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75 XSS for 75 Days – First 14 Days

75 XSS for 75 Days – What’s Happening to my Fitness?

XSS Stands for Xert Strain Score. It’s a way to combine time and energy at different intensities. It’s a measure of Cycling Volume. While I unofficially began thinking about this goal in late May, I announced the plan on this forum later, in Mid June. So it’s been about a week since I last posted, and roughly 2 weeks since I started. Let’s take a look at the Xert data, and then, let’s take a look at the information coming out of my Vo2 master for some of the rides. I think this is very revealing, and it augments some of the prevailing theories out in the blogosphere, while it also refutes some other paradigms.

I Started at an XSS of 40.

Xert Training Load
After a couple of fits and starts, I began to work consistently on June 16th of 2021. I’m working on getting at least 75 points per day, 5 days per week, over 75 days. I started at 40 XSS Training Load.

This was my Xert Fitness Signature on Wednesday, June 16th:

  • My Xert Training Load was at 40.7 XSS.
  • Threshold Power was at 255 Watts.
  • Lower Threshold Power was at 192 Watts.
  • Peak Power was at 1111 Watts.
  • Hight Intensity Energy (HIE or more appropriately, Anaerobic Work Capacity), was at 25.0 KiloJoules.
Xert Fitness Signature June 16 2021
I think the scale on this chart could be improved, but here are the ‘baseline’ numbers for my Xert Fitness Signature.

Two Weeks Later, my XSS is at 50.

On June 27th, at the time of this writing, here are my most current numbers:

Xert XPMC June 27 2021
The Xert Training Load is now at 50.3 after 9 Rides over 13 days. At 75 XSS minimum per ride, according to the Xert Freshness Feedback, which I have decided NOT to use, I am digging a hole in my Form. 
  • My Xert Training Load is at 50.3 XSS.
  • Threshold Power isat 258 Watts.
  • Lower Threshold Power is now theoretically at 196 Watts.
  • Peak Power now reads 1108 Watts.
  • Hight Intensity Energy (HIE or more appropriately, Anaerobic Work Capacity), is essentially unchanged at 24.9 KiloJoules.
Xert Fitness Signature Sunday June 27 2021
Just because the values are essentially unchanged does NOT mean that I’m less fit. We’ll discuss this in a separate post…

Where is the 75 XSS Per Day Coming From, Energy Wise?

Xert Weekly Stats June 27 2021
I’ve highlighted a ton of the columns that are significant in measuring the energy breakdown in Xert. Pay attention to the “Suggested Focus” and “Total XSS”.

Here’s my four-week Weekly Stats breakdown. Specifically, note the growth in… Hours

  • Hours per Week.
  • XSS/Day.
  • Ramp Rate.
  • Weekly Focus (I’ll explain what I’m doing with this in a later post).
  • SUGGESTED FOCUS (NOTICE THE AVERAGE POWER! THIS WILL BE IMPORTANT IN A FUTURE POST!).
  • Polarity Ratio.
  • Training Load (see the above graph).
  • Lower Threshold Power (LTP) – Again – I’ll post about this specifically later…
  • and Total XSS.

Two weeks of 75 XSS per day for a minimum of 5 days per week, has led to a jump in overall volume, a jump in XSS per day, a healthy rise in Ramp Rate, and a 45% increase in Weekly XSS. I’ve been cycling BELOW my Lower Threshold Power, with ONE or TWO small exceptions.

What Does Xert’s Adaptive Training Advisor Say?

Xert Adaptive Training Advisor June 27 2021
75 XSS per Day for 5 Days out of 7 has put me at a slight Training Surplus. I’m not paying attention to the information on the left. Instead, I’m using the Xert Rainbow Dial on the Training Pacer to essentially stay within the ‘Brackets’ of Training and Resting.

Now remember – I’m NOT FOLLOWING the Xert Adaptive Training Advisor. I’m simply cycling for 75 XSS per day, over 75 days. Some days will be above that. Some days will be Well above that. I may do ONE DAY every few weeks to earn 25 points or thereabouts, when I perform a DFAA1 cardio test, which, again, is a discussion for another post.

But if you look at the chart above, I’m at my hours per week, my Polarity is 97:3 for Aerobic (lower) intensity, and the SUGGESTED FOCUS WATTAGE is at 277 watts.

The Scientists at Xert are NOT directly revealing their research. Therefore, it’s up to me to glean what I can from the structure they’re providing. I’ll explain that in the next post

CONCLUSION

75 XSS per day is yielding some subtle, but immediate results. I’ll break those down with two specific workouts, via metabolic data, next.

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75 XSS (Per Day), for 75 Days: A New Self-Challenge

75 Days of 75 XSS (Xert Strain Score) Points – Let’s See Where This Leads

75 XSS per day, roughly 5 days per week? Can I achieve this?

The Xert Strain Score (XSS) is a volume-measuring tool that looks at a cyclist’s time, wattage, energy expenditure, and overall fitness signature. The calculation is unknown, but for me, it roughly equates to 10 KiloJoules per point when cycling aerobically. In conjunction with XSS, a cyclist’s “FOCUS” and “POLARITY” are revealed on a per-ride basis. XSS also affects Training Load and Form. Focus tells a cyclist where their ‘concentration of benefits’ has resulted from the ride. Polarity is revealed in the color of FOCUS. It tells the cyclist whether their ride was “Pure”, “Polarized”, “Less Polarized”, and “Mixed”.

Why 75 XSS?

Garmin 1030 Xert Screen
My goal is to earn 75 XSS per day, roughly 5 days per week. Some days will be purely aerobic, using DFAa1 Heart Rate Metrics, while other days will be intensity based, and will probably be performed out on Singletrack.

I chose 75 XSS for several reasons.

First – 75 XSS follows my favorite mantra in fitness training: SMART.

  • Specific – It’s a value I can follow on the main screen of my Garmin 1030
  • Measurable – 75 XSS is the result of energy and time spent cycling.
  • Achievable – this is a big one; my time commitments have changed over the months and the entire Western US is under a severe drought. This requires that I ride earlier in the day, and spend less time on the mountain bike. 75 XSS also requires roughly 750 KiloJoules, which is less than 2 hours of time spent cycling. In short, I can ride and get home for other commitments.
  • Repeatable – 75 XSS is something I can achieve about 5 days per week and still not get too fatigued. My goal is to do this about 5 days per week.
  • Timely – It’s summer, the days are long, and this should lead to a higher level of chronic fitness without getting too stale.

Why 75 XSS in 75 days?

75 Days of XSS, roughly 5 days per week, would put me at roughly the end of August. I really have no goals. There might be some late-season bike rallies I would like to attend. Perhaps there are some Cols I would like to climb in the Fall for PR’s. Bike racing is picking up in the Northern Nevada area. However, after a successful Fall of 2020, and some solid prep work in January and February of 2021, I lost some fitness. This led to a drop from a high level of performance on the mountain bike and road bike. I also started gaining weight again. Thankfully, with the help of BT-Nutrition’s Reful App, I have again begun to lose weight, and my performance has turned a slight corner. A 75 day MesoCycle will give me time to ride at lower intensity out on the road bike, and higher intensity out on the mountain bike. On days that I am performing low-intensity rides, 75 days where I burn at least 60 grams of Fat, SHOULD yield some weight loss. My goal is to get back down to 67-68kg without losing power.

What’s my FOCUS?

My FOCUS for this effort is two-fold. First, I’m going to force myself to ride longer periods at lower intensities on a consistent basis. After lots of consulting with professionals and observation with my clients, we will all be implementing regular “DFAa1” slope tests to better determine a more accurate Lower Threshold of Aerobic Intensity. For me, this translates into efforts at a HEART RATE below 150 beats per minute. This also translates into a LONGER period of time out on the road or trail to achieve 75 XSS. 89% of my clients and myself are showing a wattage/HR value that is about 5-10% below Xert’s LTP. Less intensity means fewer KJ’s per minute and per hour, so it has to be made up with time.

Xert Adaptive Training Advisor Rainbow Dial
I like Xert’s Adaptive Training Advisor. I prefer the Rainbow Dial to the interval targets and workout goal. The Advisor does not account for other aspects of training and recovery. Instead of 193w, I’m making my endurance rides roughly 170 watts of intensity, and this correlates with the DFAa1 system of determing lower threshold. This is making my easier rides easier, and longer, with less strain (something rarely discussed in Xertworld.)

On my harder days, I’ll be performing intervals in the “Pursuiter” and “Puncheur” range of intensity (30-90sec efforts above 350w for me), so that my WEEKLY FOCUS will be in the “Rouleur” and “Breakaway Specialist” range of intensity. I will use the Rainbow Dial in Xert, but I’m not going to use the Suggested Workouts, which tend to favor blocks of workouts that don’t follow my plan for 75 XSS and don’t agree with my plan for intensities. I’ve followed this path before, but with 30 years of experience, I know my own body better.

TRAINING TOOLS

I’ll be including files or links to files for download for everyone to peruse. I’m going to use the Vo2master as much as possible, so that my gas exchange can be monitored and reviewed. I’ll be recording the Saturated Muscle Oxygen (SmO2) on my Left Lateralis, as well as my Total Hemoglobin Count. These are not shown on Xert, and will be analyzed separately. Finally, I’ll be performing regular DFAa1 ramp tests (probably every Monday), indoors, to then post on www.runalyze.com, for review on my lower intensity threshold.

The GOAL

The goal, with 75 XSS over 75 days, is to try and get back up to about 290-300 watts for my Functional Threshold Power, keep 25-30 High Intensity Energy KiloJoules, drop my body weight to 67-68kg, and learn about my body through the instruments I’m providing.

Thanks for joining me on this journey.  I hope the regular posts lead to better discussions about training, fitness, recovery, nutrition, hydration, and enjoying the experience of the ride.

Why A Coach Will Help You

A Coach Will Help You Salvage A Workout, Better Than Any Prescibed Program

Failing a workout is always frustrating. A good coach will help you understand why, and how, but a great coach will help you get something good out of that workout. This will help you physically, physiologically, and mentally. Let’s find out why.

Just to summarize; workouts exist to help cyclists increase their capacity in the aerobic, anaerobic, and peak power realms. Not every workout has to be hard. Not every workout has to result in a breakthrough. A good ride brings its’ own values. Attempting a breakthrough when a cyclist is already fit gets harder and harder as fitness improves. Cyclists still get results from ‘near-miss’ opportunities. As much as I love Billat 30-30’s, they don’t have to result in a flat MPA at Threshold. The cyclist in the video was ready to quit. He had a lot of things on his mind. Neither he nor I actually get paid to ride. But his perception was that he ‘failed’. Instead, we rallied, and he actually succeeded and became a much more capable athlete as a result.

A Coach will help you realize this. I’ve told the story about the ancient Spartans before, but the summary is titled “Humping the Oak Tree”. I won’t go into details but the end result was a dead kid. The Spartans were cold-hearted. Modern cyclists just don’t need to try and push an Oak Tree over every time they throw a leg over their bike. It’s not meant to be that hard. Xert will show cyclists how much capacity they have, as well as potential. But it doesn’t have to result in failure and frustration.

I Fail Workouts ALL the Time

Even a coach needs a coach. Workouts exist to challenge. They don’t exist to break your spirit. Embrace the fact that limits exist, and work like a mime to expand them out. You’ll be happier, fitter, and will have more fortitude, with a Coach showing the way.

Like what you just read? This stuff takes time, energy, and cost opportunity. Click on the rectangle below and support your Online Bike Coach!!!

Xert Breakthrough With Physiological Metrics Part One – Warmup

We Use a Moxy Monitor, a Vo2 Master, PerfPro Studio, and Xert To Show a PROPER Warmup

I continue to learn something almost daily when it comes to mixing Physics and Physiology. The data that we get and use for wattage training, is almost always complemented by the information I collect from physiology. We have to look at EXTRINICS and INTRINSICS. Extrinsic information revolves around information that the bike provides; Wattage, Cadence, Speed, etc. INTRINSIC information comes from Heart Rate, Saturated Muscle Oxygen, Total Hemoglobin, Gas Exchange Analysis, and even Lacate, when I can get it.

This video is part one of a two-part program where I helped a friend determine just what his fitness signature really was. This Intro explains the metrics on the video, and the proper way to warm up the body for work. Part Two is the Billat 30-30’s that we used to actually achieve a fitness breakthrough, and set Dusty’s Fitness Signature in Xert.

Since accomplishing this test in mid-February, Dusty has improved his fitness signature even more, and he is implementing the concepts of Polarized training, for himself and his entire family.

Thanks for watching, and ENJOY THE RIDE!

Coach Wharton believes in sharing his passion for cycling and fitness with everyone. IF you feel you got something rewarding out of this post, click on the link below and show some support!

Using Xert to Show an MD Why You Think There’s Something WRONG With Your Heart.

Xert Metrics Can Show You When Things May Be Wrong Beyond Means Which You Can Control.

Today’s Xert Daily Ditty is really an interview where one of my long-time clients, who is also a teammate and friend, explains how he knew something was wrong when he saw his Xert XPMC metrics dropping. He tried everything. Intervals, sleep, switching days for lifting weights, all of it. But when he took his Xert charts to his doctor, they were alarmed enough to realize that this needed attention. Well, Bingo, Bango, Bongo, he and his doctor were able to perform MICROSURGERY to fix his problem, BEFORE he had another heart attack!

Watch the video here:

Don’t forget – we’re hosting a WEBINAR on Saturday, January 30th, 2021, at 1200 hours  so don’t hesitate to Register and Hop On! We’ll be reviewing my 5MMP Record attempt, which is the culmination of about 9 weeks of Progression!

ENJOY THE RIDE!!!!