats even theoretical possible. 262 XSS at a power slightly above TP should take more than 2h of riding to achieve. Is that realistic to ride >2h above TP?
2nd you say for endurance just gather XSS at below LTP.
That at least sounds doable.
So are this not two fundamentally different things? Riding above TP versus riding below LTP?
I am pretty sure it feels very different if I´d do it.
Obviousely I still don´t understand the ATA suggestions. And I have the feeling I am not the only one.
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As @ManofSteele mentions the last line in XATA is a factor in the advice (which you may choose to ignore for today). Ex. "Advice is based on your recent activities performed on Mondays as of 11:59 pm
If the pacer needle is already pointing up and you have a surplus, youâve got options.
When you do have the time available, go for it. If not, you can always scale things back.
Best way to use the Advisor is to consider all the components on the page. That includes your star status color (calculated freshness), todayâs workout target, the pacer needle position, summary text, and recommendations.
If calculated freshness isnât accurate, adjust the slider and recommendations will change.
Next take a look at the top four workouts on the recommended list. (Automatic randomly selects from this list.)
You can then decide what youâd like to do today depending on how much time you have (Filter by Duration will change the list), and whether you plan to ride indoors or out.
If outdoors the top four workouts may include a pattern you can strive for depending on the routeâs terrain. The effort doesnât have to match exactly. Or simply ride with focus in mind.
To understand how you can ride to a focus duration outdoors, watch Scottâs YT video â
Ride to Xertâs Focus Metric with Scott - YouTube
Plus as @ManofSteele says Endurance rides can simply be low intensity freerides.
IOW XATA is not a literal prescription but a set of guidelines to consider each day.
You decide where to take things from there.
Xertâs flexible approach is so much better than following a populated calendar plan.
Reference:
Understanding âFocusâ and how to use it â Xert (baronbiosys.com)
Xert Adaptive Training Advisor â Xert (baronbiosys.com)
Beginnerâs Guide: Using the Xert Adaptive Training Advisor â Xert (baronbiosys.com)
Training with the Xert Adaptive Training Advisor â Xert (baronbiosys.com)
Keep in mind TP is sorta one hour power just like FTP is 40-70 min power (original study).
Also TP and FTP arenât the same thing due to different testing methods and algorithms. They may be close but never have to match.
You are using the numbers as benchmarks to gauge your training and determine strain levels for intervals.
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No, he says in fact two contradicting things:
Therefore, I would read this as âwork at/near your 48 min power (229W) until you accumulate approximately 262 XSSâ.
And 2.
What I usually do when recommended focus is > 20 min power is to simply accumulate XSS below LTP
âWorking at 48min powerâ (thats above TP) versus âstay below LTPâ are very different things from all I know.
@ManofSteele Which of the two is right please?
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Hi @Beutelfuchs ,
I can see your point⌠sorry for the confusion. The general way to interpret the advice is as I mentioned (accumulate XSS at/near the recommended power). I think the confusion comes because I was saying how I personally prefer to do rides like this when a relatively longer focus is recommended. Thatâs mostly because I donât often do many long, just above threshold power intervals. I try to stay a bit more polarized in my training.
Remember at the end of the day that Xert is going to adapt to whatever you end up doing, so if you do low intensity, sub-LTP riding one day, youâll still be recommended HIIT the next day (most likely). And if you ride a bit harder (at a lower focus) than recommended, youâll be recommended endurance rides as you recover. Hope that makes sense!
Hi @ManofSteele Thank you, that indeed clarifies my doubt.
Part of my confusion was also that the ATA screenshot of the OP stated âEnduranceâ at â48min Focusâ (so above TP). But it seems XERT considers all focus >20min as âEnduranceâ in contrast to other definitions out there, which often keep endurance to lower powers, like 55âŚ75% FTP or similar.
Correct. We use > 20:00 focus as general endurance since the vast majority of XSS accumulated at powers less than 20 min power are almost exclusively low XSS, with very little High/Peak XSS. Therefore, Focus is more helpful/meaningful at focus durations below 20 min power (which is where the focus of just about any race, short of RAAM or some other ultra-mega-endurance race ).
The problem with using zones based on fixed percentages of (F)TP is that not everyone behaves identically below threshold. There is a lot of current research going on into this with DFA alpha1 that shows that the aerobic threshold appears to occur at different %'s of FTP and therefore, a 1-size-fits-all approach may not be appropriate. This is again where Xert does stand apart, as we provide a reasonable estimate of where that aerobic threshold might be through the LTP metric. Thatâs not to say itâs exactly perfect for everyone, but its a good starting point of the upper limit of your easy riding (Seiler Zone 1) should be done. Hope that makes sense & helps!
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Indeed it does. Thanks a lot Scott!