How to use planner inputs

The planner inputs are where you tell TRIPS who the trip is for, how aggressively you expect to move, and what you actually plan to carry and eat.

This is not just data entry. These panels determine whether TRIPS is modeling a realistic trip for a real user or a wishful one.

The main question these inputs answer is:

What values best represent the real user taking the real trip, with enough evidence to be believable and not so much precision that I fool myself?

The best general rule

Use the most grounded value you actually have.

A good evidence ladder is:

1. a measured or well-established personal value
2. a recent real-trip value you can defend
3. a realistic planning estimate
4. the built-in default when you do not have better evidence

That means:

• use real values when you know them
• use recent trip reality when you do not have lab-grade data
• use defaults when the default is more trustworthy than a guess
• avoid optimistic values chosen because they feel flattering

A good order for filling out the panels

For most users, the safest sequence is:

1. Trip Attributes
2. General User Info
3. HRR Anchor
4. Capacity
5. Energy Intake
6. Pack & Food Weight

That order goes from identity and context to performance anchors to trip limits to carrying and fueling assumptions.

Step 1: Start with Trip Attributes

Use Trip Attributes to define the planning context before touching physiology.

Start here so the trip has a name, a date context, the right unit system, and a visible assigned calibration profile before you begin tuning anything else.

This panel includes:

• Trip name
• Start date
• Units
• Calibration Profile (assigned to this trip plan)

How to use it:

• use a trip name that helps you recognize the route and version later
• set the start date if season or timing context matters for your own planning workflow
• choose units early so the rest of the inputs feel natural
• treat the calibration-profile field as context, not a control

Good evidence here is straightforward:

• name the trip so future-you can identify it
• use the real unit system you actually think in
• check the calibration profile so you know whether the trip is using default or calibrated behavior

Step 2: Fill out General User Info with real baseline values

The General User Info panel establishes basic physiology defaults and baseline energy assumptions.

These fields are not a place to perform fitness identity. They are there to make the defaults believable for the real person taking the trip.

This panel includes:

• Age
• hrRest
• Body weight
• Body fat
• Base metabolic rate (BMR)

Age

Use your real age.

In TRIPS, age mainly supports one of the built-in effort-anchor defaults, so it matters most when you are relying on the built-in estimates.

Grounded evidence:

• your actual age

hrRest

Use a believable resting baseline, not the lowest number you have ever seen on your very best morning.

Physiological reasoning:

• the planner uses resting heart rate as part of its effort interpretation
• an unrealistically low resting value can make effort assumptions look more generous than they really are

Grounded evidence:

• a stable well-rested morning value
• a recent average from repeated normal days

Body weight

Use the body weight that best represents the trip-planning period.

Physiological reasoning:

• body weight influences work and energy assumptions
• it also supports several default assumptions elsewhere in the planner

Grounded evidence:

• your likely current or near-trip body weight

Poor evidence:

• a hopeful future target weight

Body fat

Use a reasonable estimate, not a precision fantasy.

Physiological reasoning:

• TRIPS uses body-fat input to support the derived BMR estimate and related baseline assumptions

Grounded evidence:

• a recent believable estimate from a method you trust enough for planning
• a plausible rough estimate if you do not have better data

BMR

The Base metabolic rate (BMR) field has a manual-override toggle for a reason.

The safest default approach is:

• leave manual override off
• use the derived default unless you have stronger evidence

Physiological reasoning:

• BMR is a baseline daily energy estimate, not your hiking energy
• overriding it casually can make the planner look more personalized while actually making it less grounded

Good evidence for manual override:

• a trustworthy personal estimate you already use
• a long-established value that is clearly better than the default

If you do not have that, the default is usually the better choice.

Step 3: Use the panel labeled HRR Anchor only when you can defend the anchors

The HRR Anchor panel contains advanced baseline anchors.

This panel is powerful, but most users should be conservative here. The goal is not to hand-tune every anchor. The goal is to make sure the baseline performance story is believable.

This panel includes:

• S0
• E0
• hrS0
• hrAeT

It also shows an effort-band table below, which is useful as a sanity check on how the planner interprets each effort level.

S0

S0 is your baseline flat-ground reference speed.

Physiological reasoning:

• it acts as one of the main pace anchors
• if it is unrealistic, later planner outputs can start from the wrong baseline

Grounded evidence:

• a controlled flat-ground pace you can repeat economically
• a treadmill or steady real-world reference pace

Poor evidence:

• your proudest fast hiking speed

E0

E0 is your baseline movement-cost anchor.

The safest first-pass approach is:

• keep the default on unless you have better evidence

Physiological reasoning:

• it helps shape the planner's baseline energy assumptions
• if you override it casually, you can make route cost outputs feel more personalized while actually making them less grounded

Grounded evidence for override:

• a known baseline estimate you trust more than the default

Otherwise, default is usually better.

hrS0

hrS0 is the heart rate associated with your baseline pace anchor.

Physiological reasoning:

• this helps the planner place your baseline pace inside your broader effort range

Grounded evidence:

• a known heart rate tied to your real baseline pace

If you do not have that, the default is often safer than inventing a neat number.

hrAeT

hrAeT is the upper anchor for how the planner interprets your sustainable effort range.

The safest approach is:

• start with the age-based default
• override only when you truly know yours better

Physiological reasoning:

• if hrAeT is set too high, effort bands may look easier than they should
• if it is set too low, the planner may interpret effort bands as harder than your real physiology supports

Grounded evidence:

• a known aerobic-threshold value from a method you trust
• a repeatable field estimate you use confidently

If you do not have that, the default is a better anchor than a guess.

Step 4: Use Capacity inputs to tell TRIPS how you actually plan to move

The Capacity panel is one of the highest-leverage sections in the planner.

These fields often matter more than advanced physiology tuning, because they describe the style and limits of the trip you are actually trying to do.

This panel includes:

• Effort Intent
• Hiking Time Hours (User Limit)
• Sleep Hours Per Night
• Altitude Model
• Altitude Acclimatization
• computed Metabolic Energy Mile Capacity (MEM)
• computed Net Active Energy Capacity

Effort Intent

This is not a fitness classification.

It is a route-strategy choice:

How aggressively do I plan to operate on this trip?

Use it like this:

• Sub-Recreational for extra margin
• Recreational for most ordinary backpacking plans
• Performance for stronger pacing with less margin
• FKT only for genuinely aggressive efforts

Grounded evidence:

• the style of trip you are actually planning
• how much margin you intend to preserve

Hiking Time Hours (User Limit)

This is one of the most important fields in the planner.

It asks:

How many actual hiking hours can I repeat per day on this trip?

Physiological reasoning:

• this acts as a hard capacity lens on what a “reasonable day” means
• overestimating it makes routes look easier than they are

Grounded evidence:

• repeatable daily moving time from comparable trips
• the limit you can sustain for this trip style, not a heroic day

Sleep Hours Per Night

Use expected trip sleep, not ideal home sleep.

Physiological reasoning:

• sleep affects recovery assumptions
• repeated short nights make later days harder even if the terrain does not change

Grounded evidence:

• what you actually expect to get on this route
• prior similar-trip sleep reality

Altitude Model

Turn Altitude Model on when altitude is a meaningful route factor.

Leave it off when altitude is not part of the real planning problem.

Altitude Acclimatization

Use Altitude Acclimatization only when it is actually true.

Physiological reasoning:

• acclimatization changes how severely altitude constrains sustainable pace and capacity
• optimistic acclimatization assumptions can make a high route look easier than it will feel

Grounded evidence:

• whether you will truly already be adapted to that altitude regime

MEM and Net Active Energy Capacity

These two fields are computed outputs, not first-line tuning knobs.

Use them as reality checks:

• if they look implausibly high or low, revisit the upstream fields
• especially your baseline pace assumptions, hiking-time limit, and other upstream inputs

Step 5: Use Energy Intake to tell the truth about what you will actually eat

The Energy Intake panel models what you are really planning to consume.

This panel is not about nutritional ideals in the abstract. It is about what food you will actually carry and consume on this specific trip.

This panel includes:

• Food consumption rate
• Food density
• computed Planned kcal/day

Food consumption rate

This asks:

How much food weight will I actually consume per day on this trip?

Grounded evidence:

• your real food carry and burn pattern on comparable trips
• what you actually pack, not what you wish you packed

Food density

This asks:

How calorie-dense is the food I am actually bringing?

Grounded evidence:

• known values from your normal food kit
• a realistic estimate based on the kind of food you really use

Planned kcal/day

This is a computed check based on the food plan you entered.

Do not tune it directly by wishful thinking.

Use it as a sanity check:

• does the implied kcal/day match the trip-feeding strategy you really intend?

Step 6: Use Pack & Food Weight to tell the truth about load

The Pack & Food Weight panel is where the carry side of the trip becomes explicit.

Load is one of the fastest ways to make a route feel harder than expected. These fields should represent what you will actually start out carrying, not the kit list you wish you had.

This panel includes:

• Base weight
• computed Starting food weight

Base weight

Use the carried non-food weight that best represents the real trip.

The built-in help text matters here:

• in this version, include trip-averaged fuel and water with base weight

Grounded evidence:

• a recent actual pack list
• a weighed expected carry for this trip style

Poor evidence:

• a target ultralight number that is not what you will really carry

Starting food weight

This is a computed check based on your food plan and trip length.

Do not treat it as a field to massage directly.

Use it as a check on whether the food plan and route duration imply a believable starting load.

How to use defaults and reset controls

Across these panels, the defaults and reset controls are there for a reason.

The safest default strategy is:

• trust the built-in default when you do not have better evidence
• override only when your evidence is stronger than the default
• use the reset control when you have wandered into “guess tuning”

Good reasons to keep defaults:

• you do not actually know the value better
• the field is derived from other believable inputs
• the manual override would mainly be a guess

Good reasons to override:

• you have direct evidence
• the default is clearly unrepresentative of you
• the override is tied to the actual trip, not to an aspiration

Common mistakes to avoid

Watch out for these:

• entering flattering physiology values instead of representative ones
• using a heroic hiking-time limit instead of a repeatable one
• turning on acclimatization optimistically
• entering idealized food and pack assumptions from another context
• overriding advanced anchors without stronger evidence than the default

What to do next

After filling out planner inputs, continue with:

• Planner inputs: Baseline physiology
• Planner inputs: Performance anchors
• Planner inputs: Capacity and pacing
• Planner inputs: Food and carry