Stair climbing is an effective exercise that is also a competitive sport. Athletes race up tall buildings such as the Empire State Building in New York and the Columbia Tower in Seattle. For the non-competitive exerciser, walking or running up stairs provides a viable alternative to working out on a StairMaster or similar stepping exercise machine.
Benefits
Stair climbing challenges your cardiovascular system and can help develop aerobic fitness. According to the American College of Sports Medicine, being aerobically fit can help reduce the risk of high blood pressure, stroke, heart attack and coronary heart disease. In addition, stair climbing also improves leg strength, hip mobility, knee stability and lower body coordination.
Running up stairs, as opposed to walking, will develop the explosive power of your leg muscles and improve your anaerobic fitness. Anaerobic fitness is essential for sports such as football, basketball and soccer. Stair climbing is also an effective fat-burning workout. For a 165-pound person, a five-minute bout of stair climbing will burn close to 60 calories.
Locations
One of the most common locations for stair-climbing workouts is sports stadiums. Many high school and college stadiums are open to the public on non-game days for this specific purpose. Exercisers can be found working their way around the entire circumference of the stadium by climbing one set of stairs, moving across and descending the next until they have completed a lap of the arena. Office and apartment blocks are another good choice for stair climbing workouts and some have external staircases so you can exercise out of doors.
Stair Climbing Workout Ideas
Walking or running up stairs are both effective workouts, but you can make stair climbing more effective with several tactics. To increase the intensity of your workout, strap on a weighted vest or backpack filled with books. This will elevate your heart rate and make your legs work harder. Alternatively, to add some upper body work to your stair climbing, perform a set of pushups on every other landing. You could also perform a stair climbing circuit and perform 10 to 20 repetitions of one any number of calisthenic exercises on each landing. Lunges, squats, situps, dips and crunches are all good choices.
Climbing stairs sideways or taking two steps at a time will alter the way your muscles work and will provide variation in your workouts.
Considerations and Cautions
While stair climbing is an effective workout, it is not without risks. A trip when ascending could result in a nasty injury while a trip when descending could be much more serious. Virgil Aponte, author of "Ultimate Stair Exercises for Fitness & Weight," suggests using the elevator instead of walking down stairs to eliminate your risk of suffering a fall.
Long straight staircases stress your legs equally but tight turns place an increased load on your outermost leg. If the staircase you are using only has turns to one side, you might find the additional work involved in turning to the same side can place too much stress on your outermost ankle, calf, knee or hip. If you do a high volume of stair climbing in which you are always turning the same way, you can develop a muscle imbalance or injury.
References
- Public Health Agency of Canada; Calories Burnt Climbing Stairs
- "ACSM's Resources for the Personal Trainer"; American College of Sports Medicine; 2009
- "Ultimate Stair Exercises for Fitness & Weight"; Virgil Aponte; 2006
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