I noticed the “Xert fitness test (version 2)” in the Workout list. How is this supposed to be used? Can it be used to calculate a signature? I note that it’s not exactly the same as the protocol described at the end of the Blog post entitled “Fitness Testing” but is it intended to be used in a similar fashion?
If you’re doing regular efforts to exhaustion, it isn’t needed as part of your training. Just add in an effort now and again into your training to keep your numbers up-to-date. If you’re starting from scratch or if your regular data is sparse of these efforts, then the test can help identify a good signature.
How does the system know if I have gone to exhaustion if the signature is incorrect. Isn’t that a circular argument? Is the Fitness Test treated specially by the Xert system. That is, does it treat anyone doing this workout as if they went to exhaustion and then treats this as a new baseline? (Sort of like how simple workout managers like sufferfest have a special FTP workout that assumes you gave it your all).
Thanks for paying attention. We don’t let the regression run freely downwards otherwise you’d find yourself with a TP well below what it should be after you complete an easy workout. The sensitivity to downward movement does increase over long periods without a breakthrough but if the numbers are overestimated, it may not pick up that you actually reached exhaustion. If this is the case, you may need to do a manual extraction using the MPA analysis techniques that are discussed in the FAQ and videos. This is really only needed in the case where either the numbers are overestimated or are obviously incorrect. If your signature is underestimated, the algorithm will look to boost your numbers relative to the current signature. So if your HIE is high relative the TP, it will also be high after extraction, in general. The more time you spend near exhaustion, the more the extraction process ignores these rules however. Hence, if you do a fitness test, you can’t just go to exhaustion once and only for a few seconds if you’re trying to base all 3 parameters on the one ride. You’ll need to dig deep at various intensities to have it be most effective. With some data, like TTT’s for example, signatures can be obtained quite readily given the number of times exhaustion is reached and is often at varying intensities. Of course, the more activities that can analyzed with maximal efforts, the more the signature draws nearer your real signature. Once it has it locked in, then minor adjustments both up and down from activity to activity are visible and can be directly attributable to some aspect of your training or ability to perform.
Great reply! Thanks.