Breakthroughs with Xert

When you push past your limits – and Xert discovers an improvement.

A Breakthrough happens when your power goes beyond what Xert predicted based on your current Fitness Signature and Maximum Power Available (MPA).

In simple terms: your efforts showed you are capable of more than Xert thought.

Quick Summary

  • A Breakthrough happens when your power reaches or exceeds your MPA.
  • It tells Xert your Fitness Signature needs to be updated.
  • Breakthroughs show you’ve reached a new level of fitness.
  • They often occur during hard climbs, races, intervals, or all-out efforts.
  • Near-breakthroughs (“Fakethroughs”) are close calls that may slightly lower your signature.

What is a Breakthrough?

Xert predicts how much power you can produce at any moment using your Fitness Signature and your real-time fatigue (MPA). When you ride so hard that your actual power matches or exceeds your MPA, Xert detects a Breakthrough.

This tells Xert:

  • Your real-world ability has improved.
  • Your Fitness Signature needs to be updated
  • You’ve reached a new performance level.

After a Breakthrough, Xert automatically updates your Fitness Signature to reflect your new capabilities.

Where do Breakthroughs happen?

Breakthroughs can happen in many situations – anytime you truly give it everything you have, including hard group rides, intervals that push you to your limits, or races!

  • Hard climbs where you push all the way to the top.
  • Races or Zwift events where you really dig deep to stay with the group or sprint for the finish.
  • Structured intervals where the last rep is an all-out effort.
  • Spontaneous “give it everything” efforts on a Strava segment or a climb.

You don’t have to “plan” for them like an FTP test – they often happen naturally during your rides when you are highly motivated and feeling good!

Types of Breakthroughs

Not all Breakthroughs are the same. Depending on how many aspects of your Fitness Signature improve, Xert awards one of three Breakthrough levels:

  • Bronze Breakthrough – one of your three Fitness Signature parameters increases.
  • Silver Breakthrough – two parameters increase.
  • Gold Breakthrough – all three parameters increase.

You’ll see these colours reflected throughout Xert – in your Breakthrough Report, which you can share to Strava, your XPMC chart, and in your Activities Dashboard. They make it easy to spot your biggest achievements at a quick glance.

Near-Breakthroughs

Sometimes you might get very close to your limits, but maybe you stopped short of what Xert thought you could do. These are called near-breakthroughs (or “Fakethroughs”). This can happen when:

  • You ease off near the top of a hill.
  • You stop just short of reaching your limits because you caught back up to the group, or the race ended, etc.
  • You weren’t watching your power or MPA closely.

In these cases, Xert may adjust your Fitness Signature slightly downward, since it appears you reached your limit below your previous numbers.

If you know it wasn’t a true maximal effort (for example, you backed off early), you can flag the activity. Xert will then ignore the near-breakthrough when updating your signature.

Do you need Breakthroughs to get fitter?

No. You do not need frequent Breakthroughs in order to improve your fitness. Breakthroughs simply help Xert:

  • Keep your Fitness Signature highly accurate.
  • Confirm when you’ve reached new performance levels.

You can still get fitter by following your training, even without chasing Breakthroughs. Think of them as helpful check-ins, not a requirement.

Next: Understanding Xert Strain Score (XSS)

Now that you know how Breakthroughs update your Fitness Signature, the next step is learning how Xert measures the total strain from every ride using Xert Strain Score (XSS).

XSS helps you understand how hard a ride was, how much it contributed to your training across all 3 dimensions of your fitness, and how it shapes your fitness over time.