The screenshot of this workout from Xert’s Workout Designer, including the interval definitions, are shown above. The key pieces of information you should pay attention to are the Total XSS (117), Difficulty Rating (4 diamonds – Tough) and both the MPA (Maximal Power Available) line on the graph as well as the Difficulty Score line, which reaches 114.

For this athlete, the MPA line doesn’t look too challenging. MPA manages to dip below 800W but never comes close to reaching the Target Power value. In Xert, when the MPA line reaches the red Target Power line, it signifies that the athlete is at their limit – the first type of fatigue identified above (A. The power targets are impossible.)

However, the Difficulty Score rises to 114. Reaching a 114 Difficulty Score is rare in workouts (less rare when racing) as it requires a considerable amount of training and motivation on the part of the athlete. This score of 114 translates to a Difficulty Rating of 4 diamonds – Tough and would be recommended to athletes that have been training for a least a couple of months and have reach a Training Status of Elite in Xert (4-Star Training Load).

Modeling a Similar Workout using Smart Intervals

The Xert Workout Designer offers alternative methods to define intervals, which can be made to cater to the athlete more precisely. They can also offer the same amount of training strain (XSS) without the same level of difficulty. For example, here is a workout similar to the VO2max workout that Xert users may be familiar with, called Smart – Closer 200 (slightly adjusted to match the VO2max workout in terms of XSS).

The workout definition and accompanying interval targets are shown above. The workout has exactly the same warmup and overall duration. It also offers the same XSS as the VO2max workout above. However, the workout has a Difficulty Rating of 3.5 Difficult (Difficulty Score reaches 109), lower than the VO2max workout. What this means is that the benefit of the workout (XSS, including the breakdown into low, high and peak) is identical to the VO2max workout, but it’s easier, making it more likely to be completed. Anything that can help you complete a workout without compromising your training is a good thing!

What Would Make You Unable to Complete These Workouts?

Examining the charts, we can see that in both cases the workouts are not impossible for the athlete. (The blue MPA line does not cross the red target power line.) This means that they have enough power to complete these workouts, so reason A. The power targets are impossible, is not the reason. But they both reach high levels of Difficulty. Performing these workouts requires a considerable training for the majority of athletes. Reason B. The intervals are too painful, could very well be the reason they were not able to complete this workout. The Smart – Closer 200 is slightly easier according to the Difficulty Score and this is because the intervals become easier as you do them, due to their changing power targets. Doing these intervals as Smart intervals offers a very unique feeling for athletes since the interval targets decline as MPA is reduced. The sensation is that the same level of effort is sustained rather than experiencing an increasing effort with flat, fixed wattage intervals.

If you’re doing this workout, it shouldn’t be attempted until you’re sufficiently recovered from previous training sessions. If you experience reason C. Feels like you have no energy, you haven’t given yourself enough time after your last workout to be able to complete this tough workout.

What Happens When We Consider A Different Athlete?

The examples we used above are based on an athlete with a Fitness Signature of 310W TP, 23kJ HIE and 1200 PP. What happens though if the athlete has a lower High Intensity Energy of 14kJ? (Note: High Intensity Energy or HIE represents how much power an athlete can sustain above their TP.  Even with the same Threshold Power, athletes have different values for this). Let’s plug those numbers into the Workout Designer, click Refresh and see what happens:

For this athlete, with the same Threshold Power of 310W, the workout is impossible (Reason A. The power targets are impossible). The last few seconds of the 115% intervals would bring MPA below that of power (the blue MPA line passes the red target power line). In this case, the workout is simply not something the athlete would be able to complete, at any training status level. The Difficulty Score reaches a much higher level as a result of the added effect on MPA, reaching over 150. Here, the Xert Workout Designer can help you see if a given set of intervals are possible with your individual Fitness Signature.

Xert’s Smart Intervals in Action

If we instead apply the same unique Fitness Signature to the Smart – Closer 200 workout, we get an very different result:

As you can see, if we change the Fitness Signature and Refresh this workout, the results are identical to the Smart – Closer 200 workout above. This is one of the main benefits of using Smart intervals in your workout definition. Workouts can be designed such that they offer the athlete the identical benefits (XSS) independent of their Fitness Signature.  It doesn’t matter what your Fitness Signature is, whether you are aerobically gifted or blessed with a lot of high end power, this workout will have the same benefit and Difficulty Score. As an athlete or coach, this ensures that you will know exactly what benefit the workout will provide and how difficult it will be no matter who does it.

For anyone that’s ever been prescribed a conventional 5×5 VO2max workout, they can attest that they can often be very challenging.  Getting the right interval targets often cannot be done without a coach’s involvement.  With Xert, both the athlete and the coach are empowered by using the Workout Designer.

Workout Tapering

A you try a variety of Xert’s SMART workouts, you will discover that many of the harder & higher-intensity workouts progressively decrease in intensity throughout the workout. Below, you’ll see the SMART – Bangarang workout, a workout with sweetspot intervals done under fatigue, with the 8 min intervals in the first half done at 92 XSSR and the 8 min intervals in the second half done at a slightly easier 88 XSSR:

The difficulty tapering of Xert’s SMART workouts is done intentionally to help reduce the overall difficulty of the workout, while minimally impact the overall training strain (XSS).  Tapering the workout difficulty also increases workout compliance – you can be confident after the first couple of intervals/repetitions that the workout will only get easier. Alternatively, if  you’re feeling strong on a particular day, you can always increase the workout difficulty using the Xert EBC apps or the Garmin workout player!

Accounting For Freshness and Tiredness

One of the tenets of Xert is “Training improves fitness as well as your ability to express it.”  What this means is that as you train, you get better at bringing MPA down and generating fatigue on a more repeatable basis.  With the Adaptive Training Advisor, workouts are recommended based on your Training Status (both number and colour of stars in your profile).  The number of stars helps you see which workouts would be suitable.  If you’ve been aggressively training towards an event and have reached a 3 star Training Status, you might see Smart – Closer 200 workout prescribed.  It would be a great workout to do as part of your Build Phase or in your Peak Phase with a GC Specialist Athlete Type.  You could attempt this workout with a Training Status of 2 stars but it would be very challenging and may likely lead to you abandoning it.

Given the demands this workout has on your 3 systems, you would need to be Fresh or Very Fresh (blue or green) Training Status in order to be recovered enough.  Xert will only recommend this workout, or other high-intensity workouts, when your Training Status is blue or green.

When Are Harder Workouts Better?

A workout can intentionally be designed to be hard in order to have you prepare for the suffering you will be subject to during racing.  The goal of such workouts isn’t to apply strain to benefit your fitness but to increase the difficulty of the workout so that you can practice and be prepared for the race.  In Xert, we have “Hardness Tests” that enable you to test how deep you are prepared to go.  They are great workouts in and of themselves but they’re designed to determine how much difficulty you can endure.  Making every workout a test in hardness however is a formula for disaster as you will struggle to complete workouts and thus impact the benefits you could obtain from your training.

Working with The Xert Workout Designer

Xert’s Workout Designer provides a unique and powerful environment to help coaches and individuals create workouts that offer flexibility, universality and precision unavailable in other workout design tools.  You can see, in advance, what MPA is predicted to be as well as get an appreciation for the Difficulty of the workout.  Workouts can be designed that offer the right balance of training strain, are achievable and won’t be abandoned because they are too hard.

What To Look For in a Workout

1. Check the MPA and ensure that the workout doesn’t lower MPA to a point where you cannot complete the workout.  If you’re more of an aerobic athlete, this problem can occur more often with workouts that are based on %FTP.
2. Avoid long intervals of easy pedaling while you’re already recovered… Seeing these in workouts is a sure sign that you’re wasting valuable training time in the workout, not accumulating improvements when you could be.
3. Maximize your XSS, not the Difficulty.  If you have the harder intervals near the end of the workout, they’ll be more difficult and more likely to be abandoned.  Unless this is the intent of the workout, it’s better to have the hardest intervals nearer the beginning.

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!

Follow the steps below and you’ll be ‘Xerting’ before you know it! However, there are some things you should know ahead of time:

• ‘SMART’ workouts will no longer be adaptive/dynamic – All the correct wattages and durations are calculated when you export the workout file, but the workout player in Zwift  (or any other platform) isn’t capable of adjusting workouts on the fly in real-time like Xert’s workout players. If you have a smart trainer, you will hardly know the difference, since the trainer will control your power throughout the workout. For a more advanced approach, follow this guide if you wish to use Xert’s SMART intervals while riding in Zwift.
• Xert’s Curvilinear Intervals are Exported as Ramps – The Xert XSSR Intervals, with their iconic shapes can only be exported as ramps. This can make the workouts harder or easier than they were intended in Xert. Workouts with these intervals are best performed using an Xert workout player.
• Workout targets in Zwift are defined as %FTP – The ZWO exporter uses %FTP rather than specific wattages in the definition. This means that your FTP in Zwift should be set equal to your Threshold Power from Xert in order for the workout targets to be same.  There are a few important things to note about this:
  • If you are finding the workout too difficult to complete for whatever reason, you can change the overall workout intensity by either choosing a lower FTP before you start the workout, or adjusting the FTP Bias in Zwift.
  • As your fitness improves, you can adjust the FTP in Zwift to correspond to the increases in Xert (refer to your Fitness Signature in Xert). Under most circumstances this should work well, although if you’re using a workout that was exported with a very different signature, you may want to re-export the same workout again to get updated values and more precise targets.
  • Even though the workouts are based on %FTP, they are not easily transferrable from one athlete to another. As all good Xerters know, using %FTP as workouts targets has its limitations, so you should not use someone else’s file if you want to benefit from Xert’s high precision workouts.

Loading Xert Workouts to Zwift

1. Log into your Xert Account and navigate to the Training tab of the My Fitness page. You can view  recommended workouts on the right-hand side of the page. As you scroll through the recommended workouts, you will see buttons appear for Play Now, Schedule, as well as exports to ZWO, TCX, or ERG file formats. Click the ZWO option and save this file to your computer. You can also go to your Workouts page, open any workout from the Standard, Coach, or Personal list, and select ZWO in the upper right corner to download the file.
2. Move/Save the ZWO file to Documents > Zwift > Workouts > ###### (this is your Zwift ID number) on your computer.
   
3. Start the Zwift app on the device you use for Zwift rides and navigate to the ‘Workouts’ screen. Select the ‘Custom’ category and search for the Xert workout you’d like to perform. That’s all!

Note: if you’d like to maintain the SMART features of a workout, you can use the Xert Workout Player for Garmin, Android or iOS to ‘play’ the workout while letting Xert ‘listen’ to the power data and power you through the virtual world. Here are a couple helpful resources to help you achieve this:

• How to set up the Xert Remote Player
• The Ultimate Guide to Training with Xert and Zwift

Lately you haven’t had the ‘snap’ you had in the spring. Maybe you’re lacking the motivation to ride and it has gotten so bad that you haven’t even cleaned your chain (and people are starting to notice)! Does this sound like you? It may be time for a mid-season break…

If you’ve ever wondered if you need a mid-season break, how to take one, how to regain fitness after one, and how much fitness you’ll lose during a break, don’t despair –  here is everything you need to know!

How to know if you need a mid-season break

If you live in the Northern Hemisphere, by July you’ve likely done a lot of riding or racing. You may have had goals in March and then tried to extend that fitness into June, or you simply took advantage of two or three months of warm weather. In training speak, you’ve accumulated a lot of Training Load (TL). Everyone’s ability to handle the volume differs, but even the pros reach a point where they need to take a physical and mental break from the bike. You know it’s probably time to take a break if:

• You feel flat, are experiencing reduced motivation, or are lacking ‘snap’ in your legs. You may even exhibit symptoms of mild depression;
• You have trouble falling asleep or staying asleep;
• You have higher than normal cravings for carbs and simple sugars;
• Your Training Load continues to rise but one or more of your Fitness Signature parameters (PP, HIE, TP) is declining. You may even feel like you’re putting in stronger and stronger efforts in training, but you’re not seeing any Breakthroughs;
• The Xert Adaptive Training Advisor (XATA) indicates that you should feel fresh but you’re not feeling fresh at all! (This is a great time to check your Account Settings / Profile to make sure your Time Constants read 22/12, 22/12, 60/5, not 42/7 across the board – those are outdated.) In fact, if you’re using the XATA you may not even be able to complete the prescribed workouts;
• Your family & friends are starting to complain that “you’re always on your bike”!

When this happens you may need a break…

Yellow and red stars for many days in a row could indicate you’re in need of a break.

What are the benefits of taking a mid-season break?

If you have late-season races like cyclocross, or you’d like to be ready for some long rides at Xert’s Breakthrough Camp in Mallorca, a return to riding and training after a break often results in a higher Fitness Signature. Truth: you don’t lose nearly as much fitness in a week or two as you think you do, especially if you remain active! In most cases, the fitness that takes a long time to gain also takes a long time to lose.

Here are is rough list of the changes you’re likely to see by week*:

1 week of no training: no change in muscle mass, muscle strength, or endurance capacity

2 weeks of no training: up to 7% decrease in VO2 Max but still no change in muscle mass or muscle strength.

3 weeks of no training: ~9% decrease in VO2 Max. Muscle mass and muscle strength begin to decline slightly in some individuals but testosterone and growth hormone levels increase creating an environment conducive to greater gains if you resume training at this time. You may look smaller because of the depletion of glycogen stores in your muscles.

4-8 weeks of no training: Decrease in strength and muscle mass in most individuals. VO2 Max losses by 4 weeks can be quickly reversed by beginners but highly trained athletes could see as much as a 20% reduction in VO2 Max and require more time to gain back. 

The best thing an endurance athlete can do is to avoid breaks lasting longer than 2-3 weeks.

What are the risk of not taking a mid-season break?

Some riders can handle higher TL’s than others – they just recover faster. But this also depends on the ratio of Peak/High/Low stress. A high TL of nearly all low strain work can be easier to recover from than a high TL with > 25% of the strain at Peak or High strain levels. The bottom line is this: it doesn’t matter! What matters is you, and only you. If you’re tired & flat, don’t listen to your friends who say they are riding a lot more than you and feeling fresh! If you need a break but don’t take one, the repercussions can be mild to severe depending on how long you try to ride it out (pun intended!) and your own personal physiology.

This is a great time to talk about the fine line between overreaching and overtraining. Understanding the differences can mean taking a week or two of rest or losing more than a season’s worth of fitness, training and racing.

Overreaching is an accumulation of training and/or non-training stress resulting in a short-term decrease in performance sometimes accompanied by some physiological and psychological stress. Once an athlete is over trained, restoration of performance capacity may take several days to several weeks.

“Overtraining Syndrome” (OTS) as it is referred to in the medical literature, is a serious problem marked most noticeably by a decrease in performance (strength, speed, endurance, or other), increased fatigue, persistent muscle soreness, mood disturbances, and feeling “burnt out” or “stale.“

What to do during your mid-season break

The answer is simple: potentially nothing. It depends on how deep you’ve gone (again, think of overreaching vs overtraining). If the strain and fatigue has been deep, the mid-season break may be a passive week of complete rest. With recreational riders, lower category racers and new age groupers it may only be 3 days of zero activity followed by a couple days of cross training in the gym, followed by ‘free’ rides on the weekend. These free rides are done at low intensities and without any intervals.

‘Free’ rides are our favourite rides…

Ultimately, the relative inactivity is what makes a break so hard, especially for the first few days. If you lack the self-control need to put your feet up, lock up your bike and give the keys to someone else. Or deflate the tires and ‘lend’ your pump to someone who can’t be trusted to give it back promptly!

In your Xert account, set your Improvement Rate (IR) to ‘Off-Season’ to get the Adaptive Training Advisor to let you off the hook.

Besides not riding, you also shouldn’t be doing any other activities that produce a lot of strain. You can keep going to the gym if that’s your routine, but take a week off the leg-related exercises. Use this time to focus on your core strength and flexibility instead. This is a great time to head out for some hikes or walks, and if you must ride your bike, put on your platform pedals and use your bike to roll down to your favourite coffee shop.

NOT good ‘mid-season break’ nutrition. But, oh…do we want it to be!

Speaking of coffee shops, the biggest risk with a rest week is not a loss in fitness, it’s gaining weight. That’s because: a) you’re used to burning A LOT of calories, so you eat them too, and b) you’re bored. So load up on rice cakes, water, and most importantly – have something else to do. Take a vacation, make up time with a significant other, or complete a couple of jobs around the house. Take it easy – be a professional recovery artist.

“One of my favorite things to do with my athletes during a midseason break is to review the goals that were set at the beginning of the season and evaluate their progress. Quite often we find that performance-oriented goals have been met or exceeded. This means that we can work on other training factors in the second half of the season that can further improve the odds of reaching new performance goals or outcome-based goals. I also recommend cyclists who are contemplating making a category upgrade to do this in the second half of a season. This way the athlete can gain some great insights into what will be required in the upcoming off-season to be ready for next year.” says coach Rob Grissom, of Positive Performance Coaching.

Returning to training after your mid-season break

Depending on the demands of your later season priority race(s) it can take 6-8 weeks before seeing appreciable adaptations in power and anaerobic endurance.

First, set your next goal date in Xert. We recommend that you set it far enough out – temporarily – so that the Adaptive Training Advisor places you in the Base phase for at least a couple of weeks.

Second, dial your IR setting back up. But don’t take it all the way up to your previous setting for the first few days or you could be doing 2hr rides on your first day back.

In the first week, use the free ride workout idea for the first several days, then move to pure endurance riding for the rest of the week. For the second week add in some high cadence work in lighter gearing to keep the stress low, then add at least one workout by the second weekend that mimics the demands of racing. Coach Rob calls it the “breaking the legs lose” ride.

You may find you feel terrible on your first rides back. Your butt may hurt, your muscles may not respond, and your knees may even feel ‘twingy’. That will be short-lived; your body hasn’t forgotten how to ride, it’s just gotten out of the habit. You need to ease your way back into training and this starts with easy rides. This is the time to restore your endurance.

After a couple of weeks of endurance work, and of restoring your TL again, change your Target Event Date to the correct date and move into the training recommended by XATA.

Now you’re all set for a strong second half of the season, so enjoy your new-found motivation, form and snap!

Thanks to Coach Rob Grissom from Positive Performance Coaching for contributing to this post!

*Adapted from:
http://naturallyintense.net/blog/exercise/what-happens-when-you-stop-training/#what-happens-when-you-stop-training8211-a-week-by-week-overview, and https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3355468/

Each spring as the sun stays out a little longer and the looming race season closes in many of us are lured to warmer climes to pile on the miles at a training camp. At Xert we’re no different; we just got back from a great week in beautiful Brevard, North Carolina where we rode long, chased new breakthroughs, and revelled in the freedom of nothing else to do but ride, eat, sleep, and repeat (that’s a picture of the Xert crew and friends in beautiful Brevard, NC above!). Of course, we rode with our Xert data all day and then talked about it all night! The Xert system is pretty smart (we’re biased!) and when used properly we think it’s the perfect tool before, during and after a training camp to help you get the most out of the extra training time. Here’s how:

Before

Taking a week or few days to pile on some miles is a great strategy to find a new level of fitness. Before you head out though there is some work to do to get the most out of it:

1. An ounce of prevention: The big miles can come as a surprise for your body leading to overuse injuries in your knees, hips, back, and even a sore neck from holding up your head during a 6 hour ride. Before camp make sure you’re accumulating enough Training Load so you don’t have to sit out half of your trip nursing an injury. Xert can help you in a couple of ways: a) you can bump up your Improvement Rate (IR) one or two notches so that it’s prescribing more Training Load, or b) if you’ve been in a base phase, for example, and you’d like to increase the strain and difficulty in preparation for some tough efforts you can temporarily move your goal date up so that Xert will select some harder workouts for you (e.g. prescribing workouts from the Build phase (shorter Focus Duration) instead of from the Base phase. Our suggestion would be to do one or the other, not both, and our recommendation is to change your IR, not your goal date.
2. Download the latest version of Xert from Garmin Connect IQ. The Garmin system doesn’t make this easy yet, but with the latest version of the software your Fitness Signature will automatically update over-the-air every day when you turn on your Garmin and climb aboard your bike. Our favourites data fields are:
   • MPA & Power: With MPA (Maximal Power Available) we know how much we have left in the tank as we chase down a teammate up Ceasar’s Head.
   • XSS & XEP: A training camp is all about piling on the training load so we love seeing how much strain we’re putting in throughout the day with XSS. And with some long climbs we like to see how our equivalent power (XEP) compares to our average power.
   • Fats & Carbs: we find this one especially important on the long/slow days. Keeping our fats consumption in the red means we’re working at our highest fat burning rate. Conversely, we had some hard days climbing in the mountains when our carbs glowed red for long periods of time, meaning we were above our threshold!
3. Make sure your Fitness Signature is up to date. Breakthroughs and ‘fakethroughs’ are great ways to set your fitness signature. If your signature isn’t right your XSS, Training Load, Form, and other data points won’t be accurate. For tips on how to do that have a look at our FAQ titled “Is my Fitness Signature wrong”.
4. Be Fresh for your trip.  Reducing to a lower Improvement Rate a week or so before the trip will ensure you’re not too fatigued for the few hard days you’ll encounter on your trip:
   

   Image 1 (this image is a sneak peek at new features available soon in the planner!)

During

Image 2 (this image is a sneak peek at new features available soon in the planner!)

A nice benefit of a training camp is that it’s a great time to get away from structured workouts. It’s a nice break for the brain and a great opportunity to either work on another Focus, or to just ignore it altogether as you’re loading up the strain and ride how you feel. Either way there are a few ways you can get a lot out of Xert during your camp.

1. Adjust your Improvement Rate.  During the training camp, your Xert Adaptive Training Advisor will show large surpluses unless you choose a higher improvement rate. As you can see in the image below, by the second day with an Extreme-2 Improvement Rate we’ve already started our functional overreaching:
   

   Image 3 (this image is a sneak peek at new features available soon in the planner!)

2. Select a rest day. If you’re doing a training camp more than 5 days in length you’ll need a break to get the most of your time. Watch how your Xert Adaptive Training Advisor analyzes your data and how deeply fatigued you’re getting. We took a rest on day 4 of our camp when my Form reached -63 (it poured rain too, which made it easier to make the decision to watch the Amstel Gold race from the couch!) but I did manage to reach 2 stars!
   

   Image 4

3. Look at your Focus from each ride. How do these track with your performance goals and how are you performing at a particular Focus. If one of your training days has focus similar to your Goal, have a look back at it further down the line when you’re in your Peak phase to see how you’ve progressed. Star (marking it as a favourite) this ride so you can find it later.
   

   Image 5

4. Strive for a Fitness Breakthrough. This will update your Fitness Signature which is particularly important if you haven’t had a breakthrough in a while. A ‘fakethrough’ is also beneficial. What is it? Think of a magnet on a fridge – once it gets close, it’ll stick to it. It means you were very close to a breakthrough, and it confirms and reinforces the accuracy of your Fitness Signature. I had a small fakethrough (open circle) on the very last day of our camp. It was a valiant effort given how tired I had become from the overreaching!

After

We’ve had questions from our fellow Xerters about what do after a training camp. Here are some answers to the common questions.

1. Typically you’ll see lots of red stars. Both the Planner and your Training Status on the home page will likely show red Very tired status, and you may even get a warning message suggesting you change your improvement rate (see Image 6)…more on this in #2 below. This is what happens when you spend many days above your typical training volume.
2. Set your Improvement Rate back to a more modest rate.  You shouldn’t use the higher Improvement Rates for too long, especially after a training camp.  You should reduce the rate in order to allow additional time for recovery. How much time depends on your Training Load before camp and the amount of strain you experienced during the camp. In my case, I set my Improvement Rate back down to Slow and took things much easier while Very tired.  By Saturday, after a few easier rides, I was back on track and still holding on to the gains I had during the camp (still at 2 stars as seen in Image 2):
   

   Image 7 (this image is a sneak peek at new features available soon in the planner!)

3. Prepare to require additional training time to maintain your previous Improvement Rate.  Once you’ve recovered you’ll notice that your Advisor says that you’ll need more hours of training to maintain your Improvement Rate than prior to your training camp. This is because you’ve increased your Training Load.  In my case, I reached 2 stars for the first time this year and will now need 7.5 hours of training to continue improving at a Slow improvement rate as opposed to 5.8 hours before the trip (see Image 6 above). If your Training Camp had much higher strain (XSS) than you had previously been doing, you may see larger fluctuations in recommended training compared to before the training camp, even if you reduce your Improvement Rate. This is because the Advisor will keep you building on top of the gains you had. This doesn’t mean that you’ll need to do the same larger XSS rides to keep improving however, but you will see larger swings to encourage you to spend a bit more time reaping the rewards of the camp.
4. Expect a Breakthrough! The whole purpose of training, particularly training camps, is to see fitness improvements. If you weren’t lucky enough to get a breakthrough during the camp, rest assured that with the gains in fitness you obtained followed by the recovery afterwards, you’ll be sure to see new levels of fitness.  For me, it was the week after and it felt great!
   

   Image 8

Finally, we think “Training Camp” deserves a better name…

Whether it was the lack of oxygen climbing up to the Blue Ridge Parkway, or the idle time tuning up bikes in the evening, at our camp we started to talk about a better name for it. The real benefit of a training camp is either a breakthrough, or building you up for a big breakthrough when you get back home and recover from the training load. So we started to call it Breakthrough Camp… In our minds it better represents what we’re out there to do. So we think the world should stop calling it “training camp”, and start calling it “Breakthrough Camp”. What do you think?

What’s going on?

For sake of clarity, we’re going to define these modes so that we can make it clear what is being talked about and to put them into context using Xert terminology. 

FTP-Based Zones

In this post, we’re going to use a 7-Zone %FTP-based system to characterize SST.  As you can see from the above chart, sweet spot is defined as training at the upper Zone 3 / lower Zone 4 between 83-90% of FTP, although there are others that use alternatives ranging from 75% to 97% FTP.  Threshold training is defined between 90-105% of FTP.  We also define FTP to be roughly equivalent to LT2, from a zone definition standpoint (see below).

Polarized Zones and Training

Polarized zones use physiological concepts to define zone boundaries.  Zone 1 is any intensity below your first lactate threshold or LT1.  The most common definition of LT1 is the intensity at which your lactate concentration increases by more than 1 mmol above baseline levels.  During exercise, this is often seen as the intensity where breathing rate starts to noticeably increase and speaking just starts to become affected.

Zone 3 is any intensity above your second lactate threshold or LT2.  The most common definition of LT2 is the highest intensity where lactate levels do not continuously rise.  This is sometimes referred to as Maximal Lactate Steady State or MLSS.  In some definitions, LT2 is the intensity at which lactate concentrations are 4 mmol although this is often used as a convenience since MLSS often occurs near this level … but not always.

Zone 2 is any intensity between Zone 1 and Zone 3.  This is referred to as the Threshold zone.

Polarized training suggests that 80% of your training should be in Zone 1 and 20% of your training should be in Zone 3, where this 80:20 rule applies to the time you spend performing training, i.e. the ratio of low intensity training to high intensity training.  It is polarized because no or very little threshold training is prescribed.

Xert’s Three Systems

Xert doesn’t use the concept of zones directly.  Instead, it uses the concept of Focus and work/strain allocation ratios.

Recall that since an athlete’s power curve can be determined with three parameters – termed a fitness signature – an athlete’s ability to perform according to their power duration relationship is thus governed by three systems – peak, high and low – and all training will integrate into one more of these systems.  Xert uses strain to quantify overall training rather than work performed (i.e. time in zone). Whether it be VO2, neuromuscular, aerobic, anaerobic, etc., strain can be quantified as work performed relative to MPA and the strain of exercise (and thus the benefits of fitness gains from adaptation) must be allocated to one or more of these three systems.  The three Xert systems act integratively across many physiological systems.

Strain below Threshold Power (TP) is considered Low Intensity Strain and strain above TP is considered a combination of High and Peak Intensity Strain.  TP is roughly equal to LT2 and FTP for all intents and purposes.

Lower Threshold Power (LTP) is a modeling artifact that indentifies the lowest level TP will reach when all Endurance Energy stores are depleted.  In practice, LTP appears to mimic LT1.  From a modeling perspective, LTP corresponds to the point at which Endurance Energy is not being depleted and thus does in principle align with LT1 which characterizes the point at which anaerobic energy systems begin to engage in supplying energy to working muscles.  Anaerobic energy is supplied by your carbohydrate stores exclusively and this is the main source of Endurance Energy.

Sweet Spot Training

SST aligns closely with Threshold training in the Periodized method.  It is often performed as 2×20 minute interval workouts, targeting the sweetspot zone between 83% and 90%FTP, although some see it starting as low as 75% FTP and ending as high as 97% of FTP.  The concept behind using SST is that it provides the right amount of intensity for the greatest benefit in the shortest amount of time invested in training.  Generally the upper end above 90%FTP SST workouts are taxing and require lots of concentration to complete whereas those on the lower end, below 83%FTP, are easier to perform.  Many training plans that athletes purchase often incorporate SST during the base phase of an athlete’s training with the intention to substitute traditional long, slow distance (LSD) workouts with shorter ones based on SST.

This principle has come into dispute recently with research published by Dr. Stephen Seiler described here by our very own Dr. Stephen Cheung: Polarized Training and Stephen Seiler.  What the polarized method advocates is to avoid sweetspot training rather than intentionally train there, the complete opposite of what has been advocated!  It is argued that SST doesn’t provide the training value and in fact can compromise your training.  It is termed the black hole of training where athletes make the mistake of training too hard during easy sessions and training too easy during hard sessions.

So.. Which is it?  Should I do SST or not?

The answer is: it depends.  When we look at things through the lens that Xert provides, we can start to see where things can get a bit fuzzy.  Let’s take two athletes and see how they would fare doing SST:

	Athlete 1 – Slow-Twitcher	Athlete 2 – Fast-Twitcher
Threshold Power	370W	260W
High Intensity Energy	18kJ	28kJ
Peak Power	950W	1400W
Lower Threshold Power	335W	190W
%TP @ LTP	90.5%	73%
SST Range (83% – 90%)	307W – 333W	216W-234W
XSS for 2×20 @90%TP 50%TP rest 1-hour workout	72XSS	70XSS
XSS for 90% LTP 1-hour workout	73XSS	62XSS

In the table above, we have two athletes: Athlete 1 is an accomplished Elite endurance athlete and Athlete 2 is new to Endurance cycling and is a natural sprinter.

As the numbers show, Athlete 1’s range for SST is entirely below their LTP.  This means that their SST training would fall into polarized zone 1.  (SST would actually fit into a polarized training plan.) The 90% SST workout provides 72XSS of strain.  For the 1 hour workout at just under 90% LTP, XSS would be essentially identical (73XSS).  Therefore, for athletes with very high LTP values relative to their TP, sweetspot training works well for them since it ends up being polarized Zone 1 and not Zone 2 training.  If they trained at lower zones, it may in fact be too easy.

For Athlete 2, things are quite different.  SST workouts are entirely above their LTP across the whole range.  This athlete would need to tap into greater Endurance Energy stores to complete this workout and it would become more and more difficult to complete as the workout wore on as a result, likely causing the athlete to abandon the workout, even at the low end of the range.  SST falls entirely into the black hole region (easy workouts are too hard) of threshold training when it comes to using the polarized training method.  Indeed, if the athlete was to employ a polarized approach and train at 90% of their LTP, they would obtain a marginally less overall training score (62XSS).  The athlete could achieve the same benefit as the SST workout by merely extending the 1 hour at 90% LTP by about 10 minutes.  The 70 minute workout for this athlete would fall into the polarized training method, be easier to complete, would reduce demand on endurance energy stores (carbohydrates) and provide equivalent XSS benefit as the 2×20 SST workout @90%FTP.

Training Goals

Another factor to consider is the overall goal of the training.  Depending on the Athlete Type you are training towards, will determine what type of training is going to work best for you.  In the majority of events cyclists compete in, some level of supra-threshold demands exists and Athlete Types fall into those with a lower Focus Duration.  This means that high-intensity training is going to be needed in order to optimize fitness for these events.  Hence, a polarized training method, one that combines the intensities needed for the event together with longer, endurance sessions that don’t compromise the high-intensity training is best.

But if the goal is a straight, flat time-trial, where supra-threshold efforts are minimal and where TP is the main determinant of the outcome, polarized training may not be optimal if the high-intensity training is too high.  Training near your TP for those events that demand the highest TP is what will work best for these events.  Training that increases your High Intensity Energy and/or Peak Power, via high-intensity workouts according to Xert’s Focus and allocation ratios, will not be as valuable.  Hence, threshold training is what’s best in these situations.

On the far end, where athletes are training for full triathlons for example, over courses that are predominantly flat, polarized training using the 80:20 rule may in fact pose further challenges. For these ultra-endurance events, the primary determinant of performance is your LTP and raising it is your primary goal.  Polarized training will not likely be optimal in preparing athletes for these events since the high-intensity 20% training is used to improve High Intensity Energy and Peak Power (and to some degree TP) and LTP is not improved with high intensity training.  In fact, too much high intensity training can be a detriment and can negatively affect LTP.

Lastly and worthy of note, is that if the polarized training zones are not properly identified, they can wreak havoc in a training plan that intentionally avoids certain types of training.  So if Zone 1 is determined to be much higher than the athlete’s real LT1, the athlete will be performing their Zone 1 training in Zone 2, the black hole zone, which they may find too difficult to do and then find it impacting the days when they need to perform high intensity workouts.  Care must be taken when following a polarized training method that your LT2 and LT1 are correctly identified.

How Polarization Works in Xert

Firstly, Xert is the only platform available as of this writing, that establishes an estimate of your Lower Threshold Power using power data and allows workout intervals to be defined as a percentage of this value.  Following workouts that are based on LTP targets, ensures you’re not training too hard, i.e. avoids the black hole, by reducing the amount of training you spend above LTP.  Xert is not entirely polarized since training variety is an important element to training success, but you will find many of the Endurance workouts and the rest intervals in workouts to be defined at or just below LTP.

Secondly, Focus is a metric that quantifies efforts above threshold.  By definition, any Focus Duration that is less than 60 minutes, represents an effort that is above TP.  Therefore, when your Training Program enters the Build phase, you’ll start seeing the Focus of your training move towards your chosen Athlete Type.  This, in fact, is an increase in polarization as the Training Program progresses towards your target event.  For instance, an Athlete Type such as Breakaway Specialist, a great Athlete Type to choose if you are planning on doing road races, has a Polarity Ratio of roughly 80:20.

Lastly, the Xert Adaptive Training Advisor will prescribe Endurance training when your high and peak recovery loads are too high (yellow Training Status).  You will often see yellow Training Status a day or two following a hard, high-intensity interval workout where you are Very tired (red).  This indicates that your Low intensity system has recovered and is fresh enough for more training but your High/Peak intensity systems still need recovery before higher intensity can be performed.  This division of low intensity with high+peak, allows the system to give you enough recovery time to ensure your next high intensity workout will be successful and helps avoid failed workouts.  This, in essence, polarizes your training since workouts are either high intensity or endurance (low-intensity) depending on your Training Status.

If you choose Triathlete as your Athlete Type, all your training is Endurance aiming to boost your LTP as the main goal.

Conclusion

Sweetspot training, when used by some athletes and for the right purposes, provides an excellent way to train.  However, for many athletes, SST amounts to the black hole of training, where it’s too hard/short to provide endurance training benefits.  Many athletes fall in-between, where depending on the specific intensity the SST falls into and its relationship to LTP and their training goals, will determine whether it is a wise training choice or not.

In the northern hemisphere, most of us have been putting in lots of time on the bike throughout the spring and summer. Therefore, in general our overall fitness and aerobic capacity is already at a high level. Long rides of 4 to 5 hours are not uncommon, and our Threshold Power (TP) is likely also fairly high and stable.

This all changes with the requirements of CX season. Besides the obvious differences in technical demands (barriers, varied terrain, very low pressure tires, cornering, etc.) and in the need to dismount and run, the physical requirements for success also contrast sharply with many forms of road racing and especially time trialing.

The biggest physical demands of CX includes:

• The massive surge off the line from a standing start, with power outputs that nearly rival that of a road race sprint finish.
• The ability to repeatedly surge from an already-high sustained power output and fatigue buildup.
• Surges are generally extremely short – 3-6 s in duration.
• Neuromuscular differences in accelerating from low speed/cadence and in a relatively high gear.
• Usually accelerating while seated to maintain traction and a lower centre of gravity.

The Cheung CX Series

Xert’s Workouts, featuring both traditional and Smart workouts, already offer a comprehensive library of workouts catering to cyclists of all interests. But to celebrate all things CX, we are proud to introduce a CX Workout Series designed by Dr. Stephen Cheung, Baron Biosystem’s Chief Sport Scientist. These are all available easily in Xert Workouts by searching “Cheung CX.”

“CX season is my favourite time of the cycling year, and I’m very pleased to share some of my favourite workouts with the Xert community. I’ve designed them to replicate the challenges that are highly specific to CX, notably the sustained fatigue and repeated surges. Xert’s unique workout capabilities allowed a high level of specificity that really enhances the ability to customize training.”

Hot Laps

As an example, “Hot Laps” concentrate on that intense first ½ to ¾ lap of a CX race. “This is my own personal weakness,” confesses Cheung, “so I had high motivation to develop this workout.”

Each interval starts with an intensely fatiguing sprint off the line, with a Xert Stress Score Rate (XSSR) of 300 lasting until Maximal Power Available (MPA) drops to 85% of max. Only a very slight recovery in MPA is permitted before 6×20 s surges with 20 s of recovery still at high effort.

Immediately upon full MPA recovery, another starting sprint is thrown in. This entire pattern is repeated three times, for a total of 3 hot laps and 3 additional starting sprints. “It’s hard to overstate the importance of a fast start in CX, and that is what this workout is all about,” notes Cheung.

Breakaway Specialists and Rouleurs

The new Cheung CX Series are not the only Xert Workouts with relevance to CX. “In analysing prior race data, the Focus for my races is typically towards those of the Breakaway Specialist (5 min power) and Rouleur (6 min) profiles. The specific nature of the course (weather, the number of dismounts, etc.) can of course greatly vary the specific profile,” says Cheung “so the existing Workouts with this focus targets many of the same demands for me.”

As an example, the “Positive Split Micros” with repeated efforts to drop MPA to 80-89% can be a great way to get a large dose of High Intensity strain. “To make things even more specific to CX, do this workout seated and in a gear or two harder than you typically might during road training,” suggests Cheung. “This replicates the challenge of accelerating that is a staple of CX.”

How to Use the Workouts

With CX season approaching, there are a lot of things to consider and plan, and Xert can be the partner to your best muddy season yet! It is important to set aside days specifically for technical practice and running. But August and September is when you should be converting all of that endurance, aerobic capacity and threshold power into High Intensity Energy that is sustained and repeatable.

Here is the Cheung CX – Stomping Tom, another example of a workout that replicates the repeated high surges, sustained fatigue, and then more surges inherent to CX. “For this workout, the emphasis – besides survival – should also be on using a harder gear than normal and staying seated to really stomp and drive the pedals,” notes Cheung.

Look back through your own prior CX race data to see what Focus they tend towards, then gear your training appropriately. At the same time, do not completely neglect your Threshold Power and endurance ability. That is where workouts like the 2×30 and 3×30 Over Unders in the Cheung CX Series, done 1-2x/week, can be highly effective, providing lots of Low Intensity strain but still forcing you to react to changes in power output.

Six workouts are currently in the series, with more to come as the inspiration hits us. Let us know on Facebook how these workouts are treating you and to recommend other CX workout possibilities!

Free 30-day trials are available when you register.  The company has published a number of blogs, videos and FAQs on their website to help athletes, coaches and sport scientists become familiar with the new concepts.