I am new to Xert and trying to figure it out. I see that there are many programs I can choose. My current goal is to climb Alpe Du Zwift in under an hour. My rider profile indicates that I am much stronger for shorter durations and get progressively worse, relative to others, the longer the effort goes. To achieve my goal I need sustain around 250 watts for an hour. My FTP, according to Xert, is 240 right now but I am quite sure I could not sustain 240 for an hour.
So my question is what program should I choose to best achieve this goal? I am currently set on Continuous - Moderate 1 - Sprint Time Triallist.
Other information in case its useful. I am a 54 year old male. 170lbs. I have been riding for the last 4 years pretty consistently but not for long hours. Right now I train about 6-8 hours per week.
IIRC, I went up the Alpe right around an hour a while back when I did the Uber Pretzel route on Zwift… I can trim the file to focus on the Alpe climb & you can try using it with the Race AI option! Send me a PM with your email address and I can send the file to you to experiment with.
What’s your current TL? (status stars count)
How many weeks do you intend to prep for the effort?
Can you train more hours/week as you approach the target date for the climb or is 8 hours a realistic cap?
Sprint TT is the start of the endurance quadrant in Xert. Best to train above that considering your goal. The more likely Focus choice would be Climber or GC Specialist.
With XATA on Continuous ATP the recommendations will include a variety of HIT workouts at or near the selected Focus Type when your calculated form is blue/fresh and LIT endurance work recommended when yellow/tired.
With XATA on Challenge the focus is specific to selected target type over a 30-day period.
XATA Base-Build-Peak is a long term traditional-ish phased progression over 120 days (shorter if Base already established).
With XFAI you can create forecast plans with a target date. For example, a Goal forecast for an increase in Climber power or the Race AI option as @ManofSteele suggests.
I wouldn’t worry too much about whether you can actually ride at X watts for an hour considering the original FTP study was based on a bell curve ranging from 40-70 minutes.
TP isn’t derived in the same manner as FTP but the numbers serve a similar purpose.
TP represents the highest power that can be sustained without accumulating short-term fatigue when MPA begins to decline.
What’s more important than matching TP with FTP is whether you can effectively train with your calculated Fitness Signature. You’ll know that soon enough after a few HIT workouts or if a LIT workout around LTP does not feel like Z2.
If necessary your signature can be adjusted to work best for you.
To get up the Alpe in Zwift in an hour you need to do a steady 3.2 watts/kg. You said you’re 170lb/77kg, so that means 246.4 watts for 59 minutes and 59 seconds. That’s right at your threshold now so it would be a pretty tough effort to do it today.
Sprint time trailist is the way to go. You can set it up the continuous moderate 1 plan and keep training until your threshold is in the 260 range. You should be able to do the Alpe in an hour then.
You can also use the Xert AI program to set up a workout plan. Set a date for when you’d like to try and a sprint time trailist focus. Set a increse of 20 watts and the AI will calcualte a plan based on time availablity. It will give a red, yellow, or green based on the parameters. I keep pushing the watts up and down and until I find the line where it turns from green to yellow and set the plan there.
The other half watts/kg is weight. Losing a few kilos can have a big difference on long climbs like that.
For the day of in Zwift, you need the lightest bike and wheels you can unlock - probably the S-Works Atheos and Roval Alpinest wheels. The hairpins turns flatten out a bit everytime. Unless you are active shifting gears each time you’ll loose a bit each turn. You can ride a workout in ERG mode or you can set the Zwift trainer difficulty to 25% so the gradient changes are less severe.
Make sure to have lots of fans and cooling and some water and carbs on the day. Come in with freshness and smash it.
I want to train for the fewest possible weeks to achieve the goal.
I can likely flex a little on my time commitment but I am prioritizing consistency and trying not to yo-yo in terms of hours per week.
“What’s more important than matching TP with FTP is whether you can effectively train with your calculated Fitness Signature. You’ll know that soon enough after a few HIT workouts or if a LIT workout around LTP does not feel like Z2.”
I have only been following Xert workouts for about a week but all recommended have been a mix of high wattage for a short time (30-2min) followed by Zone 2 or lower. They have not been challenging to complete.
Thanks for the link. I really need to better understand the terminology.
