Trust the system? Forecast AI gone nuts?

Training
1

I need advice, should I abandon ASAP the training plan that Forecast AI generated for me or should I grow a pair?

Are those High and Peak requirements even achievable? If so what workouts should i do? 3 or 4 Ronnestad in a row?

The program ramps up , demand is increasing from 30/10 in February to 70/20 in September (i guess it makes sense), but that high stress makes sense? Whtat is the max one should do in one workout?

30-01
30-02
70-01
70-02

BTW, autogen is unable to generate those workouts…

Autogen

Ty for the advice.

2

That’s some big numbers.
What is your current training load and what is the program?

3

My current CTL is 110, and the program is Barry Roubaix 100mi (Mixed Puncheur
4.2 Minute Power with 45% Specificity).

Forgot to mention IA planned those workouts twice a week!

4

If you have a 110 training load you sound like are pretty training already. I looked back thrrough my own training history and the only times I’ve have numbers like that when after coming back from severe injuries and lost a lot of fitness. Have you ever had any previous rides that had that amount of HIE?
I had a looked at Barry Roubaix and it looks like a crazy event, it must need crazy training!

If there aren’t any workouts to fit the training demand, maybe you can try our the Magic Buckets app and build it on the go.

Good luck!

5

I’d suggest putting in a support ticket. Workout with high of 70 is insane unless you are part of the pro Peloton. I thought the ones I’ve gotten over 15 were crazy but at least at the upper end of possibility.

1 Like
6

Yeah those are big boy numbers for that mixed puncheur screenshot you posted! I would go back and take a look at the limits you put in place for Xert before generating that training plan. Specifically, do you have any limitation set for the number of hours per week? Did you change any of the other default settings on the Choose a Program page?

It would be interesting if you could post some more details on the program. My own experience is that if I set an ambitious goal without limiting those program parameters, then Xert will generate training plans that eventually has me training like the pro cyclist I will never be…

Workouts with about 30 XSS in the high bucket and 10-12 XSS in the peak bucket are fine once or twice per week, although that’s obviously a very personal preference. I have a hard time comprehending a session with 70 in the high bucket, though.

7

Not necessarily a direct answer, but thought I’d chime in here as well. Might be TMI, but hopefully it helps explain some of the tremendous intricacies of the system!

The High/Peak XSS recommended can depend on numerous factors, including:

  1. Available Training Time - Xert first considers how much time you have to train. The more time you have to train, the more XSS you can accumulate during the training (obviously!)
  2. XSS Per Hour Preference - if you only have an hour to train, this setting influences how much XSS Xert can pack into that 1 hour. If you’re willing to push hard & suffer, you might be able to achieve 130+ XSS in an hour. If you aren’t willing to push hard (or simply don’t want to), you might only be able to achieve 60-80 XSS in an hour.
  3. Polarization - the default polarization is set to 80:20, which means - for our intents and purposes - means that 1 high intensity day is followed by 4 days of low-intensity or rest. E.g. ideally you’d be red or yellow for up to 4 days following the training. This might not always be possible if you don’t have enough time to achieve the XSS needed to achieve yellow status for ~4 days. Personally, I’ve moved this setting to 3:1 instead of 4:1 and have found it works well for me - YMMV.
  4. Individual Training Loads - Xert doesn’t just look at your total training load, but specifically at each individual system’s training load. The higher your High/Peak TL’s, the more you’ve trained those systems and by definition, the more strain you can put on them. So Xert needs to schedule training that’s relevant to your current training loads at the time while also progressing you towards the training loads you need to achieve for your goal/event.
  • To provide a bit of an example… if your high TL is 5.0 and you have 4:1 polarization setting, you would need to do 25 High XSS (5 High XSS/day averaged over 5 days = 25 High XSS) just to maintain your Training Load. Of course, if you want to build your High TL, you’d need to be doing more than that - on average - every 5 days. If you only have ~1 hour to train, you’d likely only be able to achieve that at a very high difficulty level - something like 30:30’s, 30:15’s, or 20:10’s. If you have XSS preference set lower, then you might not get the full ~25 High XSS recommended in that hour and Xert might instead spread it out over a couple days.

Things start getting even more complex when you start considering all these factors together, but that’s what Forecast AI is looking at every day when recommending training. It also looks into how each training session fits around all the other days & ensures that high-intensity training isn’t recommended when you’re yellow status, that training isn’t recommended when you’re red status, & that all the training needed fits within your available training time. :sweat_smile:

Hope this is a bit insightful/helpful!

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8

Always review your settings to understand why something that seems strange may be occurring. There nothing to trust per se since it’s just making the numbers add up for you.

For example, if your XSSR Preference is set to match your training load and your plan is long and reaches a very high training load, you will see (as you would require in fact) very big days of training. I would be careful checking that box for training plans that get you to very high training loads. We should probably show a warning.

If your Polarization Level is 4:1 or 5:1, then you’ll see bigger high intensity days since you’ll need to achieve progressive overload on your high and peak training loads doing a high-intensity workout once every 5 or 6 days. Again, if you’re aiming for some big overall training load, you’ll need to do these.

If you choose a Pure focus goal, you’ll need a lot of high intensity training. It’s not needed for the vast majority of regular road riding but if you’re aiming to do a hill climb, for example, which would be a Pure focus, then you’ll likely see some pretty big training days leading into the competition to maximize your power for a single, exhausitive effort.

So review things to see why these are being prescribed and make adjustments accordingly. Ask for help from support if you can’t find the answers. There is nearly always a reasonable and sound explanation for things.

3 Likes
9

Thx for all the answers.

It makes sense how the system works, but should’nt have some constrains?

is it fisiologically posibly to have such strain in your body twice a week?

10

It should provide a warning and I made a note of that.