Anonymous wrote:How did you strengthen your legs? Cardio or weights? Just curious because I feel like lack of cardio/endurance takes out more people than those that just lift weights.

Leg press, squats, romanian deadlifts, calf raises, Bulgarian split squats, and isometric wall squats with two 45 lb plates on my lap are my mains. Other stuff like farmer's walks, lunges, quad extensions, leg curls, mule kicks etc. are accessory workouts.

I mean yeah, it's a mix of cardio and strength for crushing steps, but if you've gone up stairs of crazy temples in Asia before for sight seeing, your legs start burning a lot and it makes many people stop. You can reduce your cardio by going up slower, but your muscles have to do the same amount of work no matter what. I basically don't feel anything going up steep stairs anymore compared to when I hardly did leg workouts when just going up stairs made my legs burn. Like it is kinda crazy how I feel nothing going up stairs now because of iron quads glutes and hamstrings. And yes, I easily crush Bethesda and all metro stations now too. Literally don't feel anything going up them.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I've worked out like a madman ove the last several years and have super strong legs now. Besides the shape, the biggest benefit I've noticed is while traveling abroad and walking/hiking. Oh, you need to walk up 1000 stairs at a 45 degree incline to go up and see the temple at the top? Easy. Walking up a big hill while seeing a new city? Easy.

I mean it is truly noticeable how much easier it is to go up huge inclines and stairs when you have strong legs. Many people are gassed and have to stop walking up some of the stairs we've had to trek in places like Tokyo and Kyoto, but with a strong pair of legs it is like o don't even feel anything anymore. It's kinda crazy, actually how little fazed and how little burn I get waking up a ton of stairs.

A couple of years ago going up to see something like Atago Shrine would have been brutal. I crushed these like nothing and didn't feel anything:

The escalator at Bethesda metro is longer than that. Even while it's moving, if you walk up the upward escalator you'll take about 90 steps before reaching the top. Atago shrine only has 86 steps.

Number of steps alone doesn't mean anything, because different sets of stairs can have different rises. I can make a set of stairs with 15 steps for going up 10 feet and make another set of stairs with 12 steps to go 12 feet. Just because the 12 footer has less steps doesn't make it easier. All that matters is the distance traveled (I have to do more work for the 12 stepper than the 15 stepper). The Bethesda station has a rise of about 32 meters while Atago Shrine has a rise of about 26 meters. The biggest difference though is that the escalator moves at Bethesda though. When you factor in the help you get from the moving escalator at Bethesda, the two are pretty much comparable.

Anonymous wrote:How did you strengthen your legs? Cardio or weights? Just curious because I feel like lack of cardio/endurance takes out more people than those that just lift weights.

Yeah for me it is always a cardio thing with stairs

How did you strengthen your legs? Cardio or weights? Just curious because I feel like lack of cardio/endurance takes out more people than those that just lift weights.

Anonymous wrote:I've worked out like a madman ove the last several years and have super strong legs now. Besides the shape, the biggest benefit I've noticed is while traveling abroad and walking/hiking. Oh, you need to walk up 1000 stairs at a 45 degree incline to go up and see the temple at the top? Easy. Walking up a big hill while seeing a new city? Easy.

I mean it is truly noticeable how much easier it is to go up huge inclines and stairs when you have strong legs. Many people are gassed and have to stop walking up some of the stairs we've had to trek in places like Tokyo and Kyoto, but with a strong pair of legs it is like o don't even feel anything anymore. It's kinda crazy, actually how little fazed and how little burn I get waking up a ton of stairs.

A couple of years ago going up to see something like Atago Shrine would have been brutal. I crushed these like nothing and didn't feel anything:

The escalator at Bethesda metro is longer than that. Even while it's moving, if you walk up the upward escalator you'll take about 90 steps before reaching the top. Atago shrine only has 86 steps.

This is great op! What are you doing?

Agreed. It's helpful for domestic trips too. I was recently in philly and racked up 52k steps in a single day. Highest total ever.

I've worked out like a madman ove the last several years and have super strong legs now. Besides the shape, the biggest benefit I've noticed is while traveling abroad and walking/hiking. Oh, you need to walk up 1000 stairs at a 45 degree incline to go up and see the temple at the top? Easy. Walking up a big hill while seeing a new city? Easy.

I mean it is truly noticeable how much easier it is to go up huge inclines and stairs when you have strong legs. Many people are gassed and have to stop walking up some of the stairs we've had to trek in places like Tokyo and Kyoto, but with a strong pair of legs it is like o don't even feel anything anymore. It's kinda crazy, actually how little fazed and how little burn I get waking up a ton of stairs.

A couple of years ago going up to see something like Atago Shrine would have been brutal. I crushed these like nothing and didn't feel anything: