“Burning Calories 20 Times”…The Best Way to Lose Weight is ‘This Exercise’, Do It Right Now!

If there is one exercise that is the most effective and surefire way to lose weight, it is stair climbing, scientists claim.

According to major foreign news outlets such as Australia’s 9 News and the UK’s Mirror, renowned physiologist Dr. Alberto Minetti studied human movements related to stair climbing. As a result, about 20 times more calories are burned when climbing stairs than when walking on flat ground. Even when going down, about 5 times more calories are burned because muscles are involved in slowing down the descent.

Dr. Alberto Minetti, a biomechanics expert at the University of Milan in Italy, strongly recommends taking the stairs if you’re looking for the most effective way to burn calories, regardless of the other exercise options. “It’s an exercise that anyone can do, and there are always stairs nearby, and they’re free,” he said.

According to Dr. Minetti’s research, moving 1 kg of body weight 1 m horizontally burns 0.5 kcal, but moving 1 kg vertically on stairs burns 10 kcal. In other words, vertical movement burns 20 times more calories than horizontal movement. However, people who are not accustomed to climbing stairs or who are elderly should be careful about their speed.

Dr. Minetti says, “Using your arms when climbing stairs provides additional power.” Swinging your arms back and forth or holding onto the handrail to use force when climbing stairs utilizes more muscles than just your lower body. Arm movement increases the efficiency of the entire exercise by helping you maintain balance and propel your body forward. This promotes energy expenditure and allows you to burn more calories.

Holding onto a handrail not only provides safety, but also uses arm muscles. In particular, when climbing stairs while holding onto a handrail, the muscles of the upper body are additionally recruited, and more muscle groups are used simultaneously than when relying only on lower body muscles. This is explained to help develop overall muscle strength and improve stamina.

“It’s a well-known fact that stair climbing builds fitness quickly and burns more calories,” says Lauri Van Houten, vice president of the International Skyrunning Federation, which governs a range of vertical sports, including mountain running over 2,000 meters and the World Championships in stair climbing.

Vice President Van Houten recommends that people of all ages incorporate stair climbing into their daily routine. “The question that everyone wants to know is how many calories you can burn,” he said. “The overall energy expenditure of exercise depends on the individual’s body weight, and the more you weigh, the more calories you can burn.”