Hey guys,

I program a ton of incline work on the stairmaster and treadmill. Initially, I was adding (.05 times elevation gain in feet) to the hrTSS to account for the elevation gain, based off guidance from another post on this site. I’ve thought about it alot and am not sure this makes sense. I feel like the level of stress when conducting uphill work is logically roughly commiserate with the hrTSS. If anything, anecdotally, running on the flats is more taxing on bones/connective tissue than doing work that is uphill alone . I think uphill and flat are similarly taxing on the musculature. That being said, when the athlete travels downhill, I think it makes sense to adjust the hrTSS to account (adjusted TSS = hr TSS + .1( elevation lost in feet)). The downhill places a ton of stress on the body that is poorly reflected in the hrTSS.

For ski touring, I’m not so sure. (adjusted TSS = hr TSS + .05( elevation lost in feet)) may be more appropriate.

In all instances, even just uphill alone, I think TSS should be adjusted if extra weight is being carried.

Is there data/thinking I’m missing out on here? Thank you!!