Xert Adaptive Training Advisor (XATA) is Xert’s day-by-day training engine. It analyzes your recent training, readiness (Training Status), and goals to recommend the best training for today, then updates tomorrow’s recommendations based on what you actually did - so you can stay consistent without following a rigid calendar plan!
Best for: Athletes who want daily guidance without being locked into a rigid calendar plan—especially if your schedule, motivation, or recovery changes week to week.
In this guide: What XATA is, how it recommends training, how to use the Today page, how to choose workouts (or avoid them), and the most common beginner questions.
Quick Answers
- XATA tells you what to do today. It adapts recommendations based on your recent training, readiness, and goals.
- It does not pre-fill your calendar with weeks of workouts. Your Fitness Planner can look “empty” by design.
- Daily targets come first. XATA recommends Low / High / Peak XSS targets, then ranks recommended workouts/rides by how well they match.
- You can train your way. Structured workout, free ride, group ride, race, or Magic Buckets—XATA adapts tomorrow based on what you actually do.
What is XATA?
Xert Adaptive Training Advisor (XATA) is Xert’s smart training recommendation engine. It analyzes your recent activity history, your current readiness (Training Status), and your program settings to recommend the most suitable training for today.
XATA powers three program options:
- Continuous Improvement
- Base–Build–Peak
- Challenge
What makes XATA different from a traditional plan?
Most training plans assign specific workouts on specific days. XATA works differently:
- It gives you daily training targets (Low/High/Peak XSS) and shows multiple good options to achieve them.
- It adapts to real life. If you race today or miss a session, XATA adjusts tomorrow—without you “falling off the plan.”
- It supports how people actually ride: group rides, Zwift races, commutes, outdoor routes, and workouts can all fit.
Key idea: XATA helps you train consistently without needing a perfect schedule.
How XATA decides what to recommend
XATA looks at the big factors that determine what training makes sense today:
- Your Training Status (fresh vs tired)
- Your program goals, including Improvement Rate
- Your Athlete Type / Focus
- Your available time / typical duration
- Your recent training balance across Low/High/Peak systems
Then XATA produces daily Low / High / Peak XSS targets and ranks training options by suitability.
Related articles: Training Status (Form) • Improvement Rate (IR) • Athlete Type • Training Surplus & Deficit
What Xert recommends each day
Instead of locking you into one scheduled workout, Xert recommends daily Low / High / Peak XSS targets:
- Low XSS = aerobic/endurance strain (Threshold system)
- High XSS = sustained harder work well above threshold (HIE system)
- Peak XSS = high-power/explosive strain (Peak Power system)
These targets represent how much strain to apply to each system today—not a single “perfect workout.”
Why this matters: You can still do the rides you want to do… while staying on track.
How “Recommended Training” is ranked
Xert’s Recommended Training list is ordered by how well each option matches your current Daily/Remaining Low / High / Peak XSS targets.
In other words:
- Top of the list = best match to today’s targets
- Lower down = still possible, but may be less aligned (too hard, too easy, wrong focus, etc.)
If you ever wonder “Why is Xert recommending this workout?”—the answer is usually because it best fits today’s remaining Low/High/Peak targets given your readiness and time.
How to use XATA day-to-day
Step 1 — Open the Today page
The Today page is your daily dashboard. You’ll typically see:
- your daily Low/High/Peak targets
- your Training Status (readiness)
- a list of Recommended Training options
[Screenshot placeholder: Today page with targets + Recommended Training list]
Step 2 — Choose how you want to train today
You have three common approaches:
Option A: Do a structured workout
Pick any of the top recommended workouts (they’re ranked to match today’s targets).
You can send workouts using the Workout Players area on the Today page.
Best experience: Use Xert EBC to record workouts when you want full SMART interval behavior.
Related articles: Sending Workouts with Xert • Workouts & Workout Players
Option B: Do a free ride
If you don’t want “intervals,” that’s fine. Choose a free ride and keep today’s targets in mind.
Xert will analyze the completed activity and adapt tomorrow’s recommendations.
Related article: How to Analyze an Activity Using MPA
Option C: Use Magic Buckets
Magic Buckets turns any ride into a guided session and helps you “fill” today’s Low/High/Peak targets—without rigid intervals.
Related articles: Magic Buckets Overview • Using Magic Buckets in Real Time
Planning your training with XATA
A common surprise for new users: XATA does not populate your Fitness Planner weeks ahead. That’s intentional—because training is adaptive. What you do next week should depend on what you actually do between now and then!
If you want to preview tomorrow:
- open the Planner
- click the + button on tomorrow
- view what Xert would recommend (based on current info)
Rule of thumb: Plan a day or two at most. XATA works best when you let it adapt.
Settings that matter most in XATA
If XATA feels too hard, too easy, or mismatched to your life, these are the main levers that control your training. They can be accessed by heading to the PROGRAM tab and selecting 'Modify Plan'. They are intended to be changed at any point in time, so definitely understand what they do and make use of them!
- Improvement Rate — Controls the overall amount of training recommended; higher improvement rate = more training required.
- Athlete Type / Focus — Controls which system(s) you're focused on developing. The shorter your chosen Focus, the more you'll need to train your High & Peak systems
- Training Availability — Controls how much time you have to train
- Recovery Demands — Adjusts how much recovery you require. Increase or decrease if you find that you're often more or less tired than Xert calculates.
- Freshness Feedback — Allows you to override Xert's freshness calculations & training recommendations based on how you feel (or some physiological feedback like HRV or resting HR).
Related Articles: Improvement Rate (IR) • Athlete Type • Training Availability • Recovery Demands • Freshness Feedback (FF)
Common Onboarding Questions (FAQ)
“Why is my Fitness Planner blank?”
That’s normal with XATA. XATA gives daily recommendations rather than scheduling workouts days or weeks ahead of time. You can plan a couple days in advance, but generally it's based to take your training day by day.
“Do I have to do structured workouts to improve?”
No. Structured workouts are one option. Many athletes improve by combining free rides, group rides, races, and Magic Buckets—while still hitting daily targets.
“How do I know if I’m doing the right thing today?”
Use the Daily/Remaining Low/High/Peak targets as the anchor. If you choose something near the top of Recommended Training, you’re generally aligned.
“Do I need an FTP test?”
No. Xert updates your fitness from real ride data and maximal efforts over time. You don’t need to perform a formal FTP protocol—but you do need to ride hard occasionally so the model can see your limits.
Related article: Do I need an FTP test to use Xert?
“What if I ignore the recommendation and do my own ride?”
That’s totally fine! XATA adapts tomorrow based on what you actually did. XATA works well if you like to "do your own thing" on some days, but still want some training/workout recommendations on other days.
Key Takeaway
XATA is built for real-world consistency: it tells you what training makes sense today, gives you multiple ways to achieve it, and adapts as your life changes—without the stress of failing a rigid plan.
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