5 Reasons To Add Stair Climbing To Your Workouts

1 min

If you’re looking for a convenient and effective way to exercise, consider stair climbing. It can be an excellent workout, as stair climbing:

1. Is convenient: you don’t need to join a gym, buy expensive equipment, or endure summer’s heat or winter’s cold as joggers do. All you need is properly fitted footwear to get started.
2. Can burn more calories than you would jogging or cycling at a moderate pace in the same amount of time.
3. Is heart healthy: a team of British researchers estimates that climbing stairs for seven minutes daily could reduce your risk of heart disease by about 60 percent!
4. Can be done almost anywhere, at work and at home (especially if you have access to a high-rise building).
5. Is low-impact: the pressure from stair climbing is said to be the equivalent of twice your body weight compared to three to four times the impact with running.

If you’re not already fit, I advise checking with your physician before you start climbing stairs. And if you’re going to be climbing in a high-rise building, I suggest doing it with a workout partner for both encouragement and safety. Start slow and work your way up, letting your endurance be your guide. Also know that going down the stairs may be as challenging as going up, take them both ways!

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