Is Walking the Stairs a Good Exercise?

Walking up and down stairs is a good exercise for several reasons. Walking up stairs burns more calories than walking on flat surfaces, strengthens your legs more, improves your fitness, boosts your spirits and saves time because it allows you to exercise while doing your daily activities. Walking the stairs instead of taking the elevator is the second-most "efficient" way to exercise behind walking instead of driving, according to "Dr. Dean Ornish's Program for Reversing Heart Disease."

Weight Benefits

You lose more weight walking up stairs at any speed than walking very fast on flat ground, according to the state of Wisconsin's "Calories Burned Per Hour" chart. Walking up stairs burns 690, 563 and 472 calories per hour if you weigh 190, 155 and 130 pounds, respectively. You burn the same amount of calories running 5 mph. Walking 4 mph, which is a "very brisk pace," burns 345, 281 and 236 calories per hour if you weigh 190, 155 and 130 pounds, respectively.

Muscle Benefits

Walking stairs combines two exercises—walking and strength training for your legs. Strengthening your legs increases your walking speed, and faster walking burns more calories. Consequently, walking up stairs will help you lose more weight on future walks on any kind of surface. Stronger muscles also reduce your risk of injuries and "stimulate your bones to maintain a higher, healthier density and stave off osteoporosis," according to "The Complete Guide to Walking."

Fitness Benefits

Walking stairs is more difficult than walking on sidewalks. Your heart rate increases when you work harder, and your fitness improves when your heart rate is 45 percent to 80 percent of your maximum heart rate, which is 220 heartbeats per minute minus your age, writes Ornish. Walking down stairs seems easy, but you must work harder to maintain your balance. You burn more calories and improve your fitness when your muscles work to maintain your balance, wrote "Guide to Walking" author Mark Fenton.

Psychological Benefits

Exercise reduces harmful stress, according to The Merck Manual of Medical Information. Walking stairs during a work break can be incorporated into your daily activity as a way of reducing stress. It can boost your energy and mood, improve your thinking and increase your productivity when you return to work by increasing the amount of the hormones adrenaline and noradrenaline in your body. Walking stairs can simultaneously reduce the amount of chronic stress you experience at work.

Time Benefits

You don't need to have a formal exercise program to gain the myriad benefits of exercise. In fact, the best exercise is "part of your daily activities and routine," writes Ornish. Walking stairs can be a part of your daily routine if you work in a multistory office building or shop in a multistory mall. People burned 500 to 800 fewer calories daily in 1980 via informal, routine exercises than they did in 2000, according to "Guide to Walking." Walking stairs can be one of those exercises.

References

• "The Complete Guide to Walking"; Mark Fenton; 2001
• State of Wisconsin Department of Health and Family Services: Calories Burned Per Hour
• "Dr. Dean Ornish's Program For Reversing Heart Disease"; Dr. Dean Ornish; 1996
• The Merck Manual of Medical Information; 1999