Perform – Xert Breakthrough Training

I just rode 7 hours and Xert gave me a Difficulty Rating of Moderate!

Armando Mastracci — Sat, 25 May 2019 20:02:54 +0000

While longer efforts are often never easy or moderate even, Xert bases the Difficulty Rating on the highest Difficulty Score achieved in the activity. Difficulty Score increases with sustained high intensity efforts, particularly when under high fatigue (lowered MPA). These are not likely to occur in longer efforts, or if they do, they are early in the ride when you are fresher and able to produce greater power. As you accumulate longer term fatigue due to the length of a longer ride, it becomes harder to raise your Difficulty Score due to the inability to sustain high intensity efforts very long. Consider the Difficulty Rating a reflection of the intensity and not the length of the ride.

Why is the information that was displayed on my Garmin/Mobile app different than what is shown on the web?

Armando Mastracci — Mon, 22 Apr 2019 15:30:41 +0000

Sometimes you may notice a discrepancy between a calculation made on a mobile app (Garmin, Xert for iOS, Xert for Android) and the Xert Online web app. This is often attributable to a difference in the fitness signature used in the calculation, where the server will update the signature after the activity is analyzed and may use a new fitness signature. This can happen more frequently with the Garmin apps as their fitness signature used in the calculation can get stale if not updated during their initialization. Sometimes errors can creep into the power data too that gets fixed by the server and not by the apps. Finally, sometimes it’s from minor mathematical differences between the platforms that can occur. In general, if the signatures that are used are close and the errors are not major, the differences should not be material.

When will the Xert metrics be available for the X bike computer / watch / PC software?

Armando Mastracci — Sun, 03 Mar 2019 18:31:32 +0000

Unlike the Garmin devices that support ConnectIQ, where we can develop datafields and apps with our team, manufacturers of the other bike computers like Wahoo, Hammerhead, Lezyne, Pioneer or SRM, for example, will need to do their own development work to integrate the Xert metrics onto their platform. This applies to PC software like Zwift, TrainerRoad, SufferFest or PerfProStudio as well. These are closed software systems and they don’t provide access to 3rd party datafields / applications. Our team has developed a software development kit that enables 3rd party software developers to derive the Xert metrics such as MPA, TTE and XSS as well as allow dynamic, smart workouts to be executed. This would allow Xert to run on other bike computers, watches, PC applications, etc.

We encourage you to reach out to your bike computer, watch or PC software vendor and request that you’d like to see the Xert metrics on their units/systems. Many vendors are in the planning stages of implementing Xert support and will prioritize their roadmap based on demand.

I’m having trouble with the Segment Hunter

Armando Mastracci — Mon, 10 Sep 2018 19:17:14 +0000

If you are having difficulty getting the Segment Hunter to work on your Garmin:

1. Be sure to put the app on fullscreen so you can see which segments get fetched.
2. Be sure Garmin Connect Mobile is running on your phone and connected to the Internet.
3. Be sure the phone is connected to your Garmin and you see “Phone Connected.”
4. Wait up to 5 minutes after starting your activity for your segments to get fetched from the server.
5. Be sure you don’t have anything generating lap triggers.
6. Be sure you have your correct username and password configured in settings.
7. Be sure to disable Strava Live Segments.
8. Try using Garmin Connect Mobile rather than Garmin Express (or vice versa) to configure your settings.

Remember, LAP button starts and stops your nearest segment. It will start it from the beginning. START your activity will force the app to fetch new segments again. You may need to wait up to 5 minutes before that process completes.

If all this fails, completely remove the app from your screen and from the device. Restart and add the app again from the App Store. Configure your settings using GCM.

How to add, update and troubleshoot Xert apps/datafields on Garmin

Armando Mastracci — Thu, 05 Apr 2018 13:03:34 +0000

In the spring of 2018 we released updates to our Garmin Connect IQ Data Fields through the Garmin Connect IQ store. These fields will receive your updated Fitness Signature automatically every time you start a new activity. To replace the old version of the Data Fields with the new ones follow the instructions below. If you’re adding them for the first time, skip ahead to step #3.

1. Remove all Xert Data Fields on your Garmin device. You can replace them with other Data Fields as a place holder, or simply remove them and rebuild the ‘data screens’ on your device later. Make sure you remove them from all you Activity Profiles (e.g. “Train”, “Race”, etc.). If you don’t wish to remove them using your device you can also use Garmin Express.

2. Once all the Data Fields have been removed, and if you’re connected through Garmin Express (using a desktop or laptop computer), ‘safely unplug’ your Garmin device. Shut off and restart the device. Now the Xert Data Fields shouldn’t be on your device.

3. If using Garmin Express plug your Garmin unit back in. Or if using Garmin Connect Mobile on your smartphone restart the app.

Data Fields screen on Garmin Connect Mobile

Data Fields in Garmin Express (desktop or laptop computer)

4. a) If using Garmin Connect Mobile select your device, select ‘Activities & App Management’, then ‘Data Fields’ and select your desired Data Field. Press ‘View in Store’ and download the Data Field.

4. b) If using Garmin Express, connect your device and select ‘Connect IQ/Apps’ and update or download the latest Data Fields from the Connect IQ Store.

Xert Username & Password entry for each Data Field using Garmin Connect Mobile

5. Here’s the part we wish we could change (we can’t unfortunately). Using Garmin Express or Garmin Connect Mobile you need to update each of the Data Fields with your Xert username and password so that it can access your Fitness Signature. For each of the Data Fields select ‘Settings’ to find the username and password entry fields.

6. Now, go back to your Garmin device and add each of your preferred Data Fields back into your Activity Profile data screens.

7. Restart Garmin Connect Mobile and wait for your Garmin device to connect.

8. Start recording a new activity on your Garmin device and wait a few minutes. The Data Fields should update with your new Fitness Signature, confirmed by a pop-up on each of your Xert Data Fields saying “Updated” and the orange dot on the left of each Data Field will change to green. Note that this can take over 5 minutes.

When you stop recording the app will save your Xert Fitness Signature for your next activity.

TROUBLE SHOOTING

Red dots on left won’t change to green, or Fitness Signature won’t update.
If you’re seeing a red dot, it means that either the login information (username/password) has been keyed in incorrectly or the Garmin isn’t reading the settings. One way to get it to read the settings is to navigate to another activity profile on the Garmin, update the settings with Garmin Express or Garmin Connect Mobile, then move back to the Activity Profile containing the apps. The apps get unloaded when you move to an Activity Profile that isn’t using them. A device reboot should also do this. If neither of these work, try changing your Xert account password on XertOnline.com and doing the same in Garmin Connect.

Yellow dots on left won’t change to green.
If you’re not getting a connection (stays yellow), you can start your Garmin unit, start Garmin Connect Mobile, wait for the Phone to be connected, and then start your activity by pressing the ‘Start’ button on your Garmin unit. Clicking start has the apps query for their signature via Garmin Connect Mobile. This can take up to 5 minutes so you may need to be patient. Note that if you don’t see a green dot, your settings that were obtained the previous time will be used. If you then see a red dot, it most likely means that your username/password have not been correctly entered (see above).