Hi. Despite my weekly training being fairly constant from week to week (with regular breakthroughs etc) the system seems to have become reluctant to lower my fitness level below ‘fresh’. For example I’ve Just done 3 good virtual climbs over the last 4 days - I am not very tired but not fresh - even if I add in a planned activity it taking more work before it shows yellow stars. For what its worth my 520 recovery advisor says 2 days? Apart from this Xert has been pretty consistent for me since the recent changes. I’ve seen this problem reported before but am unsure about uninformed fiddling with Account Settings constants etc.
“fairly constant” = mostly fresh. You need an increasing load to see yellow and red. We adjusted your time constants to the new values we’re using and you’re seeing a bit more yellow but regardless, you’ll need to boost your training to see yellow/red more consistently. This also means that your Training Load, hence signature values, would go up too.
Thanks I see you’ve changed the standard PP/HIE/TP profile settings from 42/42/42 - 7/7/7 to 22/22/60 - 12/12/5. What’s the unpinning rational to those changes how will that effect things? Just interested to understand Amando 
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Your low intensity system takes longer to develop and longer to detrain relative to your high/peak intensity systems. Based on an analysis we performed, these numbers appear to better reflect how the individual training load systems react to strain. This is also consistent with training best practices where the base phase includes more lower intensity with higher intensity being added later in the program. This is due to the difference in time constants.
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Is there any evidence around “reverse cycling”, as in doing higher intensity work ealier in the training cycle. I know team sky and the UK olympic swim and cycle teams seem to be into it but I’ve never actually seen any evidence around it or any kind of strategy for it. Just wondering if you’ve come across anything Armando?
I’ve spent a bit of time working on this principle to see if there was a particular scenario where it would makes sense but have yet to find something conclusive. For grand tours, the main goal is to lift LTP to its highest level, without compromising high/peak energy systems. This implies that you’ll be doing base training or training that boosts low intensity strain right into the event.
Strange, yesterday my status was “Tired” but I still did the “LSD 100” workout because I had a somewhat important deficit, that workout almost killed me… And today my status changed to “Fresh” !?
Always consider how you feel first. Status is not how you feel but what the numbers indicate. Since it was low intensity, your high and peak intensity systems recovered. Also check your overall training load.
Hi Gousti. One more thing to understand. Yellow status means your high/peak intensity systems are fatigued. Red means all three. This means that low intensity goes from blue to red. (It is difficult to convey all information with just coloured stars so be sure to follow your body’s signals!)
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Oh… one more thing… it is well-known amongst coaches and accomplished athletes that great results can often occur when you’re feeling a bit tired. If by chance you do decide on doing a higher intensity workout while you feel tired but the system says you’re fresh, let us know as this can provide some very useful feedback for us. Thanks!!!
Aranando, is the Training Status and Form based on what is being done in the workouts suggested or on previous data? I’m guessing it must be based on previous data because I have been easily achieving the workouts suggested and I find it often says I’m RED star, even a day or so later. Is this because I’ve ramped up the amount of training since becoming motivated by Xert? Therefore, it’s assuming I can’t take the increased load without feeling some form of fatigue? If I work through that, will it adapt? ie. if I continue to train even when it says I’m tired, and assuming I achieve the workouts, how quickly will it adapt to increasing my load? Or is it all based on the Improvement Rate? (Sorry, multiple questions)
I think you’re getting it Robin. Often athletes are much more fit that what the system understands from their data and it will make some of the recommended workouts easier and will give them Tired status when in fact they are Fresh. But as your data accumulates, the difference closes and the algorithm becomes better and better at making recommendations. Continue to use it as you are doing!
Armando, in the comment above you wanted to know, so here it is. From the time I got 3 stars Xert always thinks I am fresh, even when I feel tired. A while ago, I therefore increased the RLTC to 12 for all 3 systems. But my stars were still blue (my RL was just a little lower) when I was feeling tired. This week I have been feeling tired again (stars are blue), so I decided to increase the RLTC from 12 to 14 for all 3 systems (clicked Save and Recalculate Progression), still all stars are blue. Any suggestions? Does it make sense to further increase RLTC?
Hi Joseph. You may want to try and move to our newer TCs: 22/12, 22/12, 60/5 for TL/RL on peak, high and low respectively.
Thanks Armando, it looks better now.
I also changed it to the new settings. Just curious, but what is the “seed” then?
Seed is the value of your Training Load at your very first activity. Most athlete’s that purchase a power meter have been training previously. This provides an estimate of what their TL was at the time they started recording data.