Xerters are intimately familiar with near breakthroughs or what we often call fakethroughs. In this blog post we’re going to step through the principles of how this aspect of Xert works in helping you discover how your fitness is changing – ride to ride – something that’s never been done before.  Let’s see how Xert does it.

Fitness Breakthroughs – A Review

If this is the first blog post you’re reading from Xert, you’re likely wondering what fitness breakthrough or just breakthrough refers to.  Simply put, a fitness breakthrough is when Xert discovers that your fitness has changed relative to what it is predicting it to be, adjusted by the Signature Decay Method (more on this below):

In the above, elements of the fitness signature have increased and/or decreased.  In determining your fitness at the time of the activity, Xert first predicts what your signature was at the start of the activity.  This is based on the Training Loads for each of your three systems.  Then it will decay each signature variables based on the decay method you have chosen and use these to compare with what was expressed during your ride.

The process of discovering your fitness at the time of the activity is called signature extraction.  It is an algorithm that attempts to fit the signature parameters using the previous signature as starting values and uses a type of gradient descent to establish the new signature variables.  In principle, how your power declines during those moments of maximal effort informs the system on how your signature variables need to be adjusted.

Fitness Signature Decay

A common question we get about Xert is “I’ve been doing all this training and following the Adaptive Training Advisor, why is my Threshold Power declining?”.  In reality, fitness isn’t declining per se.  Xert is applying a decay forcing your signature to be a bit lower than it is predicting it to be.  To understand this concept, we look to what Signature Decay Method means.  Signature decay is applied on each signature value based on the method you choose.  Optimal Decay is the default but other good choices are No Decay or Small Decay.  The amount of decay determines how much your signature variables will be reduced relative to what Xert is predicting them to be.  To give an example (and something you could do with your own Xert account), we can update the Signature Decay Method and see what happens. Under Account Settings / Profile, you can see your Fitness Signature and the Signature Decay Method:

This athlete has Optimal Decay set as their Signature Decay Method.  He/she recently had a breakthrough just a week or so ago.  If we change the Signature Decay Method to No Decay and click the Save Settings button (N.B: DO NOT use the Recalculate Progression button. Simply use the Save Settings button when changing decay method) , we get the following new signature:

If we change to Small Decay, we get the following:

Notice how there isn’t a lot of difference between them.  This is because, the last breakthrough was recent.  However, if we now look at another athlete’s profile where the last breakthrough was 2 months ago, you can see that the choice of Signature Decay Method can have a larger effect on their current fitness signature. Here’s what it looks like with Optimal Decay:

No Decay:

Small Decay:

As you can see, the choice of decay method is very important if you are avoiding breakthroughs and doing lots of training without them. Threshold Power for this athlete ranges from 243W to 255W depending on the choice of methods.

Here’s a summary guide on how the Signature Decay Method will impact your signature relative to your Training Loads:

Why isn’t No Decay the default?

This is a key Xert concept to understand that often gets missed. Decay is needed for two very important reasons:

1. Athletes prefer to prove they have the fitness rather than have the system predict it.  When we asked athletes if they would want the system to predict their fitness without needing breakthroughs, the majority of users did not want to use predictions but would have the system use breakthroughs.
2. Data is error-prone.  If a fitness signature variable is over-estimated due to a data anomaly, without a decay, it may never return to the correct value.  This is important for users to understand because Xert needs to work for everyone’s data and many users do not have clean, error-free data.

Optimal Decay resolves both of these.  The decay in fitness relative to the predicted values allows you to obtain a breakthrough, providing you with the feedback you need to see how your fitness is changing over time based on your efforts.  In addition, it helps you avoid extended periods where a data error may have gone undetected.  However, if you’re data is of good quality and you are wanting to track day-to-day fitness signature changes based on your training, choosing No Decay is preferred.  Small Decay offers a good balance between the two.

The Dreaded Near Breakthrough

We’ve all had them:

• the open circles on our XPMC
• the red numbers on our Breakthrough report
• the black breakthrough tag on the app

Sometimes we get a real breakthrough, for example, with a jump in High Intensity Energy but a big drop in Threshold Power.  Sometimes the opposite.  These are classified as bronze breakthroughs because a signature variable increased but the increase isn’t what we wanted.  These too might be questionable.

Near Breakthroughs are Important

Many users complain about fakethroughs.  They believe that Xert should not reduce signature variables.  The reason why Xert does this is due to the fact that there are many factors that affect your fitness and ability to perform.  If Xert were to ignore fakethroughs but there is a legitmate reason why your fitness has declined, you wouldn’t know if the system ignored them. Most fakethroughs are not material to your training. You may get a small decline in threshold power for example, by a watt or two.  These are just minor adjustments often gaining more precision on your fitness.  Sometimes though, you may get one after another.  When you see this, it may be an indicator of over-training or just a period of over-reaching where your fitness is about to bounce back.  Either way, seeing these near breakthroughs in your data helps you see what’s happening with your fitness.

When is the fakethrough truly “fake” and should be flagged?

Sometimes you might see an adjustment and scratch you head wondering why it happened.  If you’re using the MPA Garmin datafield or the Xert EBC app during a ride and notice MPA dropping very low but you have more left to go and you leave something in the tank (often you might crest a hill or back off after closing a gap), this can be an indicator that the fakethough isn’t a true representation and should be flagged.  Sometimes you come back from your ride where there was a finishing sprint where you let off the gas at the very end and Xert awards you with an increase in threshold power and a big decrease in high intensity energy, again this may not make sense. To determine whether a fakethrough should be flagged, you have to assess how you felt and what you did during the maximal effort period (usually a few seconds or longer where MPA and power align).  If those few seconds had you interrupt the natural process of fatigue by not doing your absolute max effort, the resultant signature might be incorrect and should be flagged.

Many times you’ll see the fakethrough and know you had more to give.  You can flag them if the adjustment is more than just a minor one.  Sometimes, threshold power doesn’t change but you get a big drop in high intensity energy. Don’t let these go unflagged if they too might have been due to some strange behaviour at the time of the max effort.  This can affect future signature changes. Xert has the flagging feature for a reason – flag activities with signatures that may introduce errors.  Doing this helps you get a better signature and track of your progress.

Double-dipping

A double-dip as we call it, is when the system adjusts your fitness from a breakthrough and adjusts it from the training improvement from having done it.  That’s a bit confusing because Xert is applying both adjustments simulataneously. Another way of explaining it is the breakthrough causes an adjustment in your fitness signature but the activity you performed in producing the breakthrough was hard and introduced a lot of strain.  This, on its own even without the breakthrough would have given you an improvement in your signature.  That is, your signature Training Loads would have increased from having done the ride and the new signature calculation shows an increase in values.

Xert tracks both your fitness changes from training and your fitness changes from breakthroughs.  It’s this combination that helps you see your day-to-day changes and improvements you are making.

Xert Helps You Track Every Change In Fitness

Keep in mind one thing: no system has ever attempted to pick up day-to-day changes in your fitness like Xert is doing.  The mere fact that is works at all for anyone is quite an accomplishment.  Sometimes however it might need a nudge here and there from a thoughtful user.  Tracking your fitness with precision isn’t just about Xert’s algorithms.  It’s about you and helping you see what’s happening as you train.  Getting this level of understanding is what makes Xert an essential part of your training.

On Xert EBC (Android and iOS), you’ll find trainer mode in the bottom left-hand corner of the screen. To toggle between trainer modes, simply tap the Trainer Mode. In the Xert Workout Player for ConnectIQ, you can switch modes by bringing up the trainer menu (tap the menu button on bottom right for Edge 820/1000 series devices, or press the ‘back’ button on bottom right for Edge 520 series devices). From there, you can select the trainer mode that you’d like to use.

Xert EBC Trainer Modes (Android/iOS)

• AUTO – This is the default setting, and is the mode you will be using most often while using Xert EBC on Android and iOS. AUTO mode simply means that the trainer automatically switches between ERG mode and SLOPE mode.
  • This mode is designed to support Xert’s MIXEDMODE workouts, where the resistance for some intervals are controlled automatically (like ERG mode) and other intervals will be completed in SLOPE mode (you’ll need to use gears and cadence to hit the power targets).
  • Any intervals that are performed in SLOPE mode during your workout will have a ‘SLOPE x.x%’ indicated in the Xert EBC app & on the session player!
• SLOPE – This trainer setting allows your trainer to hold a virtual slope. When you switch to SLOPE mode, you will need to use your bike’s gearing and your cadence to meet the interval targets.
  • You can adjust the simulated slope percentage by tapping the UP/DOWN arrows on iOS and Android. Each tap adjusts the simulated slope up/down 0.5%
  • Generally, you’ll find that a “false flat” slope of approximately 1.5 – 2.5% will provide the best results, but feel free to experiment on your own and determine what works best for you.
  • When moving from very low powers (< 150W) to very high powers (>300W), you’ll notice a bit of a lag as your trainer spins up and gains inertia. Once at speed, you may notice a slight drop in power, so you may need to shift up another gear or increase your cadence.
• ERG – This trainer setting holds your smart trainer at a fixed, absolute intensity (i.e. 100 W), regardless of your cadence or gearing.
  • NOTE: This mode will not automatically follow the intensity of the workout intervals – use AUTO mode instead.
  • To adjust the intensity of ERG mode, use the UP/DOWN arrows on iOS and Android. Each tap adjusts the intensity up/down 5 Watts.
• RESISTANCE – This trainer setting simulates a magnetic or fluid ‘dumb trainer’. Similar to SLOPE mode, in this trainer mode, you will need to control your power output through usage of your bike’s gearing and your cadence.
  • You can adjust the resistance percentage by tapping the UP/DOWN arrows on iOS and Android
  • The amount of resistance varies from trainer to trainer, so if you plan to use this mode, you may need to experiment and find the setting which works best for you.
• OFF – This turns off all trainer control, and essentially turns your smart trainer into a dumb trainer. This mode can be helpful if you wish to let another app control your trainer (Zwift, for example).

Xert Workout Player Trainer Modes (Garmin)

• Power Control – This is the default setting, and is likely the mode you will be using the vast majority of the time while using Xert workout players on Garmin. In Power Control mode, the trainer automatically matches the resistance of your trainer power to match the interval target of your workout.
  • This mode also supports mixed mode workouts, where some intervals can be controlled automatically and other intervals will be completed in SLOPE mode. The app will automatically switch back and forth between controlling the resistance for you and SLOPE mode.
• Resistance – This trainer setting simulates a magnetic or fluid ‘dumb trainer’. Similar to SLOPE mode, in this trainer mode, you will need to control your power output through usage of your bike’s gearing and your cadence.
  • You can adjust the resistance percentage by tapping the UP/DOWN arrows on iOS and Android
  • The amount of resistance varies from trainer to trainer, so if you plan to use this mode, you may need to experiment and find the setting which works best for you
• Slope – This trainer setting allows your trainer to hold a fixed, virtual slope. In this mode, you are responsible for controlling your power output through your use of your bike’s gearing and your cadence.
  • You can adjust the simulated slope percentage by tapping the UP/DOWN arrows on iOS and Android. Each tap adjusts the simulated slope up/down 0.5%
  • Generally, you’ll find that a “false flat” slope of approximately 1.5 – 2.5% will provide the best results, but feel free to experiment on your own and determine what works best for you.
  • When moving from very low powers (< 150W) to very high powers (>300W), you’ll notice a bit of a lag as your trainer spins up and gains inertia. Once at speed, you may notice a slight drop in power, so you may need to shift up another gear or increase your cadence.
• Off – This turns off all trainer control, and essentially turns your smart trainer into a dumb trainer. This mode can be helpful if you wish to let another app control your trainer (Zwift, for example).

Which trainer mode should I be using?

In general, AUTO mode is the default, recommended trainer mode for the vast majority of following a workout using one of the Xert Workout Players. Use this if you wish to simply pedal along and have the Xert workout player automatically control your effort through the entire workout.

When doing a high intensity workout, or one of the Breakthrough workouts in the library, you may want to experiment with performing these workouts using SLOPE or RESISTANCE modes. Using SLOPE/RESISTANCE means that you will need to pay attention to your power output relative to the power targets of the workout and make adjustments as you go. However, using one of these modes during a breakthrough workout has some unique advantages. Firstly, you can avoid the dreaded ‘spiral of death’ (or the feeling of getting bogged down by your trainer if your cadence gets too low) towards the end of a breakthrough interval. Additionally, if you are using SLOPE mode for a breakthrough effort, you can continue pushing until you truly reach a point of failure, even if that point is beyond when an interval ‘ends’. When using AUTO mode, the interval will end exactly when it’s told to, even if you haven’t been able to fully express your fitness signature, or if you have even more to give.

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.

Login

Enter your Xert username & password to login to your Xert profile. You will only need to login the first time you open the app unless you log out using the button in the top right corner of the Settings page.

Activities

Activities: summary

In the summary view you’ll see your:

1. Training status & freshness (colour of stars),
2. Current Threshold Power,
3. Focus power, based on your chosen Athlete Type,
4. Complete Fitness Signature, including your Lower Threshold Power (LTP)
5. Summaries of your activities, listed in chronological order from most to least recent.

By tapping anywhere on an activity summary ‘card’ you’ll open an expanded view of the metrics from that activity. If you had a breakthrough during the activity, a banner will appear at the top (1) and you’ll be able to see how your breakthrough impacted your Fitness Signature (2). By scrolling down you’ll see an image of your MPA chart, a Google Street View from the location of your breakthrough, and the map of your activity (3).

Activities: expanded

Train

This is a powerful section of the app. It allows you to view the training recommendations of the Xert Adaptive Training Advisor (XATA) (1),  and select a workout from a list (2) ranked by how closely they match the advice of XATA; they are listed in order of closest to farthest from the advice. Note that there is always a workout selected for your in the background (3) in case you need one.

If you’d like to do a different workout than the one recommended, you can either scroll down and select another by tapping it, or you can filter (4) the workout list and select from there.

Workout Filter Options

Workouts can be filtered in several ways depending on your needs. Most often, filtering by duration to find a workout that fits into your schedule and leaving XATA to do the rest, is the best option, but sometimes you may wish to select from a library of workouts created by your coach, or from your own list of custom-created workouts.

Here are the workout filters available:

1. Workout library;
   • Standard – the library from Xert,
   • Coach – workouts from your coach(es),
   • Personal – workouts you created using the Xert Workout Designer.
2. Workout duration;
3. Workout Focus.

Tap the ‘Filter’ button (4) when you have made your selections to update the workout list. You can also tap ‘Clear’ (5) to remove all filters.

Settings

The settings page allows you to configure your Sensors (1), access information about Xert (2), or logout (3).

To configure your sensors on the Sensors page, be sure that your desired sensors are ‘awake’, then tap the desired category, and select the sensor. You may need to wait a few seconds for your trainer or other sensors to be found, but once listed, tap its name to select. The sensor category will change from grey to turquoise and the sensor will appear by name with its live data.

The Xert app allows you to configure the following sensors:

• Power Source (e.g. on-bike power meter),
• Trainer Control (if you have a ‘smart’ trainer),
• Heart Rate,
• Cadence (often, though not always, from your on-bike power meter), and
• Speed (often, though not always, from your ‘smart’ trainer).

Powermatch can also be enabled in the Xert app. Powermatch typically means using your on-bike power meter to override the power from your smart trainer, thereby ensuring that your power data is consistently measured when riding indoors AND outdoors. To enable, simply select your on-bike power meter under Power Source, and select your trainer under Trainer Control. Powermatch has been enabled in the example above.

Workout Mode (under ‘Train’)

To do a workout, first ensure that your sensors are configured and awake, then tap any workout to select it, and then tap the play button.

The controls and views available during your workout are:

Controls

1. Skip to the next interval or return to the beginning of the current interval (if the current interval is < 10s, using the left facing arrows will return you back to the previous interval),
2. Increase or decrease the intensity of the entire workout,
3. Pause, stop, save, resume or discard your workout. When saved, activities will be uploaded automatically, but if no internet connection is available when saved, it will be uploaded when a ‘refresh’ is initiated (pull down on the screen to refresh).
4. Toggle between various resistance modes. Currently, FTMS supports ERG mode (i.e. allow Xert, Zwift or another connected third party to control the resistance), but not Resistance or Slope mode though these are available for future developments in FTMS. ERG mode can also be set to ‘Off’. When in ERG mode, the intensity of the entire workout can be adjusted by using the + or – buttons (2) in the bottom right and left corner, respectively,
5. Configure your sensors on-the-fly. Once configured, press the back button in the top left corner of the Sensors page to return to your workout.

Note that the Xert Remote Player is automatically enabled in the background without any need to change settings in the app.

Views (live workout)

Several views are available during your workout by swiping the two top sections to the left or right.

Top view

Top 1/1

The outer/pink dial is your Maximal Power Available (MPA) and it will ’empty’ from right to left as you draw it down during sustained efforts above your Threshold Power.

The inner dial shows current power (white needle) and target power (white triangle). The power ‘zones’ are colour-coded based on your Fitness Signature:

Colour,Definition
Blue,Lower Threshold Power (LTP)
Green,Threshold Power (TP)
Yellow,Above Threshold Power
Orange,5 minute power (based on fatigue)
Red,Maximal Power Available (MPA)
Purple,Above MPA

Top 1/2

• Accumulated Strain by this point in the workout;
• Xert Equivalent Power (XEP) by this point in the workout;
• Focus & Athlete Type by this point in the workout;
• Difficulty rating by this point in the workout.

Top 1/3

Workout profile of the entire workout with current and target power.

Top 1/4

• Average power by this point in the workout;
• XEP by this point in the workout;
• Average cadence by this point in the workout (cadence sensor required);
• Average heart rate by this point in the workout (heart rate sensor required).

Top 1/5

This section is vertically scrollable by swiping up and down. By doing so you’ll be able to view the following information:

• Name of the current interval ‘set’ (top right);
• Name of the current interval (top left);
• Number of interval ‘repeats’ – and progress so far – in this set;
• Duration, average power, and finishing MPA of the completed interval(s) – above highlighted row;
• Duration, target power, and target finishing MPA of current interval – highlighted row;
• Duration, target power, and target finishing MPA of next interval(s) – below highlighted row.

Middle view

Middle 2/1

• Current power and target interval power.

Middle 2/2

• Current power, target interval power.
• Current heart rate (bpm)
• Current power, target interval power, current MPA and target interval MPA.

Creating a Coach Community

As a coach you will need to register for a user account first. You do not need to have a Premium (paid) subscription to Xert to coach others, but we recommend it as it’s a great way to learn the system and to see what you’re athletes are seeing. Here’s how create a coach community:

• Use the menu and click Communities/My Coach and click the Create your own community button:

• Choose the Coach radio option

• Input your Coach Community details and Save. Your Coach Community is now created and available.

• Use the Share Icon or Share Link to copy the URL that you can share to invite athletes to your Coach Community.  Paste the link in an email or message that you send to your athletes.  The URL will look like this: https://www.xertonline.com/coaches/<coach-community-name>/join

Settings

Your settings can be updated at any time. Besides changing your logo or picture, company URL, and company social media sites, you’re also able to:

1. Add a description of your coaching business: this is a great place to talk about your coaching philosophy and approach, coaching interests, as well as any designations & certifications you have acheived.
2. Auto-approve all memberships: through the Community > My Coach menu on the left side of the website, athletes can search for coaches and request to join their community. Clicking this box allows athletes to see you in the list of coaches, click ‘Join’, and be automatically added to your coaching community. They will be able to see your workouts & discussions, and as the coach you’ll be able to see their profile, activities, Fitness Signature, and other details.
3. Enable joining by ‘Invite Only’: by clicking this box your coaching business will appear on the list of coaches, but athletes will not be able to join your coaching community. To add them to your coaching community you must invite them to join.
4. Hide your coaching business in the coach listing: if ‘Visible in open coach listings’ remains disabled, your business will not be visible in the list of coaches.

Your Coaching Community

Within your coaching community are several important tabs and columns.

1. Tab – Dashboard: allows you to see, and open, all activities completed by your athletes. They are listed in chronological order with the most recent one at the top.
2. Tab – Workouts: any workout you create in your athlete or coach profile will appear here. Your athletes can search, review, and do these workouts, and you’re able to add these workouts to your athlete’s planner.
3. Tab – Discussion: this is an integrated Rocket.Chat forum which is open to you and your athletes. You can answer questions, discuss training & physiology, and provide tips using this feature.
   • From the discussion tab, you can also send personal messages to athletes within your coaching community
4. Tab – Members: all coaches & athletes who have joined or requested to join your coaching community appear in this list. Enabling “Show my Athletes” limits the list to joined & accepted athletes within your coaching community. Coaches within your community, and athletes who have requested to join but who have not been accepted, will be omitted from this list.
5. Tab – Invite athletes: by clicking this icon you can invite athletes by username or email.
6. Column – Coach: you can elect to assign any unassigned athlete to your specific coaching business. Once assigned, you can see which coach (if you have other coaches within your business) this athlete has been assigned to.
7. Column – Role: there are three different roles visible in this column…
   • Head Coach: a profile can have many coaches and athletes. The Head Coach is the admin profile for the coaching business used in this example.
   • Coach: this is a coach within the head coach’s business
   • Member: this is an athlete member of the coaching community
8. Column – Options: for each member you are able to add and remove coaches, and approve athletes who have requested to join your coaching community.

Broad  Functionality

Powerful functions are available directly from the Member column including the ability to view their workout LIVE through their Remote Player, send them an email directly to the email address associated with the athlete’s Xert account, and access the athlete’s Xert profile to unlock a broad set of functionality.For example, as a coach you can:

• view all of your athletes’ activities and activity history exactly how they see them, to look for patterns and insight;
• access detailed activity data to help trouble-shoot wonky power data or answer questions about their Fitness Signature;
• add comments into planned and past activities for the athlete to review;
• create your own library of workouts and drop them into a specific day within your athlete’s Fitness Planner;
• you can even pay for their subscription to Xert through the billing portal.

And that’s what you need to know to get started with your coaching business using some of the most advanced tools available for athletes, and coaches.

The Impact to Off-Season Training Plans

Although there is still a lot of attention paid to choosing and performing an appropriate Training Plan during the off-season,  the need for training plans to accommodate a wider variety of athletes who are now joining the fold, with less flexible time schedules, is becoming more important. Most current training plan systems – whether online or not – are not adaptive. In other words, they don’t adapt to your changes in fitness, current form (tired or fresh), your schedule or your group rides and races without the help of an attentive coach. Indoor riding & training systems are no different. Following a structured, rigid plan on the trainer over the winter is simply not in the cards for many athletes. Athletes need plans that are adaptive to accommodate all the variability, virtual group rides, racing and different goals athletes may have.

Using Zwift with Xert and Adaptive Training Plans

Xert makes it easy for you to reach your goals AND ride in Zwift, without the limits of an inflexible training plan. With the Adaptive Training Advisor and with the ability to do your Xert workouts in Zwift, you get the best of both worlds: a progressive training plan of workouts that are specifically adapted to you at the moment that you do them, AND an engaging environment in which you can ride.

1. Training That’s Uniquely Adapted To You

When you export a Zwift (ZWO) workout from your Xert account, it calculates the workout interval targets that reflect your fitness at that moment. This means that the workout is:

1. The perfect workout for that day to meet your fitness goals.
2. A workout that is perfectly tuned to your current fitness.

Xert enables you to export that workout in ZWO format and load it to an Xert category in Zwift. The advisor will recommend a workout that uses a wide range of parameters that Xert establishes. Be sure to read about the Adaptive Training Advisor to see how the selection process works and how your fitness and form at that moment, together with your goals, is used to find the best workout for you.

2. Fun Indoor Riding Means Reaching your Training Goals

Effective training is progressive training, which means you’re progressively adding strain to your body over a period of time, in increments that both challenge your body, and to which your body can adapt (remember, fitness gains don’t come from the training itself, but from the adaptations to the training stimulus). With a good indoor training setup that you enjoy using, you can consistently deliver on the first pillar of progressive training: frequency. (Remember the F.I.T. principle: Frequency, Intensity, Time.) Zwift delivers an engaging virtual riding environment that keeps you coming back for more, and when combined with workouts adapted to your needs, you can ride indoors and see progressive improvements towards your goals.

3. Unstructured Training Counts, Sometimes More

Doing intervals day-in and day-out is not only boring but isn’t always the optimal training you can do. Intervals per se, don’t provide the benefit. The strain you obtain from doing them does. With Xert, since it precisely calculates the strain from both structured interval workouts as well as unstructured riding, you can do your group rides or races AND follow a training plan towards success. In fact, many times these rides offer the motivation to generate more strain, and thus improvements, that you would not have seen had you simply followed a boring interval workout that you don’t complete. Check the Adaptive Training Advisor’s recommendations on how much strain you need (Training Deficit) and what type of training you need to do (Focus Duration) to guide you to choosing which group ride/race will meet you training needs at a given point in your training program.

Indeed, everyone needs a break from structured training. Workouts can become tedious. You may even get fed up with your existing Training Plan. With Xert, that’s ok. All is not lost. Simply have the Adaptive Training Advisor assess your current fitness, training load and form together with your target event, and you’ll be back on track again. Once the power data from your Zwift ride, even if it’s ‘J.R.A.’ (Just Riding Along), is analyzed by Xert, all changes to your fitness signature, training load, form and other metrics are updated instantly so that your next workout can be perfectly prescribed.

So, go ahead and ride! Enjoy, and benefit from, your indoor riding using your favourite Xert workout, or checking out a new route in Zwift.

Helpful Resources For Indoor Riding

Never do an FTP Test Again

How to set up the Xert Remote Player

How to load Xert workouts to Zwift

The Ultimate Guide to Training with Xert and Zwift

The Stars

As your training volume increases and decreases throughout the year, you might notice the number of stars in your profile increase or decrease, corresponding with your changes in training. To earn your first star, you must reach a training load of 25, which indicates that, on average, you have accrued 25 XSS/day recently. To earn additional stars, you must achieve Training Loads listed below:

0 Stars – Untrained: Training Load < 25
1 Star – Recreational: 50 > Training Load >= 25
2 Stars – Trained: 75 > Training Load >= 50
3 Stars – Competitive: 110 > Training Load > 75
4 Stars – Elite: 150 > Training Load >= 110
5 Stars – Pro Level: Training Load >= 150

Training Status

The colour of your stars is determined both by your long-term fitness & recent training activity.

• Very Fresh (Green): Low, High, & Peak intensity systems are ready to train. High Intensity training can be completed. Often happens after some additional recovery.
• Fresh (Blue): Low, High, & Peak intensity systems are ready to train. High Intensity training can be completed.
• Tired (Yellow): Low intensity system is ready to go, but High & Peak systems need additional recovery. Endurance activity can be completed, but be sure to avoid high-intensity efforts.
• Very Tired (Red): Low, High, & Peak intensity systems are too tired to train. Consider taking a rest day.

Recovery Demands

User’s can make a system-wide adjustment to their calculated Freshness using the Recovery Demands Slider. For more information, check out the support documentation.

Technical Note: When the Recovery Demands slider is entered, the maximum sustainable ramp rate is limited to less no more than 4. With the slider moved all the way to the right, max sustainable ramp rate is below 2. And with the slider moved all the way left, maximum ramp rate is approximately 7.