Setting up Xert + Zwift Integration – New Users

Set up your Zwift account by clicking the Connect link:

From here you’ll be prompted to sign into your Zwift account:

Step 2 – Sign in with your Zwift credentials

By default, Xert will automatically set your training program to Continuous and your daily workouts will be sent automatically to Zwift.To connect Zwift to your Xert account, first head to Sync > Zwift and click the ‘Connect to Zwift‘ button:

Step 1 – Head to Sync > Zwift

From there, you’ll be prompted to sign into your Zwift account:

 

Step 2 – Sign in with your Zwift credentials

Follow the prompts to link your accounts and grant the necessary permissions for data syncing. This allows Xert to automatically send scheduled trainings to Zwift and receive completed activities back from Zwift.

 

Step 3 – Chose to enable workout & activity syncing

 

Sending a Workout-of-the-Day to Zwift

You can have Xert automatically choose a workout-of-the-day (WOTD) for you.  Based on the training that your training program recommends, Xert will schedule a workout that meets these requirements everyday.  If you also have “Send Scheduled Workouts” enabled on your Zwift connection page, a workout will always be ready for you when you are in the game.  This is enabled by default for all new users but existing users can enable the “Automatically schedule a recommended workout of the day” option under Calendar Settings.  This can be accessed by clicking the gear icon in the top right corner of the fitness planner:

However, if you wish to do a different workout than you originally scheduled – no problem! You can re-schedule a new workout or use the ‘Send Workout‘ option on the workout you would like to do and select Zwift. Your workout will sync instantly to the For You section of Zwift, no restart needed!

You then find your scheduled workout waiting for you in the ‘For You’ section of Zwift:

Your scheduled workouts from Xert will appear at the top of the ‘For You’ section.

When you preview the workout, you should also notice that Xert automatically sets the FTP for the workout using your fitness signature in Xert. No need to worry about keeping them aligned manually!

Multiple Workouts

In addition to sending your Workout of the Day (WOTD) to Zwift, Xert will also push 4 additional workouts to your custom Xert workout folder. This gives you more options in case you prefer a different workout than the WOTD for the day. These workouts are updated daily, ensuring that you always have fresh, relevant training choices to match your fitness level and goals!

To find these additional workouts in Zwift, navigate to the Workouts tab and select the Xert folder:

Inside the folder, you will find several additional workouts that have been pushed there. All these workouts are suitable for your current fitness state:

You can choose any of these workouts to execute within Zwift, or stick with the WOTD if it aligns with your needs for the day. This flexibility allows you to tailor your training to how you feel each day, ensuring a more enjoyable and effective training experience.

Syncing Zwift Activities to Xert

After completing a ride in Zwift, your activity will be automatically synced to Xert! If you have enabled Xert > Strava sync, you will also get a neat training summary & Forecast AI training report as seen below, if you are using an XFAI training plan!

 

Click here for help on getting Strava training reports set up!

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FAQs

Common Questions and Troubleshooting:

Q: What if my scheduled workout from Xert isn’t displayed in Zwift?

A: If enabled, your scheduled workouts should be sent automatically to Zwift and waiting in the ‘For You’ section of Zwift. If the workout is not there, you can try using the ‘Send Workout > Zwift‘ option and restarting Zwift.

Q: What should I do if my Zwift activity doesn’t sync to Xert?

A: Check your internet connection and ensure both accounts are properly linked. If you have your Zwift also connected to Strava, you may be able to sync the activity from Strava into Xert. If necessary, you can download .fit files from Zwift & manually upload to Xert.

Q: Are the Xert Smart workouts dynamic?

A: Workouts with intervals and have Xert’s Smart capability – dynamic duration or power – are not dynamic in the Zwift game.  They are all fixed duration and power intervals.  If you wish to take advantage of the Smart workouts, check out the Ultimate Guide to Using Xert with Zwift guide for help.

Q: What happens with Xert’s Mixed Mode workouts?

A: Workouts with intervals to be performed in SLOPE mode will be exported to Zwift as Free Ride intervals, so ERG mode will be disabled & there won’t be an interval target provided. You should use your gearing and cadence to control your efforts! For the best experience, we recommend using the Xert EBC app for Mixed Mode workouts.

Q: Can I customize my workouts in Xert before sending them to Zwift?

A: Of course, you can always choose to make a copy of a workout and edit it to your liking before sending it to Zwift! To do this, open the workout in the designer and Copy the workout to your personal folder. From there, you can customize it as you see fit!

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Conclusion

We’re excited for you to explore these new integration features that Xert and Zwift offer together. This enhancement not only simplifies your training regimen but also allows you to maximize your potential by using Xert’s adaptive training methodologies in an engaging environment.

Log in to your Xert account today, connect with Zwift, and start taking advantage of these new features!

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Additional Resources

For further assistance, visit our Support Page for detailed guides and FAQs.

Share your experiences with the integration in our Xert community forum. We’d love to hear how it’s enhancing your training!

 

Introducing Group Ride Data Analytics with Flyby.  This new feature from Xert Breakthrough Training allows athletes, coaches and team directors to analyze team data all on one screen.  Xert now detects when an activity was performed with other Xert users and enables you to add their data to your chart, see who was in front / behind and by how much and even playback the ride using GPS flyby on Google Maps.  It’s the first of its kind to allow data from multiple athletes to be displayed and analyzed all on one screen.

Sharing Group Ride Data

Comparing your performance against others that are at the same level as you is a great way to stay motivated and track your progress over time.  Camaraderie, group ride competitions and comparing your results with others are what make group rides and racing so much fun.

Open a recent activity on Xert where you rode with other riders.  At the top of the page, you will see a notification indicating that the activity is a group activity and notify you if any other users have shared their ride data with you!

Click the first link to access this help page.  Click the second link to share your data with the other group riders.  In the notification above, you can see that Clark K has already shared their data with the group. After sharing an activity with the Group or Publicly, other members of the group activity will receive a pop-up notification in Xert. Again, they can choose to share your data back from the link in the notification.

Using Group Analytics

Use the Advanced Stats tab to open the Group Analysis information panel.  You’ll be presented with this panel on the right with a 2 or more segments.  The first segment is the Entire Ride and shows all the squad members you rode together with on the ride.  The second segment shows the information for the Current Selection on the chart/map.  To use the Current Selection, click-and-drag a selection on the chart and use the Refresh icon on the top right of the segment card to update the summary information:

If you have starred segments on Strava and you are a Premium Strava user, you’ll also see all these segments on the right panel.

Summary Stats

For each segment on the right panel, Xert will calculate the following:

1. Power : the average power for the rider over the duration of the segment.
2. Maximal Effort Time : How much time was the rider at their max.
3. In Front : The percentage of time the rider was ahead of the other riders.

Group FlyBy and Rider Data

Use the checkbox beside each user on the segment card to enable their data to appear on the chart.  Once enabled, mouse over the chart to see each rider’s data as well as their speed and gap relative to you. Use the legend to hide/show each user’s power, mpa or speed data as well as other data from the ride:

View the Google Map to see where each rider is on the map as you mouse over the data:

Playback

Use the play button and the slider above the chart to playback the data together with the Google Map.  You can also adjust the playback speed to clicking the menu beside the play button: 

Pause the playback using the same button.  Using the scrollbar to scrub to a position in the ride/segment you wish to look deeper into.  The guide on the map will align with the scroll position to provide the data at that point.

Note that the map switches to directional perspective mode during playback. Changing the zoom or direction will maintain the choice until the segment is reloaded.

Adjusting other Rider’s Data

Sometimes a rider’s bike computer may not synchronize with a global time clock and their position on the map will be shown ahead or behind where they may have actually have ridden.  Their In front calculation may also be affected by this.  Use the ellipses beside the user’s name on the segment summary on the panel to adjust their Time Shift.  Use the refresh button to apply the change to the chart and map.

Activity Sharing Options

Activity sharing has been updated to allow greater control on who can view your activity data:

1. Public – All Xert users will see your data as part of a group ride and your activity data will also be visible to anyone on the Internet that opens the URL to the Activity.
2. Group – All those that rode with you during this activity will be able to see your data when they open the Group Analysis tab.
3. Default – The default sharing option allows coach community coaches and members of a squad community that you belong to open and view this activity’s data.
4. Private – This disables all sharing for the activity, including coaches and squad members.

Creating Group Discussions

Bring on the smack talk in the group discussion! Xert’s integration with Rocket.Chat can be used to discuss your group activities. To start a new group ride discussion, click the Group Chat button, which will directly open the group discussion in Rocket.Chat. You will only be able to click the Group Chat button once you’ve agreed to share your data with the Group.

Setting Up Squad Communities

In order to protect each users private data, group analytics feature is only available to those that shared their data with the group members. This easiest way to enable sharing with other Xert users is to use a Squad Community.  Squad members agree to share their data with other squad members so this community is used to display group ride data.  When you create a squad community with your riding partners, Xert will look for other squad members that your rode with and if they happened to ride together with you, you’ll see them on the Group Analytics tab information.

To get your riding partners into a squad community, follow these steps:

1. 1. Ask your riding partners if a squad community has been created.  If so, ask them for the Join URL to the squad community and use that to join the community.  You’re all set if the community has already be set up.
   2. If a squad community has not been created, create a new squad community.  Use the share feature on the squad community page to copy the Join Community URL to the clipboard.  Send your riding partners the URL via Strava, email, Facebook, Instagram or whichever platform you use to stay connected with each other.
   3. Once your riding partners have joined the squad community, you’ll be able to open recent rides where you rode together an analyze their data together with yours.

The “Xert Breakthrough Lab” podcast is available on:

• SoundCloud
• iTunes Podcasts
• Google Podcasts
• Spotify

You’ll also find it on other podcast platforms that pull from these sources.

Episode 1 – Breaking Through with Xert

Our first podcast, complete with newbie podcast recording errors.  It’s raw, but totally worth a listen to.  In this podcast, we talk all about fitness breakthroughs and this unique aspect of Xert.

Key discussion points in the podcast:

1. What is a Fitness Breakthrough (2:00)
2. Comparing a Fitness Breakthrough with a Personal Best (4:42)
3. How breakthroughs account rests, traffic or starting fatigue during efforts (6:43)
4. The benefits of measuring fitness using breakthroughs (9:08)
5. FTP Testing and different ways to test with Xert (13:05)
6. Maximal efforts, points-of-failure and extended efforts at MPA (16:00)
7. Dr. Cheung talks about recovering from injury (21:56)
8. How to get a breakthrough (27:28)
9. Near Breakthroughs / “Fakethroughs” (30:09)
10. Signature Decay Method (37:15)
11. Using the No Decay Method (38:50)
12. Types of Breakthroughs (40:06)
13. The alignment of breakthroughs and your training (42:10)
14. Breakthrough Errors (43:48)
15. Using breakthroughs to compare one mode of riding to another (48:00)

Episode 2 – Your Fitness Signature – 3 Numbers that Predict Performance

You are more than your FTP.  In this episode, Scott, Stephen and Armando talk about Fitness Signatures and what they mean.

Key discussion points in the podcast:

1. What is a Fitness Signature (0:42)
2. How does a Fitness Breakthrough relate to your Fitness Signature (3:42)
3. How does your signature relate to your Power Curve (6:28)
4. Fitness Signatures from your FTP test (8:48)
5. Differences between athletes (11:15, 23:10)
6. What is the difference between HIE and W’ (13:37)
7. Is HIE like a battery? (15:23)
8. Modeling maximal power and fatigue with MPA (15:40)
9. Workout models and design with MPA (19:30)
10. How your signature help you understand how you recover from a high-intensity interval (21:42)
11. How does your fitness signature relate to an Athlete Type (24:24)
12. How athletes with different fitness signatures compete differently (27:20)
13. Fitness signature strengths and weaknesses (29:09)
14. What is Lower Threshold Power – LTP (32:15)
15. Training with LTP (37:11)
16. Using LTP in an event (39:27)
17. How to assess the validity of your signature (40:48)
18. Using the Fitness Signature calculator with a comparison to a CP/W’ calculation (42:45)
19. Understanding the importance of having a good Peak Power value (44:58)
20. Overestimates of Threshold Power (47:30)
21. Why your Peak Power can be higher than your highest power effort (49:35)
22. Analyzing the fitness signature and how it changed in a breakthrough activity (51:41)
23. Gold, Silver and Bronze breakthrough medals (54:04)
24. Introduction to how your signature parameters change with training (54:17)
25. A Fitness Signature is both how to measure your fitness but also what you’re able to influence with training (56:30)

Episode 3 – From Time-Trialist to Sprinter – Athlete Types in Xert

How should you choose your Athlete Type?  Learn about what it should be and what does means to your training and improvements.

Key discussion points in the podcast:

1. Why were Athletes Types introduced (0:28)
2. Athlete Types on the Power Curve (2:17)
3. Conceptualizing Athlete Types by comparing them to running events (3:07)
4. Interpreting stochastic/variable power data as an Athlete Type (8:10)
5. How each fitness signature system contributes to the power needed be an Athlete Type (9:00)
6. Training a single Fitness Signature parameter (21:18)
7. Conceptualizing HIE and why it is a fitness signature parameter (12:38)
8. Why are some Athlete Types measured in W and others in W/kg (14:34)
9. Using your Ranking and the Spider/Radar Chart to help choose your Athlete Type (18:55)
10. Using race and/or previous activities to help choose your Athlete Type (20:10)
11. Choosing an Athlete Type based on a weakness (21:28)
12. Why FTP isn’t the only measure of fitness (22:42)
13. When to focus on long duration rides and volume (24:58)
14. Knowing how to race with your strengths (26:39)
15. Why looking at normalized or average power doesn’t help understand your Athlete Type (27:26)
16. How the Athlete Type associates with the variability of efforts (30:40)
17. Dr. Cheung talks about the Ronnestad workout .. again.. (31:08)
18. How your chosen Athlete Type guides your training (33:03)
19. Events and activities usually have mid-range Athlete Types (35:05)
20. Periodization of your Training Program based on your Athlete Type (35:43)
21. Changing your Athlete Type seasonally (37:59)
22. When to choose an Athlete Type that might have a different duration than your event (39:30)
23. Why you don’t always get a recommended workout that is based your chosen Athlete Type (41:10)
24. Where are Athlete Types used on the system and your Focus hatched line (44:45)
25. Why Breakaway Specialist Athlete Type is a great choice as an Athlete Type (48:38)

Episode 4 – Being SMART About Your Workouts

What makes a great workout? In this episode, Scott, Stephen and Armando share their experiences doing workouts and discuss how to compare one workout to another, when one is better than another and the unique aspects of Xert’s workouts that aren’t available in other other training systems.

Key discussion points in the podcast:

1. What are workouts intended to do and why do workouts have a structure (1:14)
2. Research on which workout works best (2:30)
3. Modeling the 4×4, 4×8 and 4×16 workouts in Xert (4:14)
4. How fatigue during a workout increases the benefits of training (6:30)
5. Why different intervals impact different aspects of fitness (7:40)
6. How MPA is used conceptually in Xert workouts (10:00)
7. The development of a new interval definition using MPA (11:05)
8. Why recovery intervals are so important (11:40)
9. How the exact intensity, the exact recovery intensity and the exact durations are at the very core of what’s most important in your training(12:30)
10. The importance of training efficiently (13:32)
11. What are SMART intervals and workouts (14:50)
12. Why using %FTP for workout interval targets can be problematic (16:40)
13. What are Xert’s alternatives to using %FTP (18:14)
14. Personalized Zones (19:07)
15. Why we don’t to have so many workouts in Xert and why it’s not necessary (20:40)
16. XSSR Intervals (22:30)
17. Dr. Cheung’s explains one of his favourite workouts – Let the Sparks Fly (23:55)
18. XSSR Intervals – Deeper Explanation (26:40)
19. Difficulty Scores and Rating (28:40)
20. How workouts are recommended based on your Training Load (30:40)
21. Making sure workouts can be completed (32:14)
22. Should you train to failure (34:07)
23. Dr. Cheung talks about the Ronnestad workout .. again.. (36:30)
24. Understanding Target MPA (38:40)
25. Dynamic duration intervals (40:10)
26. Dr. Cheung’s favourite workouts (43:55)
27. Scott’s favourite workouts (46:07)
28. The Closer workouts (47:46)
29. Armando’s favourite workouts (49:30)
30. Coach and community shared workouts (52:13)
31. Lower intensity workouts in Xert (53:35)
32. Workout intervals that are based on LTP (54:40)

Episode 5 – Tracking Your Training Load with XSS

How do you know how much training you’ve been doing? Is training just about high and low intensity workouts or are there other factors? How can you avoid or deal with plateaus? Learn about how Xert measures training intensity and volume, creating a new level of precision in understanding your specific training and progression.

Key discussion points in the podcast:

1. Traditional methods to measure training volume (00:50)
2. Using heart rate and zones (3:06)
3. Using a power meter (4:00)
4. Using normalized and average power (4:40)
5. From time, distance, heart rate zones, power zones to Xert’s 3-dimensional XSS (5:16)
6. Xert jumps two of the major hurdles encountered with traditional zone methods (7:00)
7. Never waste a good effort (8:15)
8. XSS can be greater than 100 per hour (9:47)
9. Order matters (10:13)
10. XSS doesn’t exhibit the issues that exist with older methods (11:25)
11. XSS Rate (XSSR) data is now on the charts in varying colour (13:30)
12. How XSS is used to measure overall training – volume and intensity (15:10)
13. Carving XSS into 3 and Training Loads (16:28)
14. How volume and intensity affects Training Loads (17:25)
15. Polarity Ratio (17:50)
16. Why multiple dimensions to Training Load are needed (19:00)
17. Time constants and Program Phases (20:55)
18. Trade offs (21:18)
19. Why you can lose fitness by doing high intensity (21:45)
20. What’s better, high or low intensity (24:00)
21. Why can XSS be greater than 100 per hour and what is Difficulty Score (25:10)
22. First rule of doing time-trials: “Don’t go out too hard.” (27:15)
23. How Difficulty Score came about. (28:20)
24. Getting high Difficulty Scores (29:44)
25. Why handling higher Difficulty Scores is so important (31:35)
26. Managing Difficulty Score and intensity (33:10)
27. Why Difficulty Score is low for very long “difficult” rides and pacing (33:56)
28. Hardness Tests (36:28)
29. Training loads can’t go up forever (38:38)
30. Plateaus (40:20)
31. When it is ok to let Training Load detrain and go down (41:10)
32. How to “game” the system (42:09)
33. What your target Training Load should be for an event (43:57)
34. Why building base fitness is important over the off season (45:10)

Episode 6 – What to look for in a Training Program

Learn about what makes a great training program and how to train towards a goal. How does Polarized Training work in Xert? The Xert Team talk about training plans and programs, discussing the basic principles of training and what you need to do to ensure you improve.

Key discussion points in the podcast:

1. Training Program vs. Training Plan (02:40)
2. Elements of a good training plan (03:57)
3. Matching a Training Plan to the Individual (04:32)
4. Can you lose fitness with a training plan? (05:15)
5. Should people with the same Fitness Signature and same goals have the same plan? (06:00)
6. How hours per week and overall strain affect the program. (08:00)
7. What a good coach will help you with. (08:42)
8. How can you self-coach with Xert? (09:13)
9. How is the Adaptive Training Advisor different? (10:45)
10. What does “adaptive” mean? (11:15)
11. Working with a coach. (12:27)
12. Limits of an inexpensive training plan. (013:20)
13. What can power data say about how you are feeling? (15:00)
14. Freshness Feedback (16:20)
15. Recovery Weeks (17:40)
16. Sustainable Improvement Rates (19:08)
17. Signs of Overtraining (20:20)
18. Making time for recovery during the season (21:12)
19. When rest periods make the most sense (23:00)
20. When training is too easy (24:55)
21. Dr. Cheung’s recovery from injury (25:50)
22. Polarized vs. Sweetspot Training (28:25)
23. Training Xert’s 3 systems and Training Status colours(30:18)
24. Front-loaded Periodization (32:15)
25. Testing out different training strategies with Xert’s Fitness Planner (34:30)
26. Overreaching (35:33)
27. When is sweetspot effective or ineffective? (37:15)
28. Why do Base training? (38:45)
29. Mentally draining workouts (40:30)
30. How does Xert accelerates benefits using fatigue (41:42)
31. Leveraging fatigue to increase training efficiency (42:10)
32. Planning for target events using Xert’s Training Program (44:48)
33. When is structure needed in your training? (45:40)
34. Xert’s Training Program phases and focus (47:20)
35. A, B and C events planning (48:30)
36. Adjusting your Athlete Type and Improvement Rate (50:00)
37. Training without a target event. (52:00)
38. How do you prepare and taper for an event. (54:00)
39. How to know if you have enough training load for an event (56:00)

Episode 7 – Getting Advice On What You Need To Do To Improve

In this week’s episode, Scott, Stephen and Armando discuss the Xert Adaptive Training Advisor and how to incorporate the advice it provides into your training. Listen in to find out how the advisor examines your data to present you with recommendations and advice that will help you understand what you’ll need to do to improve.

Key discussion points in the podcast:

1. Overview of the Xert Player for iOS app (02:02)
2. The Training Pacer – XSS deficit and surplus (03:45)
3. Progressive Overload in a Training Plan (05:20)
4. Ramp Rates (06:10)
5. Rolling 7 day Improvement Rate (07:00)
6. Basic principles of training deficits / improvement (08:44)
7. Understanding what it takes to keep improving (11:28)
8. Using the Training Pacer as a motivator (14:30)
9. Higher training loads requires more training time to improve (16:00)
10. Adjusting your Improvement Rate during the training year (16:35)
11. Ensuring you recover even when you have a deficit (17:30)
12. Is the adaptive training advisor a replacement for a coach? (19:00)
13. Understanding the recommended training (20:30)
14. How recommended workouts are determined (23:00)
15. Choosing other recommended workouts (24:37)
16. Using Freshness Feedback to influence the recommended training (25:30)
17. How Xert helps both the athlete and the coach (27:12)
18. Going “off plan” with other rides and races during your program (28:40)
19. Warnings you might see from the advisor. (30:48)
20. Can you improve forever? (32:20)
21. What is Today’s Advice and what you need to do at any given point in your training (34:20)
22. Planning workouts into the future (36:40)
23. Learning to trust the immediate advice (38:55)
24. How often should I do a test? (41:00)
25. Optimal Decay Method and breakthroughs (42:10)
26. Setting the No Decay Signature Decay Method (43:24)
27. Ronnestad Workout for breakthroughs (47:17)
28. What to do when you have large jumps/drops in training (47:50)
29. Following the program without doing structured workouts (50:40)
30. Understanding Focus Duration in the recommendations (51:40)
31. Using the Xert Player for iOS app (02:02)
32. Substituting workouts with races or group rides in your training (53:40)

Episode 8 – Preparing for your Best Season

1. Xert’s new feature – HR Derived Metrics (1:50)
2. Strava Integrations (4:40)
3. What to examine with Xert at the end of the season? (7:00)
4. Take time off or pick up another activity (7:40)
5. Letting your training load & fitness come back down (8:45)
6. Getting away from structured training (9:50)
7. Not necessary to manage XSS deficits (12:00)
8. You can aim for breakthroughs, but you don’t need to (13:30)
9. Consider an annual physical & check in on overall health (14:50)
10. Consider weight training (16:30)
11. Consider a bike fit (17:00)
12. Reflecting back on your season (18:00)
13. Reviewing your year in Xert, XPMC, Fitness Signatures (18:30)
14. Using the XPMC & Table in Xert (19:20)
15. Review qualitative notes from your activities (22:30)
16. Looking at fakethroughs for insight (25:15)
17. Ease back into training (26:30)
18. How to prepare for next season? (27:40)
19. Why Xert’s training program is only 120 days (30:00)
20. Structured training is mentally taxing (34:00)
21. Explaining Xert’s time constants (36:25)
22. Scott, Stephen, and Armando talk about their plans for 2020 (37:50)
23. Switching from a bike power meter to a smart trainer with power matching (41:30)
24. Can’t hit the same numbers indoors, what do I do? (44:25)
25. Consider checking/replacing handlebar tape (50:45)
26. Customer Questions (52:00)

Episode 9 – Work out the SMART Way

1. The different ways to work out with Xert (2:50)
2. Review Episode 4 – Being SMART About Your Workouts (3:50)
3. Using the Remote Player (6:00)
4. Guide to Training with Zwift and Xert (9:45, link here)
5. Limitations to exported Xert workouts (11:00)
6. Android App can be used as a headunit (15:15)
7. Freestyling a workout (18:50)
8. Why was my workout longer than expected? (19:50)
9. Using different trainer modes to perform workouts (24:00)
10. Breakthrough workouts in Xert (28:50)
11. Stephen talks about using Xert workouts with rollers (32:00)
12. High power intervals are quite common in Xert, why? (35:40)
13. What makes a workout difficult? (43:00)
14. Mental aspects that make a workout difficult (47:30)
15. The way you train is aligned with what you’re aiming to do (51:40)
16. Incorporating unstructured winter racing with structured workouts (52:45)
17. Shared workouts community (55:45)

Episode 10 – Christmas 2019 Q & A in the XBL with Friends

Recorded with our Xert friends at the Xert Breakthrough Lab offices, Scott, Stephen and Armando answer questions about Xert. Listen in to hear about what users are wanting to know more about.

Episode 11 – Measuring Training – From Hours to Xert’s Focus

How much training do you do? How much should you do? How much is too much? How much is too little? What are the best intervals to do? To answer these questions, we first have to ask ourselves: How do we measure training?

Episode 12 – Should I be doing structured workouts? Which ones?

What happens if I ignore my training program? What happens if I never miss a workout? When can I just pick my own workout? What about tapering? The Xert gang examines the numbers to help answer these questions. Tune in to understand when you should be paying attention to your training and what you need to do to become your best.

Episode 13 – An Introduction to Real-time Xert

The gang gets into real-time data using your Garmin Connect IQ data fields. Listen to all the various ways to use these unique data fields and how they are set up. Those that don’t have a compatible Garmin will also get an appreciation for what’s possible.

Episode 14- How Xert Came to Be

The gang got together to talk about the origins of Xert and what led to its development. Take a trip down memory lane with Armando, Scott and Stephen to find out about the historical events and discoveries that eventually became the foundation of Xert and all its unique features and capabilities.

Episode 15 – Question and Answer Session #2

The gang answers questions from Xerters in the second q&a podcast, like:
1. Where can I get help with Xert?
2. What is XSSR, how do I use it and how is related to Difficulty Score and Maximal Effort Time?
3. Why do longer intervals feel harder than shorter intervals but I get more XSS for the shorter ones?
4. Why is it hard to see MPA come down at the end of a long ride?
5. Why can’t I reach MPA?
6. Where can I find about the XSS that applies to my low, high and peak systems?
7. Why does Xert count all my stops in the calculation of averages?
8. How do I best use the Fitness Planner?

Episode 16 – Training and Detraining During A Pandemic

Many Xerters from around the world are being affected by the growing COVID-19 pandemic. In this podcast, the crew talk about how this may be affecting your training and fitness and things that you may want to do during these difficult times.

Episode 26 – The Advantages of Doing Workouts and Sessions in Xert

Structured training is essential to reaching your goals but doing workouts that are based on %FTP has its pitfalls. Listen to the gang discuss the limitations of using %FTP and how Xert has addressed these limitations, allowing you to do workouts that are better individualized, more efficient and even do them synchronized with other athletes, a.k.a Xert Group Sessions.

Episode 27 – Using Xert to Coach Your Athletes

Steve Neal joins the gang to talk about how he uses the capabilities of Xert with his athletes. Learn about some of the unique aspects of Xert from his perspective. Get new insights that will help you with your training or, if you’re a coach, help better prepare your athletes for success in competition.

After seeing Xert grow over the past 2.5 years from a few keen and forward-thinking users to now thousands of athletes from all across the globe, I’ve started to learn what they all share in common: they are simply looking to understand how to reach new levels they’ve never been able to reach before.  You notice this in the Facebook Xert Users Group where athletes post charts of their rides and races, showing how hard they worked for breakthroughs and how they’ve improved from using Xert. Some post their wins too, providing details on how they trained and what they did better than before. This is really the essence of what it means to be an Xerter.  You’re in it for you and what you can become.

Athletes are shy about their own fitness numbers.  “I could never win a race.  My threshold power is only 190W.” But this is not how Xerters think about themselves. Every endurance athlete feels that way when they compare themselves with someone better than them.  I’m sure professional racers in the peloton say the same about Peter Sagan or Mathieu van der Poel. It is true that all great racers had to work very hard to reach the pinnacle of the sport and should be praised for it. The training and commitment to win a professional cycling event cannot be underestimated.  But there are many that have trained with the same if not greater commitment to their own improvement who have never won a professional event, or any event for that matter.  What should their sense of achievement be?

Winning isn’t everything. It’s how you play the game.  It’s a cliche we’ve heard over and over.  In cycling, the “game” is more than what you do during the race.  It is about how you prepare by setting goals, execute your own training and how manage your own strengths and weaknesses.  Winning is about realizing your own personal potential. This is the game and how achievement is fulfilled.  For some, this achievement unlocks the ability to win at the highest levels.  For others, it may mean they’ve achieved a new personal best.

The Essence of Xert

For Xerters, they want to know who they are as athletes, what they can do to improve and understand how to become the best they can be.  Xert shines a light inside every athlete to show them how they are uniquely different than everyone else and what it will take for them to improve.  This level of transparency is unique to Xert and is what draws them to use it.  There is sense of discovery when you first start using it as it processes your historical data, highlighting those times in the past where it was able to pinpoint when you were at your limit.  “Yup.  That’s where I was dropped. Wow.”  It shows you what your fitness numbers were at that time – unique to you and the moment in history.  It also shows you how these fitness numbers (i.e. Fitness Signature) have changed over time as your training and riding changed.  “That was my best result and I can now see why.”

Our Motto: Discover. Improve. Perform.

The first step in using Xert is one of discovery.  This is the same for everyone, including myself when I first discovered the principles behind Xert and what I found most fascinating. You begin to understand your own abilities and how and why you performed the way you did in the past.  You also come to understand how the algorithms can explain this using the concept of MPA.  Rather than simply training or riding and expecting to in general improve, you get to see with precision how you changed in the past. It may take you having to learn some new concepts to appreciate this too but those that get into using Xert have a deeper appreciation and understanding of themselves as athletes than ever before.

As you learn about the new concepts and examine your own data, you begin to understand what it takes to improve.  It actually becomes very clear where your strengths and weaknesses are and what training you’ll need to do to improve your fitness.  For Xerters, it’s not just about improving their FTP but about improving many aspects of their ability to perform – from increasing Peak Power or High Intensity Energy or focusing on your performance as a Breakaway Specialist.  Sometimes it’s about being able to handle events of greater length by improving Lower Threshold Power. For others its about dealing with repeated hard efforts such as in a criterium by improving their ability to handle greater Difficulty Scores.  As it was for me, seeing the relationship between my own training and the changes in fitness is a huge confidence boost and motivator for training.  You know what’s going to happen. Xerters know that if they train in a certain way, their ability to perform will improve and they can track it.

Using these new concepts to help you perform in real-time is the remaining piece of the puzzle. In many ways, this is the fun part of Xert, I believe. You get to witness first hand your own body attempting to perform and watch things play out in front of you, either in a workout player or on your Garmin computer.  You get positive reinforcement by using information like Focus and XSS that demonstrate how you well you are executing your training towards your goals.  There is a sense of accomplishment when you managed to go beyond MPA and get a breakthrough during your ride (and sometimes the disappointment of seeing fakethrough after it’s analyzed – yeah I hate that too! ..but it’s all part of the discovery process). Performing smart workouts with Xert is different too. They are both harder and easier at the same time. You get a sense that you couldn’t have done any more but you managed to complete it. Training with the Xert means that you have greater awareness of the precise intervals you can perform and the degree to which you can withstand repeated efforts.  This allows you to find or even create your own workouts that are ideal for your training and that you can complete  – without the need for trial-and-error or complex/expensive testing protocols as was common in the past.

Thanks to all of you that are using Xert and I hope that it helps you shoot for the stars.

Armando Mastracci
Founder, Xert

Colour-coded MPA charts

Your MPA charts can now be colour-coded to help you better understand your effort. With transitions from grey-to-blue-to-green for all efforts below Threshold Power (TP), and yellow-to-orange-to-red for efforts above TP, and an MPA line that darkens as it comes closer to your current power, you get new insight into your power and fatigue for every second of your activity. This new data will slow the loading of the charts slightly, so we’ve made them an option; without any change in your settings the old/simplified charts will continue to appear in your profile, activities and workouts.

If you’d like to enable this feature, navigate to your Account Settings > Profile and select ‘Enable Advanced Charts’ and SAVE. 

If enabled, the new MPA charts will appear in the Activity Details view of an activity, and once it is viewed this way it will also appear in your activity dashboard online and mobile app. Activities that have not been synced since the update will continue to use the default one-colour-power MPA charts.

Workouts will appear in their dynamic colours when opened and viewed in the Workout Designer.

Defining The Colours

To fully understand what you’re looking at with the new colour-coded MPA charts there are two things you should know.

1. The new MPA charts use dynamic definitions for the colours above Threshold Power (TP), which means that the specific power they at which they change, will depend on your level of fatigue. However, the definitions of the colours below TP are static and don’t reflect fatigue.
2. The colours transition from one defined ‘zone’ to another using gradients, with the pure colour aligning to the definition in the table below, and blends of the colours in between. Where this is most noticeable is with the Red areas…the colour will be red when reaching MPA but it may appear red beforehand; it is in fact simply a dark orange.

Rolling over the charts with your mouse will reveal existing information as well as some new data. Besides the existing Power, MPA and Difficulty detail (in a workout), and speed, elevation and more in an activity file, the new MPA charts will now show XSSR. This is the rate of XSS (Strain) per hour being applied at any given moment, and – unique to Xert – increases as power approaches MPA.

Below is an example of a 20-minute FTP Test created in the Xert Workout Designer – a 20 minute interval at 20 minute Mean Maximal Power (MMP).  You can see how XSSR and Difficult changes throughout this interval, even though power output remains constant.

Tips

Interpreting an activity has been made easier with this new visual representation of your activity. Here are some things to look for, and what they mean.

• A typical ‘polarized’ endurance activity, or mostly easy effort with a few accelerations, will appear mostly grey & blue with little-to-no movement of the MPA line. If there are surges or sharp sprints, some orange & red ‘spikes’ will appear.
  

  Xert Surplus Seeker ride on Zwift. Mostly grey & blue (recovery & easy) for this rider.

• A steady & constant effort above Threshold Power, like a steady state 20 minute max effort, will show the colours changing from yellow-to-orange-to-red as the athlete draws down their MPA and becomes more fatigued. See 20 minute MMP effort example above.
• A typical group ride with some sprints may have a lot of grey, blue and turquoise (transition from blue to green)  when recovering and/or drafting, green & yellow areas as during surges with power just below and above Threshold Power, and spikes of orange and red with a sharp drop in a darkening MPA line during sprints.
  

  A ‘spirited’ group ride on a hilly circuit. Red & orange as this rider takes a pull or climbs the hill, grey & blue as he recovers in the pack.

The new Xert Mobile app for iOS closes the gap between you and the athlete you wish to become.  It has been completely redesigned with an Activity Dashboard, Adaptive Training Advisor and a powerful new Workout Player user interface.  Now you can analyse your power data and perform recommended workouts all in one app.

Activities Dashboard

Xert dives deep into your outdoor and indoor rides and presents this information on the main dashboard once you login.  At the top, you’ll get a snapshot of your current fitness and performance values -the essential information you need, to see where you stand with your training.  Using Xert, you’ll move beyond simply training your FTP and move to training your entire fitness profile – your Fitness Signature.  This in-depth understanding of your abilities as an athlete is unique to Xert.

Below that, you’ll see your activity performance history: the deep analysis Xert has extracted from your data to determine what your fitness was at that time and whether a change in your fitness was detected – a Fitness Breakthrough.  You’ll get to understand with greater detail how you performed on that ride with new metrics like Focus Athlete Type and Maximal Effort Time.  The app will even show you a streetview image of where your fitness breakthrough occurred.

Training and Activity Stats

Tapping the Stats icon on the bottom opens your period stats view.  See how your fitness and performance has been changing over time.  Check on your progress easily.  Key stats available:

1. Hours of training including average number of hours per week.
2. Distance traveled included average and longest ride.
3. Training Load – a measure of how much training you’ve been doing recently.  Tap the > to get a further breakdown on how much you’ve been training your 3 Xert systems.
4. Threshold power changes including W/week increase or decrease.  Tap the > to get a view of how your entire Xert Fitness Signature has changed over the period.
5. Cool Xert metrics like Focus Duration, XSS.
6. See how many calories you’ve burnt, including a daily average and estimates for the number of grams of fat and carbs over the period.

Adaptive Training Advisor and Training Program

Tapping on the training icon at the bottom will bring you to the Adaptive Training Advisor view.  The Xert Adaptive Training Advisor is an advanced algorithm that determines what your training needs are (based on your activity performance history) then scores and ranks workouts you should do.  On this view, you’ll see whether your training is behind schedule, on track or ahead of schedule using the Training Pacer.

Slide to the Adaptive Training Program view and you now get a view of where you are in your training, including a view as to how many hours you need to invest in your training to maintain improvement and what the Focus of that training should be towards your target.  Time to move way from cookie-cutter training plans and let the Xert Adaptive Training Advisor guide you to new fitness and performance levels!

You can also scroll through various structured workouts, shown in order of their ranking, including the ability to filter them by type, time or source.  Use the filter for example, to find a suitable workout that fits into your available time.  You can choose a workout you’d like to play and open it in the Workout Player.

Workout Player

The Workout Player allows you to perform the structured workout on your trainer.  The app supports trainer control using smart trainers.  A comprehensive view of your workout is combined with new controls that allow you to adjust the workout intensity or skip/rewind the workout as you perform.  You can easily switch from ERG mode to Slope mode – a handy feature.  You can choose from various swipeable sections to choose what information is most important for you to see during your workout.

Supported Sensors and Trainers

The app is compatible with Bluetooth power meters as well as smart trainers from Wahoo and those that support the Bluetooth FTMS standard like trainers from Elite and Kurt Kinetic.  For those that are using Tacx, most of their smart trainers support FTMS except for older Neo series that do not yet have it. Contact Tacx Support for firmware updates for your Neo as Tacx have have committed to providing support for these trainers.

If you have an ANT FE-C compatible smart trainer (such as a Tacx Neo and most other smart trainers), you can opt to use the CABLE ANT+ to Bluetooth FTMS bridge for these.  The Cable device can be used to convert ANT+ sensor data to Bluetooth for use with iOS devices and supports converting FE-C (smart trainers), power meter data, heart rate monitor data, cadence data and others.

Remote Player Support

The Workout Player also works with the handy Xert Remote Player, allowing you to perform your workout while watching your workout progress and intervals using a web browser on your PC, iPad or Apple TV:

Download the app and start training with the most advanced training system available today. Register for your Free 30-Day Trial right within the app.

Minimum Requirements: iOS 9.3.5, Bluetooth Power Meter or Smart Trainer

Discovering Cycling and Xert

I only started cycling a few years ago but quickly became interested in training and competing. So, I hired a coach, Yang I Ti, to help get me started. He gave me a weekly training program that I followed very closely. But training with power, and concepts like ramp rate, were still new to me and I only began to understand – and use – them when I signed up for Xert a little later.

Preparing for, and racing, my 2018 goals events

Overtraining

Early in 2018 I was invited to ride with an amateur team called ‘Jamaica’ to ride the local championship series in São Paulo. I needed to get serious about training! I read everything I could get my hands on about sports physiology and training so that I could coach myself, but within a few weeks I ended up feeling the symptoms of overtraining. I really didn’t know how to train, but despite that I was keeping myself in the top 5 in the championship series.

Starting to Use Power

In mid-May, I finally got a power meter; I bought a Power2Max from a friend who was moving to another country, installed it on my bike, and the next day I competed in a time trial.

Time trial, the day after getting a power meter!

Even without seeing my MPA (I was using a Garmin Edge 500, which wasn’t Connect IQ compatible), I had my first breakthrough, right on the line! So even though I started out a little hard, I was able to pace my effort to the max all the way to the end.

I continued to train as I did prior to using a power meter, and it wasn’t until I signed up for Xert that what I was feeling in June was confirmed – the data indicated almost immediately a high level of fatigue. I was doing too many hard workouts in a row without enough rest (you can see my ‘tired’ status (yellow line) in my XPMC graph below).

Steady progression (after doing too much in June) to see my Threshold Power increase 15% (almost 40 W!)

So I decided to get some help. I bought a Garmin Edge 520, and I signed up for Xert and began to follow its recommendations.

After the TT in June, my next goal was a stage race, with 3 races, in early August: two road races and one team time trial (TTT). My peak would have to happen in only a couple of months!

Without a power file from racing the same event in a previous year, I wasn’t sure of the demands of the event. I didn’t know which Athlete Type to choose in Xert, so I chose ‘Rouleur’ (as it turns out, I wasn’t far off – see chart at the end of this article).

At first, I didn’t entirely follow Xert and occasionally I ignored the yellow or red stars (tired and very tired training status, respectively), which meant I often couldn’t finish my workouts! I even ignored the recommended workouts: for example, with a status of 2 stars I tried to do workouts that were 4 stars or more, and often couldn’t complete them. This is when I started to understand the Xert process! I saw that if I chose a ramp rate of between 2 and 3, and followed the recommendations, I would be able to complete the training and achieve my objectives. So I followed the recommendations to prepare me for my race weekend!

My First Goal Event: The UCFL Winter Race: a 3-stage weekend, and how it went

As I progressed through the training, the workouts became progressively more difficult. Although I had been training hard for a few years, I had never done workouts like I was doing in Xert, and before long I was reaching power targets I never thought possible. So I knew I was going to be ready to race…

By following Xert, my Focus progressed from Breakaway Specialist to Rouleur right in time for my stage race weekend, and my Threshold Power continued to increase.

The first race was the Team Time-Trial (TTT). Since none of us were time-trialists, we tried to save ourselves for the next event using the Xert MPA and Fat & Carbs datafields on our Garmins to help us manage our pace.

We maintained a pretty high – but not too high – steady pace in the TTT so that we didn’t fall behind in the overall standings and left something in the tank for the circuit races that followed. 

In this first of two circuit races I was well positioned during an important climb early in the race, and I nearly had a breakthrough as I almost went to my maximum to force a selection in the race. Three other riders counter-attacked and formed a strong breakaway out front. Then, in the last 30 minutes, one of the breakaway riders (a teammate of mine) was dropped by the break. I saw the opportunity to race for third place, so I started to attack on short climbs to wear down my opponents. (You can see my MPA starting to dip in the last 30 minutes as I started my attacks.) On the last climb I succeeded in getting away from the group and dug very deep (my MPA came way down) to get third place.

Jundiapeba Farrapos: The first circuit race (same day as the TTT).

On the second circuit race it was another tough day. The finish line favoured the sprinters, something that I was not strong at, or had even trained for. At one point in the race, shortly before the middle of the last lap (approx 1:30hrs into the race), a rider attacked the peloton and took another competitor with him. A teammate of mine suggested that I should try to reach the break… that would be my chance for victory! So I attacked, passed the other chasing groups, and reached the lead breakaway. From then on we worked together to keep the peloton from reaching us and I won the race from the breakaway to take the lead in the championship series!

The last race of the weekend: Farrapos Paranapiacaba

My Second Goal Event: De ronde vão ver Éden

Throughout the early part of the race I tried to wear out the peloton on a few short climbs. That’s when a teammate saw the opportunity for a breakaway, and attacked. As my ranking in the overall standings was high, we decided to control the peloton so that the escape could stay away. As soon as we learned through race radio that my teammate’s breakaway was close enough to the finish line that they weren’t going to be caught, I attacked on the hardest section of the course to get some more points from my competitors – that’s where I had a breakthrough in my Peak Power. By the end of the race I was alone with two competitors from a rival team, but from another category (my teammate was still up the road). Both of them continued to attack me, but I managed to stay ahead to get second in my category.

UCFL De ronde vão ver Éden

Final Race of the Season: UCFL Paris Rolé

There wasn’t much time to train for this event, just 4 weeks, and I was already tired after many months of training. As each event had a different type of terrain, I changed the Athlete Type each time to better suit the demands of the event. This last race had shorter climbs and so I chose Puncheur (I was at the end of the build and the peak phases). Seeing how important it was to follow specific training to reach my potential, I tried to follow the suggestions of Xert more closely to prepare for this race.

At the beginning of the race I tried to dictate the rhythm of the first climb in an attempt to create a selection within the peloton. We had agreed that another teammate would try to win because I was already far ahead in the overall standings and did not need that win to keep my overall placing. But my teammate wasn’t having a good day. When I went back to see if everything was OK with him, two competitors attacked on a climb and opened several seconds advantage on me. It was only a few kilometers to the finish line and I couldn’t let them get there alone, so I lowered my head and chased for a few minutes. That was one effort I clearly would not have been able to do before adjusting my training; they were both strong time-trialists. I eventually caught up to the breakaway, attacked on the climb, but saw that another cyclist had followed me and I unfortunately no longer had the strength to compete for a sprint. So again, I got a second place, but I was very pleased with what I was able to accomplish.

UCFL Paris Rolé

After this race I did regret not having done any sprint training; I didn’t do this training because I had too many days in a row with yellow stars (tired); I wasn’t recovered enough to do them and maintain my weekly focus.

Looking Back: What I learned and what I’ll do differently next season

From these races I was able to determine the Focus and XSS of the events (the ‘demands’ of the race) and especially what I was missing in my training. To be better prepared next year, I am going to:

1. Train my 3-4 minute power by choosing a Pursuiter or Puncheur Athlete Type (Focus);
2. Do some sprint workouts so that I can be competitive in a sprint, if I need to. Workouts like SMART – Ride the Lightning and SMART – Bullet with Butterfly Wings;
3. Train my ability to handle about 250XSS/day (I did that well last year, with my Training Load (TL) being ~90 right before the event);
4. Start my structured training earlier (Xert starts the Base phase 120 days from the goal date), and;
5. Follow the advice of the Advisor more closely. This is to make sure I’m doing the right kind of work, at the right time, and in the right way, to maximize my abilities.

Ironically, Xert recommended I do more Puncheur and Pursuiter workouts but I ignored the advice! I wasn’t doing the short Focus/high intensity VO2 training that Xert suggested at times, including the Closer 140 workout. After analyzing the time and power of the last sections of the races, I noticed that training this Focus would give me the time in the right power zones to be more efficient, and to repeat those efforts over and over.

I am already training for an important event next year, and knowing my past mistakes, I hope I can make better choices that could bring me even better results!

François Skaf is a 35 year old cyclist from Brazil, and only just discovered the sport a few years ago in an attempt to quit smoking. Early-on, when he was passed by a competitive cycling peloton, he decided that this was a sport he’d like to get a lot more involved in. Now, after only a few years of riding – including a few periods of overtraining – he’s learning to train smarter with the power of Xert. And he’s winning!

Xploits is a collection of stories by Xerters from around the world, about their goals, achievements, and how Xert helped them get there. If you have a story you’d like to share, please email support@xertonline.com

Coaching your athletes with Xert presents a number of unique and valuable features that enable you to enhance the services you provide to your clients. Here we’ll describe some of the unique capabilities Xert offers you and your athletes.

Quick and Easy Athlete Administration

First, follow the Quick Start Guide to get your Xert Coaching Community page set up. From there you’ll have access to all the main features of the coach community:

1. Manage the appearance, links and information of your Coach Community.
2. Invite users to join.
3. View a Dashboard of all the latest activities performed by your athletes.
4. Create workouts that are accessible by your athletes.
5. Login to your athlete’s Xert profile and administer their information just as they are able to:
   1. Add workouts to their calendar
   2. Upload/Sync their activities
   3. Adjust their goals
   4. Fix errors
   5. Perform in depth analysis
   6. Purchase/cancel premium subscriptions
6. Leave comments on completed & planned activities & workouts.
7. Add other coaches to your coach community.
8. Assign athletes to coaches.
9. Watch your athletes train using the Remote Player

Improved Fitness Testing, Tracking and Race Data Analysis

When you use Xert as a coach, your clients will never have to do another FTP test again. Xert captures your athlete’s FTP (called Threshold Power in Xert) as well as two other key fitness variables: High Intensity Energy and Peak Power.  In the hands of an experienced coach, Xert can provide you with insights into your athlete’s training and race performances to see how well they have performed and how much they are improving. “That which gets measured, gets improved.” is something you’ll appreciate more with Xert, as the feedback on improvement (or lack thereof) comes sooner and with greater clarity, offering you the ability to adjust their training and provide them with evidence of their improvement. Your athletes will love their fitness breakthroughs and you’ll help them earn that positive feedback.

Universal Smart Workouts

Each member of your roster will be able to see and use any workout you design in Xert. Xert’s Workout Designer is a powerful tool that helps coaches visualize and plan their workouts for their athletes. Great coaches will learn all the tricks on how to make workouts much more universal, with features like MMP-based intervals and Target MPA-based durations. Using these features will allow you to focus on prescribing workouts rather than designing them over-and-over again. Once properly designed, they can be used for all athletes.

In the Field Workouts

Coached athletes are looking to optimize their results, so training on the trainer as well as outside on the road is common. With Xert’s Workout Player, your athletes can do workouts inside or outside, including Xert Smart Workouts which offer the flexibility to handle varying terrain and situations impacting the ability to complete intervals without interruption. By using intervals that target MPA rather than by duration, athletes can effectively do workouts outside to better achieve their workout goals. How many times do you have athletes complete sprint workouts without enough recovery between sprint intervals? Eliminate that problem once and for all.

Improved Training Load Management

The Xert Strain Score (XSS) provides coaches greater refinement of training load management. Firstly, XSS works well under nearly all conditions – no more “burrito rules” or underestimating recovery demands from short, sharp interval work. And XSS works well for roadies, trackies and MTB’ers alike. Secondly, Xert allows you to see how your athlete’s training is adding up, with daily Low, High & Peak Strain, accumulating Low, High & Peak Stress, and the impact of this work on their fitness. Last, you’re able to plan and track your athlete’s Focus throughout their training to better understand and adjust their plan right up to their goal event or date. Xert can also provide unique insight into the demands of their goal event to help you focus your athlete’s training in the most efficient, and precise way possible.

Capture / Manage Freshness

There are numerous methods for capturing freshness and readiness for high intensity training. With Xert, readiness (freshness/tiredness) is determined based on the available information & data, and the athlete can also fine-tune their readiness by providing feedback on whether they are more tired or fresh than predicted. Xert makes the interpretation of this simple – both for you and your athlete – so that you have common terms and concepts to use.

Data Hungry Athletes

Many coaches have athletes who are fascinated by the data of training with power. Xerters are often those curious athletes interested in their own fitness and how it is impacted by training. Using Xert with these athletes will give them access to information about themselves to satisfy their thirst. It serves as a great platform for productive discussions with athletes who have more of an understanding and appreciation for the complexity of fitness data and analysis, and how this can be used to optimize performance.

Easy Communication via Rocket.Chat

A community discussion is available for coaches to easily communicate with all their athletes on a daily basis. Coaches can also directly message athletes. Integration with Rocket.Chat allows coaches and athletes to stay connected on the go.

Coaches can also quickly & easily create discussions on their athletes’ workouts and activities:

Bike Computer Optimization for Training and Racing

Xert presents you and your athlete with a broad set of information that can be used both for training and racing. A new set of best practices is emerging as coaches start to experiment with what information is most useful to them and their athletes.  Incorporating new datafields such as MPA, Focus and the Segment Hunter for example, will give you and your athlete a leg up on other competitors, either indirectly through training benefits, or directly via race-specific applications.

Real-time Workout Coaching

Whether your athlete is in another district, country or continent, the Xert Remote Player can be your window into your athlete’s training in real-time. For those athletes that benefit from live encouragement, you can view their workouts in real-time as they are being performed and to offer immediate motivation by text message, email or phone/audio (e.g. Discord).

Where to Find It

You can access the Freshness Feedback slider in the Training tab, located underneath the Adaptive Training Advisor and Training Pacer gauge. This feature is essential for athletes using XATA programs to optimize their training based on their current state.

How It Works

The slider operates on a scale from -60 to +60, enabling you to fine-tune your current overall Form.

• Increasing Freshness: For instance, if you set your Freshness Feedback to +10, your Form will increase by 10 points. This adjustment indicates to the system that you are feeling fresher, which in turn raises your Difficulty Score for workout recommendations by 10.
• Decreasing Freshness: Conversely, adjusting your Freshness Feedback to -10 will decrease your Form by 10 points. This communicates that you are less fresh than previously assessed, resulting in a reduction of your Difficulty Score by 10.

When you Should Change Freshness Feedback

Most of the day-to-day recovery demands can be accounted for using the Recovery Demands slider, such as when returning from injury. Most often the Freshness Feedback value should be left at the default value of 0, but you could use Freshness Feedback more for issues that might not be recorded in your activity data, such as poor sleep, nutrition, or hydration.

Important Notes

• XATA Programs: The Freshness Feedback feature is specifically designed for use within XATA programs. It does not apply to the new Xert Forecast AI programs. If you are using XFAI, you should select a workout that feels appropriate for the day and adapt your forecast afterward.
• Daily Recommendations: Freshness Feedback only affects today’s training recommendations. To influence the system’s day-to-day freshness calculations, utilize the Recovery Demands slider.
• WARNING: Setting Freshness Feedback too high and maintaining it for an extended period of time will exacerbate potential overtraining problems. You should only increase this value temporarily and with full understanding of the impact it may have on you and the time you need to recover.

Conclusion

Utilizing the Freshness Feedback slider can significantly enhance your training experience, helping you to fine-tune your workouts based on your personal well-being. Adjusting your feedback regularly can lead to better training outcomes and ensure that you are training effectively.

For more information on optimizing your training with Xert, feel free to explore additional resources on our support page or reach out to our support team!