Did I Hit My Goal?
Let’s make February a Month for Breakthroughs!
Thanks for watching, and Enjoy the Ride!
Xert 5MMP
Xert 5MMP – Can I REALLY Achieve A Breakthrough?
I’m just nine days out from my Peak date per Xert. My Xert 5MMP is reading “355”, and it floats between 355 and 357. I rode some 5 minute intervals yesterday and barely broke 302! The Vo2 data is showing that 355 will be a true challenge.
I believe my Xert 5MMP is Achievable, but not as a straight, horizontal average. I’m going to attempt it with my own strategy, which involves “Bank it”, then “Spend it”.
Watch the video and let me know what you think.
Enjoy the ride!
Garmin Profiles Part 1 – Xert Training Fields
What's On Your Garmin?
I frequently get this question. "What's on your Garmin?" "What's on your Screen?" "What do your Profiles look like?" How do you set up your Xert Training Fields, and in what order?In this post, I'll walk you through the entire process.
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A Letter To A Client – Xert Progression
Dear James,
I Just wanted to give you a heads up on what I’m looking at in terms of your Xert progression.
First Things First – Xert Progression
This is a NICE CHART OF XERT PROGRESSION. It’s safe, it’s consistent, and it’s predictive. The Form line is just a hunch right now. As long as you feel okay, we continue. There are no signs of overtraining.
XERT Training Pacer and Summary Boxes
IF we were looking at the ATA, well, it’s pretty much spot-on. You’re right on the edge of “Training” and “Training Optional”, and the Xert Progression future workout is arguing for something a little less intense. We’ll see about that. I don’t agree or disagree, but the physiological modeling is rolling parallel to what I’m providing as a coach. However, we communicate more effectively, and we also know when you’re feeling good enough for a breakthrough, when the model might say something different.
XERT Progression Stress Chart
STRESS continues to trend upward. You and I know that a good hour on the bike can use as much as 800-1000kj’s, and we’re S L O W L Y going to work our way up for that. Still – I like seeing this growth. It’s going to lead to a great aerobic engine. This is one of my favorite Xert Progression charts; we know how much energy it takes to ride, and here, we see it in a rolling average.
XERT Progression Strain Chart
As for Strain, well…. The QUALITY days are QUALITY! HIGH QUALITY! AWESOME QUALITY! LOOK AT THE PURPLE MATCH HEADS!!! And the QUANTITY DAYS ARE QUANTITY! Little-to-no match head! Recovery days are also just that – Recovery; there’s no match head to speak of. Also notice that your Xert Progression Focus line is out there in the “GC Specialist” area. I am JUST fine with that, as, if you think about it – 8 minutes is a PRETTY AEROBIC effort. The Focus Spike was right before your breakthrough, and it settled down again after those two silver medals. We’ll be attempting breakthroughs less frequently now, but when they come, they’ll be “Big Silvers”, as we develop the HIE capacity, and let FTP float up. IT will pull Lower Threshold.
XERT Progression Fitness Signature Chart
Speaking of Signatures…..
You’re identifying your TRUE HIE, which is fundamental to interval intensity and duration. You are also showing a GREAT, YAWNING GAP of Tempo Power, from 189 watts to 242 watts, which is what I like to call my “Post-Breakaway With 45k to go” power. Remember – I WANT YOU TO BE THE ONLY ONE IN THE PICTURE WHEN THE FINISH LINE COMES AROUND! All of that will rise as FTP and HIE go up. We’ll also ‘Push’ Lower Threshold with LOOOOONG slow rides once the weather warms up where you are.
XERT Progression Fitness Planner
Finally – let’s take a look at the Planner, as it confirms a few things, and points out a few others…
We’ll start with Ramp Rate. Outside of the week of the 18th, which is still okay at 7.2, look at what the simple act of Progression has built for you; a nice, steady Ramp up of XSS/Day volume. We’ve also seen improved Signatures because of this, and in the last two weeks, we’ve hovered near a 90:10 ratio through Friday of each week. I’m not concerned about smacking a 90:10 or greater for a whole week – THAT would take less volume, and would be too intense for this time of year. Look back at the Strain Chart, and you’ll see that those Quality Days were so beautiful, and fun, that the Easy days ended up being easier, and longer, at higher levels of wattage and energy. Total XSS for the week ended at 669, and it’s THAT number, along with the FOUR WEEKS of GROWTH, is what MIGHT necessitate a Periodization. NOT this week, but maybe NEXT week. We’ll see how this goes as we progress.
For the upcoming week, don’t forget to try and RAISE your watts over the set time periods, and follow my “bank it, then spend it” philosophy. Think of it as half-wheeling from hell. We’ll get appropriate dips in MPA, we’ll see better colors in the “Focus” field, and we’ll continue to see breakthroughs AS YOU SEE FIT!
You’re on your way, and I can’t wait to see what the next two or three weeks bring you in terms of Signature, Volume, and Fatigue. Don’t forget to do some resistance training, and if there are ANY twitches or warning signs from your hip, calves, or heart, we back down, and recover. No injuries. Train hard, Rest Harder.
Chat soon.
—
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Cycling Center Dallas
Cycling Center Dallas
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Four Weeks
A NEW OPPORTUNITY TO APPLY XERT
On April 25th, 2018, I received an email from a past client. Joe had mostly come to the Cycling Center Dallas Studio for weekend FLASH rides, when the weather was too poor to ride outdoors. He was always a good cyclist, but beyond the 2 hours here and there, I did not know much about his ability as a cyclist or a competitor. Joe had not been to my studio recently enough to learn about my infatuation with Xert, the cycling fitness assessment model that has led my clients to such recent success.
“Can you get me ready for ‘Bike the Bricks’?”
BIKE THE BRICKS
Bike the Bricks is a Criterium bike race, held on the Friday of Memorial Day weekend, in McKinney, Texas. It is usually the first day of up to five days straight of bike racing. Bike the Bricks, however, is the most popular and exciting, as it winds it’s way through a bootleg-shaped course, in the middle of downtown McKinney. It’s VERY spectator-friendly.
Four weeks is a really short time to prepare ANYONE for a competitive event, but I had another idea in mind.
“Maybe? What type of Power Meter do you have?”
“A new Quarq.”
“Excellent. What type of head unit do you use?”
“I have a Garmin 520.”
“Okay – let’s meet and assess your current training values, and then let’s chat about the best strategy to take so you’re best prepared.”
ASSESSMENT AND TRAINING – NO, ASSESSMENT AND TEACHING XERT!
Now, anyone who has ridden or trained for a bike race knows that unless the athlete is already somewhat fit, not even a miracle can leave them prepared for the demands of a bike race, in such a short period of time. Yet I had a different idea in my head; if I could use the information offered up through Xert, then we could help the athlete BETTER UNDERSTAND his fitness, the dynamics of the race, when and how to attack, bridge, or recover, and even when a breakthrough might occur or be appropriate.
Per my directions, the athlete showed up early, got a proper warmup, and using his verbal claim of Threshold/Critical Power, I plugged him in to PerfPro Studio, and gave him some of my nastiest intervals. Then, his Xert Fitness Signature was properly set. Over the next three weeks, I looked at the information that his power meter and head unit provided. It gave me the ability to better understand his fitness. I was better at planning the strategy of the workouts. Finally, I was better at helping him understand just what the head unit was telling him, through the use of the Xert Fields.
Xert Intervals With Tabatas (Click to Watch Video)
Ironically, the traditional fitness signatures used by Xert DROPPED over the next three weeks…
FINDING THE MOST ACCURATE FITNESS SIGNATURE
Now, an athlete might believe that this was a sign of less fitness. However, I believe it was a sign of a MORE ACCURATE FITNESS SIGNATURE! He DID achieve fitness breakthroughs, but the Xert Signatures, which used data from his winter and spring training, was tuning itself to the short, hard intensity intervals that I was providing the athlete.
On the Tuesday before the race, I had the client come in for a final Fitness Signature Assessment. The result?
A GOLD MEDAL, and a final fitness signature that looked like this:
- Peak Power: 1227 Watts
- High Intensity Energy (HIE): 21.7 KiloJoules
- Threshold Power: 270 Watts
DISCUSSION ABOUT HOW TO APPLY XERT IN THE RACE
Additionally, armed with this knowledge, and confident that it was accurate, the athlete and I then discussed how to use it in the upcoming race.
- We used ONE FIELD – Watts/MPA.
- When Watts turned black, he was above Threshold, at 270-383 watts.
- Above 383 watts, his watts were YELLOW, and he was on BORROWED time.
- If watts turned RED, he was above 770 watts when fresh, and he would not be able to sustain this power for more than 30 seconds.
- As the race wore on, fatigue set in, and MPA dropped, he could expect the colors on watts to turn yellow and red at LOWER intensities.
- He was to try and avoid a breakthrough for at least the first half of the race, and hopefully marshall his resources so he could use them in the last few laps, or at the finish.
- IF he saw yellow watts for too long, he should back off, and try to find a wheel to draft behind.
- If he was fresh, and the pack was slowing, he could take risks, or attempt a breakaway.
To sum it all up; it all depended on the color of the watts, and the MPA values. He had learned that MPA was the key; if it dropped, he was riding VERY hard. If it rebounded, he was recovering. HE could make the race. Armed with this new knowledge, HE could attack, bridge, recover, lead out – anything. It was HIS fitness that mattered, not the random surges and recoveries of the Peloton.
Next, we discussed hydration, staying cool in the heat and humidity, diet, carbo-loading, and teamwork, and I sent him off with my usual “Good Luck, but you don’t need it! YOU HAVE SKILL AND TALENT AND KNOWLEDGE! USE THEM!”
RESULTS
Unfortunately, I left the next day to attend a wedding in Northern Wisconsin, and was unable to attend the event itself. Because of poor cell coverage, I waited all day Friday for a text, and finally, in the late evening, it arrived.
13th Place, 40 finishers, 80 starters, and 2nd teammate of his club.
Because of this KNOWLEDGE and APPLICATION, he had finished with the leaders. Joe had survived and done his part to activate the race. As a result, an Xert novice had used his knowledge on-screen and in the event, to help himself and his teammates. The cyclist had also achieved another breakthrough.
There was no way that we could expect a podium. Thus, Four weeks of training had led to greater knowledge. It had not, however, been adequate to boost Anaerobic Capacity, or HIE to a significant degree. Perhaps more importantly, it led to a SMARTER RACER, and a SMARTER RACE. I think that’s my most profound observation. The athlete, using Xert Fields and Fitness Signatures, was better able to RACE THE RACE, within his limits. He may not have been the most fit athlete out there. But he WAS the SMARTEST racer he could be, at that moment.
CONCLUSION
For all the reasons I’ve mentioned above, I continue to be amazed. I am convinced that the Xert fitness signature and modeling are the most accurate system available. I’ve tried them all, I’ve used them all, and my athletes are now using Xert to greater and greater effect. You don’t have to be a racer to enjoy Xert’s fitness benefits. Understanding the fields, and the system behind those numbers, is very, very powerful. Perhaps most importantly, with this athlete in particular, we now know exactly where his strengths and weaknesses are. We will be addressing them throughout the summer. When the Fall Crits or the State Championship roll around, he will be even more prepared and confident in his fitness and capacity.