Cardiovascular exercise is performed in a repetitive motion with little added resistance. Brisk walking is done outdoors or on a treadmill. A stair stepper is a cardio machine that has foot pedals near the bottom and handrails near the top. It is operated by placing your feet on the pedals and moving up and down as if you were walking up a flight of stairs. Learn more about how these two types of exercise compare and choose the one you like best.
Function
The main function of brisk walking and stair stepping is to burn calories and promote weight loss. As an added bonus, both of these forms of exercise tone muscles in the lower body, such as the glutes, quadriceps, hamstrings and calves.
Impact
Once you step onto the pedals of the stair stepper and start moving, there is no impact on your joints. When you walk briskly, there is light impact. Both exercise forms are safe for people who have joint issues, who are overweight or are just starting out with an exercise program.
Caloric Expenditure
The caloric expenditure between brisk walking and stair stepping varies. A 180-lb. person, for example, burns about 650 calories walking at 5 mph for 60 minutes. That same sized person burns about 730 calories working out at a moderate pace on the stair stepper. The amount of calories you expend with either type of exercise depends on your size too. If you are heavier, then you will burn more calories. If you performed either one of these exercises every day, you can lose over a pound a week.
Arm Swing
A major area were brisk walking and stair stepping differ is in the way they are performed. When you are stepping, your hands are placed lightly on the handrails of the machine. When you walk briskly, your arms are free to move. This allows you to pump your arms and make your workouts more active. Power walking, for example, is performed by walking at a fast pace and moving your arms with exaggerated motions. You do not have the ability to do this on a stepper.
Benefits
Other than the fact that brisk walking and stair stepping are low-impact, they also come with other benefits. Both improve aerobic capacity, for example. By increasing your aerobic capacity, you will have more endurance in daily activities like walking up long flights of stairs and cutting your lawn with a push mower. Any type of physical activity also helps reduce the risk for such disease as high blood pressure, high triglycerides, diabetes and high cholesterol. The one advantage that brisk walking has over stair stepping is the fact that you do not need to go to the gym to do it.
Member Comments