Margaria-Kalamen Power Calculator
Anaerobic power from the stair-sprint test
AI logs your meals from a photo. Diet & workouts in one app.Get the free appyour body weight in kilograms, e.g. 75
vertical rise climbed, e.g. 1.05
time over the measured steps, e.g. 0.45
Margaria-Kalamen Power Calculator
The Margaria–Kalamen stair-sprint is a classic field test of alactic anaerobic power — the explosive energy system behind jumps, sprints and lifts. Enter your body weight, the vertical height you climbed and the time it took, and this calculator returns your power in watts and your relative power in watts per kilogram. Use it to benchmark explosiveness, compare athletes fairly by W/kg, and track power across a training block.
The Margaria–Kalamen test measures alkactic (ATP-PC) anaerobic power: you sprint up a staircase and power is body weight × gravity × vertical height ÷ time. It reflects pure short-burst explosiveness, separate from speed or endurance. Trained male athletes often exceed 2000 W (about 20+ W/kg); relative power (W/kg) is the fairest way to compare people of different sizes. Use precise timing gates and the same flight of stairs to track change.
Frequently Asked Questions
- What is the Margaria-Kalamen test?
- The Margaria-Kalamen test measures anaerobic power by timing how fast you run up a flight of stairs. The calculator uses your body weight, the vertical height climbed, and your time to compute power output in watts and watts per kilogram.
- How do I perform and enter the Margaria-Kalamen test?
- Sprint up stairs and record the time between two marked steps along with the vertical height between them. Enter your body weight, that height, and the time, and the calculator returns your peak anaerobic power in watts and W/kg.
- What is a good Margaria-Kalamen power result?
- Power expressed in watts per kilogram lets you compare across body sizes, with higher values indicating greater explosive ability. Trained athletes typically produce notably higher W/kg than untrained individuals, so use it to benchmark your anaerobic capacity over time.