Test Your Mountain Readiness: The 10-Minute Step-up Test 

The 10-Minute Step-up Test is the outcome of months of thought and research. In the past, we used a 12-minute, unloaded step-up test. But I didn’t think we learned enough from it. It’s a rare day that a hunter climbs uphill without any kind of weight on their back. This is true of big game hunters and upland hunters. We needed a readiness measure that reflected that. And we needed to learn about sustained effort and what comprises it. In this case, it’s lower-body muscular endurance, aerobic capacity, aerobic power, movement efficiency under load, and grit. Knowing that this is what we needed to learn, I went searching for testing examples from mountaineering and military organizations. I learned their testing measurements and their standards. I also researched how move in the mountains so I had a good understanding of the natural movement patterns and movement economy. Lastly, I layered on top what I already knew about efficiency under load, and the 10-Minute Step-up Test was born.

To do it, you need a 12-inch to 14-inch box, a chest strap heart rate monitor, a timer, a rep counter, and a pack loaded with 20% of your body weight. Before we get into how to perform the test, let’s talk about the why behind these resources.

We use a 12-inch to 14-inch box because the average single step during an uphill climb is 10 to 14 inches. So, a 12-inch box, which is a common box size and one that most folks have access to, puts us squarely in the middle of the climbing range of motion. That gives us accurate relative joint angles to replicate uphill climbing.

Not to kick a dead horse in the nuts, but I want to reiterate that the heart rate monitoring function on any watch that you have is trash. You need a chest strap synced with your watch or a phone app to get accurate heart rate data.

The timer is pretty obvious — you have to do this shit for 10 minutes, and you ain’t counting all those seconds in your head. Speaking of counting in your head, you can’t rely on your own dome to maintain an accurate count of your steps. That’s where the rep counter comes in. You can get one of those clickers that bouncers use for tracking how many folks enter through barroom doors. Or you can download a free phone app. I found one in the App Store that’s aptly named RepCounter. 

Then there’s the 20% body weight load in your pack. It gives us enough weight to measure your lower-body muscular endurance and to test your efficiency under load during uphill movement. It also offers an appropriate dose of cardiovascular stress. We need to see what your heart rate does during sustained uphill effort to get an accurate appraisal 

Here’s how to perform the test.

Strap on your heart rate monitor and sync it with your watch or phone app, set up your box, and shoulder your pack. Bring up your rep counter, start your timer, and get to stepping up. You’ll move at your fastest sustainable pace for 10 minutes. It’s intelligent to build speed as you get going through the first thirty seconds to one minute. Don’t tear out like a house on fire or you’ll burn yourself out. You should, however, be working at a sustained 7 to 8 out of 10 intensity once you get going. You must alternate legs each step. A step-up counts as a rep when you have both feet on the box and the stepping leg is fully locked out at the hip and knee. At the end of the 10 minutes, record your max heart rate and average heart rate. Check your rep counter for total reps completed. 

Here’s a tiered evaluation of the test based on reps completed. We’ll start with the men’s standards then the women’s.

Men:

>249 reps = Needs work.

250 - 299 = Baseline.

300 - 399 = Strong.

400+ = Elite.

Women:

>175 = Needs work.

176 - 249 = Baseline.

250 - 349 = Strong.

350+ = Elite.

You’re lacking muscular endurance and strength endurance if you’re at the Needs Work standard. You likely also need aerobic capacity and aerobic power work to bring up your conditioning. 

If you’re at the Baseline standard, you, well, have a solid base. You could go on a mountain hunt and likely not struggle. That said, the cost of the hunt on your body will be higher than necessary. You need more legs and likely more lungs.

The Strong range is solid. You likely have good conditioning, good strength endurance, and good muscular endurance. There’s definitely room for improvement with training, but you’re pretty well conditioned for uphill climbing during Western hunts.

The Elite standard means you’re ready to kick some ass. Your aerobic conditioning is solid; your strength endurance is solid; your muscular endurance is solid; and you’re efficient under load. From a sustained uphill hiking perspective, you’re likely ready to take on most hunts in the world. 

We’re looking at a few things when we review the heart rate data. The main thing we’re examining is cost vs output. Most folks average heart rate will hang around anaerobic threshold, the line between Zone 3 and Zone 4, during this test if they’re working appropriately hard. They are leaving way too much in the tank if they don’t elevate their heart rate to that point. We want to see that a hunter can get their heart close to threshold, maintain it there, and maintain a high work rate. If they can, their aerobic power, muscular endurance, strength endurance, and efficiency under load are each in a good place for sustained uphill climbs. If a hunter’s heart rate gets to the appropriate level but they can’t sustain work there, they are lacking uphill fitness.

If you want to get bonus points for this test, do it with a partner and have them track the amount of steps you do per minute, then tally them. If you track only the total reps, you can average your work rate per minute across the test. However, if you track your actual work rate per minute by having someone count reps per minute, you can determine where you have a drop in work rate. Say you do 30 steps per minute for the first 5 minutes, then in minute 6 you drop to 25. Once you hit minute 7, you only hit 20 steps per minute for the rest of the test. You’ve noted the point where there is a significant drop in your output. This gives you a means to measure progression during a retest. It also gives you the opportunity to probe the limiting factors.

Then, layer your subjective experience ontop of the numbers. Let’s go back to minute 6 and the work rate dropoff. If your legs died, you likely need to work on strength endurance and muscular endurance. If it felt like your heart and lungs were holding you back, you likely need aerobic work at both ends of the spectrum, starting with capacity work. If you just felt completely crushed, you’re likely just out of shape and need to start with the basics of strength capacity and aerobic capacity and do a lot of building — and you need to give yourself a lot of time to do it.

Here’s a link to a YouTube video that walks you through the 10-Minute Step-up Test:

10-Minute Step-up Test

The 10-Minute Step-up Test is a snapshot --- a focused look at your uphill endurance.

But true mountain readiness goes deeper.

The full Hunter's Field Test includes mobility screens, strength benchmarks, and aerobic testing so you can train with purpose, not guesswork.

[Get the complete Field Test - Free Download Here]