Stair Exercise

Stair exercise allows you to strengthen your lower body, while improving your health, according to Dr. Patricia Pierce, a professor in the Department of Exercise and Rehabilitative Sciences at Slippery Rock University in Pennsylvania. Stairs can improve your health, fitness level and weight, even when used in short durations throughout the day.

Calories Burned

The exact number of calories you burn climbing stairs depends on your age, body composition and intensity level, explains Pierce. You could burn about 150 calories in just 10 minutes of climbing stairs. MayoClinic.com states that exercising for one hour on a stair treadmill, also known as a stair climber machine, will burn 657 calories for a 150-lb. person, 819 calories for a 200-lb. person and 981 calories for a 240-lb. person.

Make Time

Even short burst of stair climbing can improve your health. By taking the stairs for 13.5 minutes each day, participants in a study published in the April 2000 issue of Preventative Medicine improved their heart rates, breathing ability and HDL cholesterol levels. In this study, participants climbed 199 stairs, six times a day, to accumulate the 13.5 minutes of stair-climbing exercise. In other words, even climbing a few flights of stairs several times a day while work, home, or when running errands, can significantly improve your health and help you lose weight.

Precautions

Consult your physician prior to committing to any form of exercise program. The light to moderate intensity of stair climbing can cause stress on the joints in the lower back and legs, advises Pierce. When climbing stairs, place your foot fully on each step and lean slightly forward to lower the stress placed on your back, hips and knees. Do not hunch your back or use the hand-railings for support or you will decrease your exercise intensity and place stress on your back. If, at anytime, you feel faint, dizzy, short of breath or nauseous while doing stair exercise, stop immediately.

Advantages

When you take the stairs, you give yourself many advantages. Even taking two flights of stairs every day will provide you with a free workout that could help you to lose 5.94 lbs. a year, improve your heart health, reduce your risk of osteoporosis, lower your risk of death, boost your confidence and relieve some stress or tension, according to the Columbia University Medical Center. Plus, it often takes longer to wait for an elevator than it does to take the stairs.

Variations

You can add variety to your stair exercise to keep it fun and interesting. If you use a stair-climbing machine, try varying your step speed, adding resistance or using a preprogrammed workout. When using a staircase, try walking up the stairs and running back down, stepping wide up the stairs as if you were skating up the stairs, jumping up the stair, walking up the stairs sideways or take two steps at a time, advises Fitness Magazine. If you do not have access to a stair climber or a staircase, you can get your stair exercise by going up and down on one step or by using a sturdy crate or stool as a step.