Want to Burn Calories? Try Climbing the Stairs!
If you're trying to lose weight and want a new way to do it, stair-climbing as a regular exercise might be for you.
Stairs are very easy to find and research shows it's more effective than walking on level ground.
Research shows you burn about 20 times more calories going up stairs than walking on flat ground. Even going down stairs you burn about five times more, as muscles are worked to slow your descent.
Stair-climbing as exercise is also easy to build up, adding a few flights of stairs every day or week — and it improves balance.
The downside is that there's not much to look at, particularly in the stairways of towering office blocks!
Alberto Minetti, a researcher at the University of Milan, says, "It is an exercise everybody can do."
"You always have stairs nearby you — free of charge compared to a gym."
Minetti suggests "watching your speed" for older people and beginners, and adds that handrails offer some safety. He does his own stair-climbing at his third-floor residence in Milan.
Stair runner Suzy Walsham, who has won 10 races up New York's Empire State Building, says, "Many people struggle to run as they age. The impact of running gets harder on the joints. But stair training is a great alternative."
Yuri Yoshizumi won last year's women's race in the Stairclimbing World Championships in Osaka, Japan. Held in the Abeno Harukas building, it was a 285-meter climb — 1,610 stairs — that she finished in 10 minutes, 20.06 seconds.
"Stair-climbing is an easy sport for beginners and the general public to get into," Yoshizumi told the Associated Press.
She added another advantage, particularly living in a large city like Osaka.
"It's possible to do it in the city," she said. "Just using the stairs instead of the escalators at [subway] stations and department stores is a good way to get some exercise."
