[leonardthedog]

Is it possible to have too much weight for a stairmaster ME workout?

I recently did week #0 of an ME workout (the one where you try to dial in the weight), and used ~30% of my bodyweight (~55 pounds). My HR was ~5bpm below my AeT (determined using flat running drift test) for most of the workout.

I bumped up the speed of the stairmaster at one point and my HR went to right around my AeT but due to leg muscles getting tired, I couldn’t turn over my legs fast enough to keep up with the stairmaster due to fatigue.

48 hours later I feel slightly sore, but not any more than after a 3 hour Z2 workout, so I’m not sure I provoked the desired effect. I did about 1900 steps in 45 minutes, but I’m not sure exactly what the step height on the machine was (I think it is 8″).

With this amount of weight for ME, am I losing benefits of training for speed? Would it be better to use a lower weight at a faster pace for my ME workouts even if the HR bumped up a bit? I’m worried that I’m only training ST fibers and not FTa fibers if I’m not moving. Or am I thinking of it all wrong…?

[leonardthedog]

I guess another way to ask the question is:

When balancing the weight carried vs. the speed of the stairmaster, is it better to have as much weight as possible even if that means a very slow speed, or is it better to have the weight be just barely high enough that the leg muscle burn is the limiting factor instead of the HR/breathing?

[Josh Gray]

I’m no coach or expert. But speaking from recent experience, I think you may have started with too much weight. This past summer I did my #0 ME session on a stairmaster starting with 40# and completed 1800 steps in 30 minutes. My HR was right below my AeT but still had that solid leg burn. I came into that first ME workout after accumulating a lot of vert in my max strength period. By session #6 I was up to 60 lbs for 75 minutes at that same pace & HR.

Regarding DOMS with uphill ME I didn’t have much compared to the gym based ME which wipes me out for 2-3 days.

[leonardthedog]

Thanks Josh!

Your DOMS experience is similar to mine. Previous training cycles I used the gym based ME and got smoked like you described. This is my first time doing ME on a stairmaster.

As far as the weight, I’m further along in the plan now and just did ME #3 with 65lb  (35% of my BW) and did 2900 steps in 70 min (1900 ft of gain).

I was pretty close to my AeT the whole time but didn’t go over. I do think if I did lower weight and went faster I’d probably bump over the AeT, but that may mean I still have some room to grow in terms of aerobic capacity. I had COVID in December, which resulted in a break from training and a bit of residual fatigue for a week or so – probably lost some aerobic fitness during that time.

Sounds like you think it may be worth it to lower the weight even if that bumps me above the AeT?

Probably also worth noting that my AeT was determined on a flat run heart rate drift test, so it could be a bit different on a vertical gain training day.

[Josh Gray]

<p style=”text-align: left;”>Building up to that first ME session I had been doing a lot of unweighted training on a 30-40% outdoors and a few times with a 25# pack. I just guessed on that 40# being adequate & just pushed my speed to what seemed  a hair below my speed on previous steep hill sessions. I’m sure you’re getting a great ME effect cuz that’s a ton of weight! but depending how fast you plan on moving in whatever goals your working towards you might want to adjust things. I ended up sticking with 60# and just increasing my speed to get more vertical in. I was training for backcountry mountain hunting and wanted to be able to motor uphill if I needed to with a 40# pack. It def did the trick and I ended up packing out three 85-100 lb loads even though I only worked up to 60#</p>

[leonardthedog]

Thanks for sharing your story about the difference in weight between your hunting and ME loads, and congrats on a successful hunt! It’s great to hear that training ME with moderate weight still benefits real-world situations with heavier loads.

With three ME workouts left in my 24-week plan, I’ll stick with my strategy of using heavier weights and a slower pace on the stairmaster. I’ll see how this works for spring/early summer volcano slogs and overnight ski tours. Later this year, I plan to shift my training focus to trail running, where I’ll likely use gym-based ME, as it seems better suited for dynamic, faster-paced movements.

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