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
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
XERT Progression Fitness Signature Chart
Speaking of Signatures…..
XERT Progression Fitness Planner
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.
Cycling Center Dallas
Xert and Texas Mountain Biking, Part One
If you follow these posts, you know that I recently installed a power meter on my mountain bike, and began using it to study the demands that mountain biking requires for fitness. I installed it just before a trip to Arkansas, where my wife and I rode the Womble Trail, and I have since ridden several times at a local trail in Dallas, named Boulder Park. I’ve been riding with a Shockwiz Suspension Tuning device, front and rear, which has helped my comfort and confidence tremendously, but this weekend was the first time in a very long period, that I’ve gotten to ride for fitness and exertion, instead of just as a “Trail Tourist”. With the power meter and Xert on my Garmin 1000, I got some exciting insights, which I’ll be sharing.
Trails in Dallas resemble a small intestine; fit as many kilometers of trail in to the available acres or hectares. There’s little public land, and the trails are highly maintained by a responsible group of trail stewards under the leadership of DORBA.ORG. The trails are twisty, turny, curvy, with short sight-lines and lots of accelerations and braking. For this weekend of testing and tuning, I chose the “A” loop, with all of the “Red” options, which is found below on Strava.
Let’s first use Strava, since it breaks down the segments better than I can on Xert at this time. Here’s a block of my recent efforts over a known segment that mimicked my ride.
Specifically – take a look at the efforts that recorded wattage. Here’s a screenshot….
Now, the first thing to look at and consider are the average speeds. Mountain biking in Texas is so twisty and TRUE SINGLETRACK CYCLING, that it’s hard to get a good speed. By the way – if you look at that Strava segment, you’ll see that my fastest time this weekend, was about SIX MINUTES SLOWER than the fastest times ever, and about FOUR MINUTES SLOWER than some of the athletes I’ve coached (using Xert, interestingly enough).
But look at the correlation, or otherwise, between average power (with zeroes), and time. Specifically, look at my fifth-best time, and my 2nd-best time. The average power output was different by just ONE WATT, but the time split was OVER SEVEN MINUTES. Why? I can think of just one thing, and that’s BIKE HANDLING. And I think my bike handling was improved by the tweaking I was performing on the suspension, front and rear.
But I think there’s something else going on that is important, and I think Xert is the system to use so we can understand it, and improve.
Click here to see the mystery solved, plus some training tips for handling short, steep, punchy North Texas-style terrain in Part Two (Premium Content—subscription)
ShockWiz Tuning – A Video Discussion
Here's another video highlighting my experiences with the ShockWiz Tuning System for mountain bikes. This is a tougher trail, with more rock and twists and lips, and I'm convinced that I'll be faster, and smoother, because of this investment.
OH yeah—6 watts difference on my average power between the first and second lap, led to a 2.5 minute improvement over 4.8 miles. THAT IS HUGE!
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