It's unsurprising if quickly ascending a flight of steps (or a few) exhausts you. You can increase your fitness by engaging in stair climbing, an acceptable workout and a recognized sport worldwide. However, you don't have to scale a skyscraper to work up a sweat; you can do stair exercises at the gym, a park, or even at home.
What Is Climbing Stairs?
According to PJ Glassey, CSCS, the owner of X Gym in Kirkland, Washington, and a nationally recognized tower runner, stair climbing is a form of vertical training. As the name suggests, it entails climbing stairs—either by walking up them or, if you're more experienced, sprinting them. It could be a routine activity, physical activity, or sport. According to a review of the sport published in the March 2020 issue of the International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, tower running, for instance, is an organized, competitive activity where competitors run up the stairs of tall structures, such as skyscrapers.
These steps can be found in a building's stairway, outdoors at a park or nearby stadium, or inside a gym on a machine that simulates climbing stairs. You can also perform this exercise on a flight of steps in your home.
Alexandra Lempke, PhD, clinical assistant professor of applied exercise science and co-director of the Michigan Performance Research Laboratory at the University of Michigan School of Kinesiology in Ann Arbor, believes that stair climbing training can be physically demanding. Your breathing and pulse rate will quicken as you ascend steps.
According to Dr Lempke, the cardiovascular and respiratory systems are the main targets of stair-climbing exercises. Lifting your body mass upwards against gravity requires a lot of effort.
The physiological systems that are exercised while climbing stairs vary depending on technique. Lempke cites walking or slowly jogging the stairs as an example of a lower-intensity exercise that will focus more on aerobic endurance.
On the other hand, she claims that stair sprinting is an anaerobic workout that concentrates on muscular power. According to the International Sports Sciences Association, anaerobic exercise is when muscles burn glucose for energy instead of oxygen (which happens during aerobic activity); a HIIT session is an example of anaerobic exercise.
Lempke adds that to elevate your foot onto each stair, you must also use your hip flexors, ankle muscles, glutes, and calves, which are extensively recruited during stair climbing. So, the exercise will aid in making all those muscles stronger.
Exercises that Include Stair Climbing May Have Health Advantages
Whether you use stairs as part of a formal workout or not, stair climbing can positively impact your health and well-being. These are a few of the possible advantages.
A better metabolic state
According to the Mayo Clinic, metabolic syndrome is a collection of diseases that raises your risk for heart disease, stroke, and diabetes. It includes excessive blood pressure, blood sugar, and cholesterol levels. Risk reduction is crucial for your general health.
According to some research, taking the stairs instead of the elevator or going up one or two flights of steps during your daily activities can provide a quick burst of intensive exercise that may help prevent metabolic disease.
Researchers asked 782 women aged 25 to 58 in a study if they regularly climbed stairs. Individuals who didn't were 72% more likely than self-reported daily stair climbers to develop metabolic syndrome. Given that the data on stair climbing was self-reported and that other factors might be at work, the researchers point out that the study had some limitations.
In another study of older males, those who climbed at least 35 floors per week had a 16 percent lower risk of dying from any cause over a 12-year follow-up period than those who climbed less than ten floors per week.
improved cardiovascular fitness
By definition, increasing fitness also improves metabolic health, which lowers the chance of consequences like heart disease and other diseases.
Ascending stairs causes your heart to beat faster and ignites the fire in your lungs. And that's causing significant modifications in your cardiorespiratory system that will ease the difficulty of physical activities like running and walking.
In a small research with 31 young, inactive women, those who performed three sets of 20 sprints going upstairs three times a week for six weeks had an improvement of 12% in their Vo2 max, a measure of cardiorespiratory fitness. Researchers determined stair climbing was a time-efficient approach to enhance fitness, including for beginners.
Increased Vitality and Mood
Glassey claims that climbing stairs produces a pleasant endorphin high. People may continue working out after experiencing that spike in vigour. Men who conducted three one-minute stair climbing intervals felt more energized and less tense and exhausted than in a control session in a study of young people (no stair climbing). Women were also included in the trial, although they did not profit from it. The men's moods improved as the stair climb intervals became more demanding. The researchers observed in their report that these intense workouts might improve blood flow to the brain or activate certain brain areas linked to cognitive function.
While that study did not discover any advantageous outcomes for women, other investigations have.
In one study, 10 minutes of low to moderate-intensity stair walking were more energetic than 50 milligrams of caffeine in college-aged sleep-deprived women. (According to the USDA, that equates to around a half cup of coffee.)
Is Climbing Stairs Beneficial for Weight Loss?
Calorie-burning stairs are effective. The calorie burn rate calculator on the UC San Diego Health website estimates that a person weighing 150 pounds will burn about 432 calories per hour when using a step machine.
You may not be able to undertake stair climbing for the full 30 minutes, hour, or however long you can tolerate doing another type of activity because it can be a more intensive exercise — and easing into it carefully is key (like running or walking). That's alright. Taking breaks during stair climbing is normal as part of a bigger fitness plan.
Also, take note that interval training, which involves alternating periods of more intense exercise with periods of less intense activity (for instance, running up a flight of stairs before walking back down at a slower pace), can aid in fat loss while protecting lean muscle, according to the Mayo Clinic. Further cardiovascular advantages of this form of exercise include improving the functionality of your heart and lungs.
Exercise and healthier eating habits are often needed for weight loss. The National Institutes of Health advises consuming 500 fewer calories daily than you expend for safe weight loss. They advise entering your data into their Body Weight Planner so you can see exactly what that means for you.
What You'll Need for Stair Climbing Workouts in Terms of Gear
Using equipment, you can perform stair climbing exercises for free on pre-existing stairs in your home, outside, public places, or indoors. Here is what you require.
A flight of steps. You can find stairs in your house, an apartment or office building, a stadium, or even outside (such as at a high school football field). Just be sure to check in advance to see if there are any limitations on what floors you can return to or if an elevator is accessible.
The stair machine The gym has a variety of stair or climbing devices, including the Jacobs Ladder, FreeClimber, StepMill, and Versa Climber. Stair machines are another option, but they cost thousands of dollars. Before buying, decide which type you prefer and consider searching for a used one for sale in your neighbourhood. When purchasing one for your home, consider the machine's height and the needed ceiling height for safe operation.
Shoes for walking or running Choose a comfortable workout shoe because there are no stair-specific shoes, advise Glassey. He explains that you'll want a lightweight pair of shoes if you are racing or going into stair climbs more competitively.
Comfortable workout attire. Dress as though you were heading to the gym or out for a run. Wearing cosy, wicking apparel will keep you cool as you move. Keep in mind that you'll fast become hotter.
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