I kinda love XMB, but I start to believe that the power recommendation are causing too much fatigue. In the last couple of weeks I am totally destroyed a couple of days after the workout to the point where my work is influenced. Brain fog, lack of motivation etc.
When I had a look at my last couple of workouts where I use it (only once a week!) I had like 4-5% of a 2-3h ride above classic VO2 Zone.
The fact that I am nearing 50 is certainly adding to additional recovery need, but it should not totally throw me out of the curve like this. So I need to say bye bye to that amount or quality of intensity, since I need my job to somehow finance our beloved hobby.
How are you guys handling this intensity or adjusting to it?
I’ve been hitting some PBs in terms of fitness and reaching never-before levels of training loads. One key is to ensure your Recovery Demands are set correctly. You may benefit from click or two to the right of centre to give yourself more time to recover. Also, I use a reduced polarization level and seem to do better with smaller, more frequent high intensity sessions than bigger, less frequent ones.
thanks for your reply. I need to try the polarization level adjustment.
I basically went from doing 4 times 10h a week to being able to do only 2 or 3 sessions a week, because the fatigue from doing the XMB intervals at 150%-160% of my TP is just too much.
Is the polarization level adjusting that (interval recommendation at 150-160% TP) as well?
Would pose the question of what is your carbohydrate intake like particularly around post ride during rides as this can have a big impact on recovery you could use the carbs vs fat indicator as a guide
During the ride I make sure to cover at least 50% with carbs and after the ride I eat a big breakfast. Not really losing weight, so energy shortage should not be the issue.
I had a similar problem previously where Xert kept scheduling High Intensity or long workouts because I was behind the plan. I did as @xertedbrain suggestion, i.e. increased the recovery demands by one point, and the problem went away.
Of course, you should also make sure that your target training load is something that you are willing to sustain. Do not just look at the power targets, but compare the planned training loaded with what you peaked at last year. You might want to limit the increase to 10 or 20 %.
Anyone can do one short interval at 150-160%. It’s not the percentage that ultimately matters. It’s the amount of strain you accumulate from doing more of these with less rest in between. Try the Recovery Demands slider as this will allow more recovery days in between sessions.
%TP values are inherent with Focus Power target and the goal of filling the three buckets in unison.
What Challenge Level are you riding most intervals to?
Do you remember what the interval count was for the 2-3 hour rides?
Based on your description I would take a week off with easy riding or no riding at all.
With Continuous you control when to do that by either ignoring the needle or switching to Off-Season/Taper during the off week then resume normal training when ready in which case the needle will 'normalize" within a week.
You’re also in control of mixing things up by switching Focus on HIT days using Filter, or switch Focus Power under settings, or simply skip HIT when you’re not up for it.
IOW you advise the advisor.
XMB fetches whatever you select as your goal. If you don’t select a workout the top-level advice goal is fetched. But you can prevent that by selecting a workout. A quick way to over-ride HIT is slide the Freshness Feedback to the left, set Duration as needed, and make a LIT selection.
In Continuous mode if you leave ramp rate and Focus Power unchanged you’ll eventually max out the time you have available to train, the strain you can handle, or both.
Consider advancing in blocks with breaks along the way especially if you begin to feel stretched.
As mentioned, you can also adjust the knobs and dials (Polarization, XSSR, Recovery Demands) to best suit your needs and physiology on a continuing basis.
For me that has meant dialing intensity down as needed when I start my seasonal training and returning to default settings when I feel ready.
I don‘t recall the levels or durations. Yesterday I had like 5 min in a 3.5h ride in Z7. But even after changing the polarization level to 3:1 and recovery demand a few notches to more, I get the interval target recommendation of 156% of TP.This equates neuromuscular zone in a 7 zone model. It is just adding way too much fatigue and cannot believe that this should be a standard power target every time, HIIT is on the menu. Do you know how much that is for you?
Of course I could just ignore the target recommendation and do it on VO2max level. But then it seems to defeat the purpose. I am curious if the Z7 recommendations are standard or if I am outlier.
@xertedbrain The issue is maybe not how often the HIIT session happen (weekly for me), but that it suggests a total of 5 min of neuromuscular intervals. I can do them, but if it leaves me as a wreck for the next 3-5 days, with no motivation to train and impairs me at work. This not good. With my setting I can make sure I am fit and recovered for the next time high is on the menu, but I cannot afford the cost. Any way to exclude neuromuscular training targets?
What is your Athlete Type (or program goal)? If it’s pretty intense (3-5 min power), I wouldn’t be surprised to see lots of high-power intervals. Those athlete types require a well-trained HIE & Peak Power system, which you can only get by doing high-power intervals.
Another way you could do it would be to start your training with a few short hard max effort sprints to help fill the Peak bucket first, and then fill your Low High & Low buckets with longer, (relatively) easier intervals.
I am on the continuous program with the GC specialist focus. Exactly my thought. If I want to go for 8 min power, why does it prescribe neuromuscular efforts. Which last only a fraction of it.
Next time I will try the sprints first. That bucket is usually closed very fast and then see how it goes.
What was the Difficulty rating for that ride? (diamond count)
What was the ending Focus? (ex, Mixed GC Specialist)
How many intervals did you perform? What was approximate duration?
What was approximate duration of rests-in-between?
Monday‘s ride was rather short for a weekend ride with 80km, therefore only 2 stars. The other rides which killed me for a couple of days had 3-4 stars and show a focus type of rouleur or breakaway specialist.
I use XMB only on outdoor rides and put the intervals at places where I can safely do them. So they are all over the place in duration and RBI. My main focus is to fill the bucket at suggested power. ain my last ride they were about 25-30 seconds with 3-4 min in between. 1 block of 2, 2 blocks of 1 and 1 block of 3.