Benefits of Climbing Stairs 20 Minutes
Climbing stairs is a simple and effective way to lose weight, build muscle and increase cardiovascular health.
Burns Calories:
To burn one pound of fat, you must create a 3,500 calorie deficit. To do this, running or jogging at 8 kilometers per hour (five miles per hour) for 30 minutes, five days a week, would burn 2,400 calories each week. This works out to be 102 pounds of weight loss in one year!
A good alternative is climbing stairs which burn over 13 times the amount of calories burned doing just cardio, as shown by this video on how many steps equal half a mile. In fact, according to this website, about 1000 steps equal 1 mile, so 1000 steps equal 1/2 mile, not 500 as stated in the video.
So, suppose you take 1000 steps up and down a flight of stairs. In that case, that’s equal to about 1/2 mile, so instead of doing cardio, do some other kind of exercise for 30 minutes, then climb your stairs to get an extra 520 calories burned each week or 2480 calories burned each month which is equivalent to not eating 6 Big Macs!
Build Muscle:
Climbing stairs is a vigorous exercise that uses many large muscle groups, including the quadriceps, hamstrings, gluteals, calves, and abdominals. Depending on how much weight you carry when climbing up or down the stairs, this could be considered strength training too. Improved strength allows your body to perform everyday tasks more efficiently, resulting in improved balance and coordination.
Reduce Blood Pressure:
A sedentary lifestyle has been linked to high blood pressure and decreased cardiovascular health. However, endurance training exercises such as climbing stairs can help reduce hypertension by improving your heart’s ability to pump blood through your body more efficiently, thus lowering systolic and diastolic blood pressure levels. For example, it is suggested that 30 minutes of stair climbing three times a week can improve your overall heart health in just six weeks!
Improved Bone Density:
Climbing stairs is an effective way to increase bone density, considering it provides the same weight-bearing demands on the skeletal system required for increased osteoblast activity that leads to greater bone density than jogging or running at eight kilometers per hour five miles per hour) for 30 minutes, five days a week. Also, the risk of falls and fractures decreases as bone mass and strength improve with climbing stairs.
Good For Your Heart:
According to this article, a sedentary lifestyle can lead to weight gain and increased coronary heart disease risk due to inactivity. Climbing stairs is an excellent way to burn calories and improve cardiovascular fitness.
The American Heart Association states that two hours of stair climbing per week has been shown to reduce the risk of heart disease by 40 percent! In addition, rising from a seated position puts additional demands on your circulatory system – any activity that gets your body moving is good for you!
Reduce Blood Sugar:
Climbing stairs at a moderate pace three times a day can help reduce blood glucose levels in individuals with type 2 diabetes. Researchers have found that “a short bout of stair climbing, three times a day for two days, significantly increases insulin action in young subjects.” This allows your body to use blood sugar more efficiently, thus burning fat and potentially helping you lose weight!
A Great Cardio Workout:
Climbing stairs is an intense cardiovascular workout that can burn over 13 times the calories burned doing just cardio. This video shows how many steps equal half a mile. In fact, according to this website, about 1000 steps equal 1 mile, so basically, 1000 steps equal 1/2 mile, not 500 as stated in the video.
So, suppose you take 1000 steps up and down a flight of stairs. In that case, that’s equal to about 1/2 mile, so instead of doing cardio, do some other kind of exercise for 30 minutes, then climb your stairs to get an extra 520 calories burned each week or 2480 calories burned each month which is equivalent to not eating 6 Big Macs!
Improve Mood:
Climbing stairs at a moderate pace releases endorphins, the feel-good chemicals in your brain that make you feel happier. The American Psychological Association researched how walking briskly for seven miles per week can improve mood and well-being. So start climbing those steps today!
Fight Obesity:
Individuals at risk for obesity can benefit from climbing stairs to do daily physical activity. Since it is easy to do, you can quickly build stair climbing into your everyday routine and increase the intensity whenever possible. In addition, this study indicates that adults who climb stairs regularly (most days of the week) show significantly lower body mass index (BMI) scores compared to those who don’t climb stairs regularly.
Live Longer:
Climbing stairs gets your heart rate up, which means you burn calories and fat! This chart shows how many calories are burned per minute depending on your weight and stride length. The more weight you carry, like famous people like Oprah Winfrey or Mariah Carey, the higher your strides will need to burn calories. So, climb those stairs and live longer!
More Energy:
Climbing stairs is a great workout that will increase your energy levels and improve your overall health by strengthening muscles in your legs, arms, back, and abdominals. In addition, aerobic exercise is known to increase stamina which means you’ll have more energy for daily activities.
Decrease Pain from Arthritis:
Climbing stairs at a moderate pace three times a day can help decrease pain from osteoarthritis of the knee, according to this study on stair climbing and knee osteoarthritis. Each step you take up the stairs stimulates nerves in your feet, prompting an anti-inflammatory response, according to David Felson of the Boston University School of Medicine.
Decrease Progression of Arthritis:
Climbing stairs can help decrease the progression of osteoarthritis, according to a study reported on PubMed.gov. In addition, physical activity has been found to reduce pain and improve function for people living with arthritis. So get moving and climb some stairs! Also, according to this article, about 100 research studies prove how exercise reduces inflammation that leads to arthritis-like symptoms in mice.
Climbing stairs vs. walking:
When climbing stairs, there is a vertical load to the knee of about five times body weight. For a person who weighs 80 kg, this means 400kg going through your knees at every step you take. If you do any other activity that requires running or jumping, even for a short duration, then you will feel it in your knee joints tomorrow morning.
If an 80Kg man climbs ten steps, he is conducting 400 Kgm of work on his knees. In doing so, he flexes and extends his knees over 60 times a minute which works out to be 2400 movements per hour or 43200 in a day!!! That’s 96 million in a year! Imagine how stressed the tissues must be with all this compressive force going through them!!
Disadvantages of climbing stairs:
The primary disadvantage of climbing stairs is the high compressive force placed on the knee.
Climbing stairs can be a dangerous activity, mainly if you have never done it before, as it requires placing high levels of stress on your muscles and tendons around your knees. However, one study shows that the rate of injury from running long distances is lower than climbing stairs.
Stair climbers machine:
To reduce this risk, physiotherapists often recommend stair climbers machines (see below). The advantage over real stairs is that it reduces impact forces by up to half. You can also pre-program which type of workout you want (aerobic or anaerobic) and at what level it will go (e.g., 12 steps per minute). The effort can also be varied by alternating the speed and incline.
A stair climber is a device with two footplates, each of which has an angled surface to place your feet against. To use it, you stand with one foot on each plate and push down and forward to make it move (please see video below for more details).
The main difference between a stair climber and a regular set of stairs is that you use both legs simultaneously instead of climbing up one step at a time. This means that you are working twice as hard at half the distance! In addition, there is no impact, but all the tension goes through your muscles rather than your joints. For this reason, they have become prevalent in the fitness industry.
As with climbing stairs, you are still required to do large amounts of knee flexion and extension. However, it is much easier on your joints as you work both legs together rather than alternating one leg at a time.
The implications of long-term usage are much less for this reason. However, research has shown that using stair climbers can lead to increased compression forces through the tibiofemoral joint (the front part of your knee) if not used correctly.