Where Cyclists and Triathletes get Faster/Stronger/Leaner/Sooner
Today’s Xert Daily Ditty shows how the Xert “Time-to-Exhaustion, Time-to-Recovery” Field shows timer countdowns and count ups, as wattage is generated while cycling.
Not much is going on this week, since I am tapering, but the Xert “Time-to-Exhaustion, Time-to-Recovery” Field will be integral to my 5MMP Breakthrough Effort.
Thanks for watching, and
ENJOY THE RIDE!
Yes, you read that correctly. I have set up my Xert Adaptive Training Advisor for a 5MMP, “Breakaway Specialist” Breakthrough, on January 30th of 2021. This is roughly 9 weeks away. I’ll be riding almost exclusively on my Rollers.
Rollers are a training tool that requires a cyclist to balance on cylinders under the front and rear wheels. Usually, the front wheel has one cylinder under the tire, and the rear has two. My rollers are a little different. They were purchased from Inside Ride, and they have extra cylinders on the back, to stabilize the rear wheel. They also move forward and backward, up to several cm. The rollers have bumpers on the side so you don’t roll off, and there is a drag unit on the rear cylinders so that intervals are possible.
Rollers work because they force the body to stay balanced, while working the cardiovascular system. The cyclist is required to pay attention; one moment of distraction, and BOOM! Down you go! At the same time, these rollers work in a biofeedback way – if your pedal stroke is not smooth, the rollers will move forward and backward. Not only can the cyclist feel this, they can see it. Minimal motion under more frequent loads means the ride is more realistic in terms of balance, power, and the economy of form.
Using Xert on Rollers is going to be a great challenge. I did this before in 2016 and 2017, when Armando was just releasing the product, and it really worked well. But the FOCUS becomes the FOCUS. Xert FOCUS is one of the best things about the Xert Fitness Program. My intention is to try and follow the plan more rigorously, and to attempt most of the rides, intervals included, on the rollers. Xert reads off of the 4iiii’s power meter, and I’ll be able to raise and lower my intensity based on gear selection, cadence, and speed. The drag settings and load curve on the rollers will help me do the rest.
Wish me luck, and let’s see if we can get that 300 watts another way!! 😉
This is a short video of several clients at the studio performing Intervals called "Zoomies". Zoomies are 8-second intervals, with just 6 second recoveries. We performed FORTY of these in 3 sets. The goal is to ride the 8 second intervals at a relatively high intensity, maybe 150-200% of Threshold. Then the cyclist spins through a short recovery. I used it on Tuesday, and multiple cyclists achieved breakthroughs on Xert. I'm using it today as well, to similar effect.
I HATE that statement. “Better” is a completely loaded term. It implies perception over analysis, and it’s my job as a coach to be a shrink, a cheerleader, a gentle critic, a cajoler, and an overall positive influence. But what is NOT my job, is to DO THE ACTUAL WORK ON THE BIKE. YOU have to learn how to SUFFER!
I have a client. Low overall Threshold, REALLY low overall HIE, and what I’d call an ARTIFICIALLY low Peak Power. I KNOW this client can do better. But this individual, and I’m going to be harsh here…. This individual DOES NOT KNOW, AND DOES NOT UNDERSTAND, HOW TO REALLY, TRULY, DEEPLY — SUFFER.
Training requires WORK. You USE ENERGY to GENERATE WATTS, and thus – GET FIT. FITNESS gives you the ability to use MORE energy, and generate MORE WATTS, and thus – GET MORE FIT!
But when you don’t DO THE WORK, you don’t GENERATE the POWER, and your FITNESS STAGNATES. It really is that simple.
This individual has everything; Great job, two great kids, expensive bike, extravagant components, custom wheels, Rapha Kit that gets replaced when bike grease inevitably shows up on a jersey pocket. The works. But what this person DOES NOT HAVE, is the ability to SUFFER!
I tell my clients – “You have to suffer like a barefoot Russian in winter!” Hey – they beat Napoleon! You can, too!
Well, there’s a time to suffer; it’s called interval days and it’s meant to be a controlled, “Focused” intensity. Do the work, reap the reward. But some people just…… either don’t want to, or don’t understand just how hard “Work” really is.
I met with this individual, after they signed up for Xert. I helped them program the head unit. I explained the concept of volume, intensity, frequency, Focus, and fitness breakthroughs.
For TEN WEEKS, this individual’s numbers JUST. KEPT. DROPPING.
I couldn’t figure it out. Until Finally, it dawned on me to try ONE MORE THING.
Click here to see The Breakthrough in Part Two (Premium Content—subscription)
I’ve been meaning to write about this for a while, so apologies that it’s a few weeks late. However, our training in March and April led to multiple Mean Maximal Power Breakthroughs, and I wanted to write about this. Mean Maximal Power is defined as the “Highest average power” you can generate over a given amount of time. This time, at the studio, we used 5 MMP’s. They were: 1-minute, 2-minute, 3-minute, 5-minute, and 8-minute efforts. This was done over two days, and we did “Pre-Tests” the week before for the 3-minute and 8-minute values, and we accepted the higher value of the two. All tests were performed using PerfPro Studio software, and several of my clients are using Xert Fields on their Garmin head units.
We test for Critical Power at the studio, because not all of our clients own power meters for their bikes. PerfPro Studio is the best program to help cyclists understand how intervals work. Intervals on PerfPro incorporate Critical Power and W Prime. Intervals of different intensities, durations, and number, improve fitness.
Most of my clients are veteran studio cyclists, so when we tested, we used previous values as a benchmark to surpass. Here is an example:
In March of 2018, Leo Spencer had Mean Maximal Power Numbers for the following durations:
As a result, this led to a Critical Power Value of: 214 watts, and a “W Prime“, or “W'” value, of 13,010 j. Critical Power is a value above which a cyclist is drawing from anaerobic power sources, and it cannot be sustained for long periods of time. Below Critical Power, a cyclist is largely using aerobic power, and the effort can be sustained much longer. The W Prime (W’) value is sort of a “bank account”, from which energy is drawn and returned, when wattage is above Critical Power. If Leo were to ride at 300 watts, his W Prime (W’) would fall quickly. When his power was at 150 watts, it would begin to return.
Furthermore, you can also see that most of Leo’s values came from one day in March, with one day in February completing the 5 MMP’s.
This was in the middle of a “MesoCycle” of training. Mesocycles are periods of time where a cyclist is increasing training volume and/or intensity. Four weeks later, after an increase in intensity, the installation of a power meter and a Garmin 1000 head unit, along with the introduction of Xert Fields and Metrics, we tested him again.
Here are his charts…
The 5-minute, 3-minute, and 1-minute MMP Tests yielded:
Here is his 2-minute and 8-minute MMP Test chart:
The 8-minute and 2-minute MMP Tests yielded:
His Critical Power Curve ended up looking like this:
These Mean Maximal Power Improvements led to more overall fitness for Leo and many others. In fact, 3/4 of my studio clients achieved breakthroughs in at least 3 of the 5 MMP’s!
Here are Leo’s Gains by %.
So here is what I find so interesting.
Before Xert, I would give cyclists their previous MMP Records. Leo got his April Mean Maximal Power values, to try and break. But the method of breaking the MMP records was what made it so successful.
Leo and all the riders who use Xert, used COLORED ZONES to better pace their efforts. Watts colored in Black are at Threshold Intensity. Power showing watts in Yellow were at Vo2 Intensity. Watts colored Red were highly Anaerobic, and if the watts turned Purple for a long enough period of time, then a breakthrough could be achieved! By timing the efforts JUST RIGHT, Xert users were able to “See” how much more they could give, before they surpassed previous limits. Leo’s breakthroughs were all performed visibly as well as mentally.
Therefore, in PerfPro, the chart looks like this (this is from March, 2018):
And here is Leo’s file from Xert’s point of view…:
In conclusion, Mean Maximal Power is a way to test yourself for work capacity. Using PerfPro, we can accurately look at empirical records to set breakthrough goals. When combined with Xert Fields, cyclists can better pace their way to breakthroughs. Using PerfPro Studio with Xert Fields on your Garmin, is truly the best combination available.