[LevityThroughElevation]

This is a great conversation. Thanks to both OP and Scott. I have to admit, I feel a little less confident in my interpretation of the ME “All You Need to Know” article now. Specifics: I live in fairly flat terrain and have used my gym’s stepper as well. This seemed to be the better option compared to the 8 flights of stairs my office building affords. After warming up, I get on the stepper for 25 minutes and get about 110 floors in. Body weight appears to be plenty here as my legs generally feel a low burn the entire time and pretty cooked by the end. I know you said to ignore heart rate, but as relevant to my questions below, I’m usually at 160 bpm where my AnT is 170 bpm and AeT is 155.

Two questions: (1) Am I’m moving too fast? I thought I would start adding some small amount of weight to this in my next three stretch, but I’m worried I accidentally made this a Z3 work out.

(2) I don’t have access to hills in the 15-20% range. If the treadmill at my gym doesn’t go that high, any alternatives?

Thanks in advance!