Garmin HRV Stress Balance: When Life Gets in the Way

Garmin HRV Status graph showing 4‑week HRV trends with balanced and unbalanced readings, baseline range, and overnight HRV summary.

Garmin HRV Stress Balance: When Life Gets in the Way My training, recovery, and daily decisions start with Garmin HRV Stress Balance. I love the fantasy version of training: ride hard, lift heavy, eat clean, sleep eight hours, repeat. And with all the data my Garmin wearables give me — especially my older Garmin Fenix […]

The Garmin Ecosystem: Why Your Watch is More Important Than Your Power Meter

Updated Garmin Recovery Time of 13 hours showing Train as Usual status after a night of rest.

Garmin Recovery Time: Why Your Watch Beats Your Power Meter By The Garmin Guru | April 24, 2026 Understanding Garmin Recovery Time is essential for any athlete following a “Physiology First” approach. As a coach with over 20 years in the industry, I know that your bike computer is only half the story. To truly […]

Let’s Start With An Assessment!

I use a Vo2master gas analyzer, a moxy monitor, a wattage meter, an advanced heart rate monitor, and the shockwiz measurement system.

What Is My Current Fitness? Stress is a horrible psychological state. It’s also chemical, and physical. Strain is the actual, physical manifestation of Stress. Think about it this way; Stress is your body, mind, and heart, looking at a hill, and saying… “I have to go climb THAT?!” And Strain is the actual GRIND as […]

Testing For DFAa1 to Determine Lower Threshold Power

Richard Wharton Runalyze HRV DFAa1 Test Results

The DFAa1 Ramp Test Helped Me Set A More Accurate Lower Threshold Power The DFAa1 Ramp Test is a protocol that shows cyclists where their bodies begin to change biologically when under strain. It uses Heart Rate Variability (HRV), and I have studied it since at least 2004, when I wrote a pocket book for […]

Punishment Pass Caught With CycleVision

Punishment Pass – Motorist Caught In Ignorant Display of Harassment The Punishment Pass occurs when Motorists pass cyclists at close lateral range. The pass is meant to threaten, harass, and “Teach Cyclists A Lesson”. I have received Punishment Passes for decades as a cyclist. Recently, however, I purchased a CycleVision Helmet Camera system, and began […]

Xert Workouts

Xert Workouts Follow the “SMART” Protocol Today’s Xert Daily Ditty shows how important a good night’s rest can be, towards helping you continue your path of Progression. I slept over 8 hours last night. When I awoke, I adjusted the Xert “Freshness Feedback”, and then, using the new Xert Adaptive Training Advisor recommendations, built a […]

Garmin Profiles Part 1 – Xert Training Fields

[caption id="attachment_1327" align="aligncenter" width="240"]Xert Training Fields Garmin Profile Xert Training Fields Garmin 1000 Screen 1.[/caption]

What’s On Your Garmin?

I frequently get this question. “What’s on your Garmin?” “What’s on your Screen?” “What do your Profiles look like?” How do you set up your Xert Training Fields, and in what order?

In this post, I’ll walk you through the entire process.

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 This is a NICE CHART OF XERT PROGRESSION. It’s safe, it’s consistent, and it’s predictive. The Form line is just a hunch right now. As long […]

Four Weeks

A NEW OPPORTUNITY TO APPLY XERT On April 25th, 2018, I received an email from a past client. Joe had mostly come to the Cycling Center Dallas Studio for weekend FLASH rides, when the weather was too poor to ride outdoors. He was always a good cyclist, but beyond the 2 hours here and there, […]

Five Stars On Xert: What It Takes To Get to Pro Level, Part Two

See Part One (Free) for the background on Dr. Keeter’s incredible progress.

BUILDING FITNESS AND CAPACITY TO GET TO FIVE STARS.

[caption id="attachment_1251" align="aligncenter" width="1024"]Keeter Xert Progression Chart Five Stars Kyle Keeter Stress Progression Chart 5 Stars[/caption]

Let’s start with the “Stress” Chart in Xert.

Dr. Keeter basically began from scratch, with a low fitness level, and few hours per week in his legs. He was certainly not UNFIT, but he was far from TRULY FIT. Here’s how we got him to Five Star Performance.