[JustBecauseItsRound]

This is an interesting post to me because I’m hitting the ME phase of the 24 week mountaineering plan and am also having difficulty dialing in a pack weight versus speed on a stair machine for my ME workouts.

I first tried 20 Kg (23% BW) but felt like I had to move unreasonably slow to keep the effort sustainable and I also didn’t necessarily feel limited by leg fatigue.  I backed down to 20% BW and could maintain that for 30 minutes.  It probably doesn’t mean much for such a short workout, but this was a pre-breakfast morning workout for whatever that is worth.

I can manage the 3 ½ hours of hiking outdoors with 15% body weight in a pack while gaining around 2,700 feet so I found it odd that the extra 5% was so taxing.

I tried roughly estimating my vertical pace on the stair machine and comparing that to my outdoor vertical pace and I think I was trying to climb considerably faster on the machine.  What I initially thought was unreasonably slow at first was probably just where I needed to be for the pack weight and greater incline of the stair machine.

I’m going to try the 20 Kg again this week at a slower pace, with some fuel in my system and see how that goes.

Assaf, I look forward to hearing how your new approach turns out for you.

[Author]

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