I Thought VAM Was Just for Cyclists!
I used to scroll past that number in TrainingPeaks. VAM? Isn’t that some kind of Tour de France thing?
Turns out, VAM (Vertical Ascent in Meters per Hour) is one of the most underrated metrics for runners – especially if you train on hills. It’s a direct indicator of how efficiently you’re climbing, and it shows up in two places in my post-run breakdowns:
- VAM (m/h): How many vertical meters you would ascend in an hour at your current climbing rate
- VAM (W/kg): An estimated power-to-weight output for climbs – yes, even for runners!
Want to know what that means for your training – and how you can get better at hill work?
I break it down fully in a deep-dive explainer on VAM – coming soon. 🏃♂️🚴♂️