TP can be higher than what you’re expecting for a number of reasons:

  1. In the past, your tests or data you used to determine TP (FTP or CP) weren’t truly your best efforts.  This could mean that your previous estimates were below what you were capable of.  If any of the following are true, previous estimates have have been too low:
    1. If you rested or went below TP, even for a few seconds during a 20 minute test.
    2. If you weren’t fully motivated to put yourself deep into fatigue.
    3. If you started the effort with a bit of fatigue.
    4. If you finished the test and still had some energy left.
  2. Your signature has a low Peak Power value and your maximal efforts tend to be higher power efforts.  This can skew your TP and/or HIE higher.  Getting a good estimate for PP can be difficult because anything you do to test PP will come in below what you’re capable of.  To determine your highest PP more accurately:
    1. Sprint when you are 100% fresh.
    2. Sprint for less than 7s.
    3. Stand while sprinting.
    4. Sprint at high cadences.  The higher your peak power, the faster your cadence.  The faster you’re able to pedal,  the higher your peak power is likely to be.  If you’re powerful, don’t be surprised to see your sprint number increase simply by increasing cadence when you attempt peak power efforts.
    5. Sprint at the bottom of a trough.  This reduces acceleration which rapidly changes cadence.  It is difficult to sustain high force on the pedals when they are accelerating too quickly.  (Please test with caution.)
  3. You are using a virtual trainer, uncalibrated power meter or power meter with errors.  If your power data isn’t correct, Xert may think you’re superman.  This is because Xert determines MPA that covers power data.  If you have poor precision in your data, this can lead to greater variability in the data which Xert will see as you having the ability to withstand this greater variability, i.e. it raises your numbers.  We’re looking to find ways to better handle these situations but for the time being, be wary of things like repeating power values or high cadence variability as this can mean the power data may be off and that Xert might be overestimating your parameters.
  4. Your TP is supposed to be high since you have a lower HIE.  If you’ve been testing using 20 minute, or more so 8 minute, test protocols, your final TP might be underestimated using the standard 0.95 factor.  This is because you might have a lower HIE than what is typical.  Using standard tests will always underestimate your TP if this is the case.
  5. Your TP should be adjusted lower since you have a higher HIE. This is the opposite of 4 where Xert incorrectly thinks your HIE is low and thus determines your TP to be higher than it’s supposed to be.  This can happen after a period of detraining where HIE has been lowered too far by Xert’s algorithm.  To address this issue, go to the activity where TP is too high and/or HIE is too low, typically one with a medal, and adjust manually.  You can do MPA Analysis to determine a good signature or simply key in what you think is appropriate into the signature field below the chart and Save and Lock to the activity.  This should update subsequent activities.