Don’t like climbing stairs? However, climbing stairs is an easily accessible and cost-effective, effective method for burning calories, lowering blood pressure, and mitigating the formation of varicose veins. It is good for the heart, the brain, strengthens the muscles…
We probably won’t need expensive gym memberships to maintain our stamina and stay fit – if we take advantage of the benefits of (not necessarily) intense but regular stair climbing. Many studies have shown that climbing stairs can greatly contribute to maintaining our physical and mental health.
Another advantage is that it can be practiced at home, at work, or in other suitable indoor-outdoor places with stairs. Thus, it is one of the simplest and most effective methods to e.g. lose weight, give the heart and brain a boost, strengthen the muscles or increase our energy.
One way to lose weight
According to an American study, climbing stairs burns 8-11 calories per minute, and if we regularly practice two sets of stairs a day, we can experience weight loss after a while. The authors further demonstrated that this exercise is 50% more challenging than walking up a steep incline. Climbing stairs is therefore a great calorie burner.
A combination of cardio and strength training, which, in addition to consuming, toning and making the body flexible, increases endurance. If we can and can afford it, we can add ankle weights to increase the effort. Or we can also use a pair of light dumbbells, using them improves the stability of the trunk muscles, strengthens the abdominal muscles, and helps with good posture.
Improves heart health
According to a recent Canadian study, another reason for the usefulness of stair climbing is that it maintains the health of the cardiovascular system. While earlier papers also believed this, but only in the case of longer stair climbing, the current investigation considers shorter, intensive practice to be similarly effective. The research participants walked up and down one set of stairs in 60 seconds, with intense movement, for a total of 30 minutes a week. Which is an exercise that is really easy to do at home or at work.
This heart health benefit also shows why stair climbing can help you live longer. Another research e.g. found that men who climbed eight floors a day had an average 33% lower death rate than inactive men.
Helps after menopause
Among other things, muscle strength and stamina decrease in menopausal women due to a drop in the level of the hormone estrogen.. An American study deals with the fact that stair climbing is especially useful for post-menopausal women, as it is excellent for strengthening leg muscles. (The participants climbed 192 steps 2-5 times a day for a longer period of time, four days a week.) The same research also found that climbing stairs can reduce blood pressure and the risk of osteoporosis.
It’s not all about climbing the stairs, though…
Going down the stairs also has its own unique advantages. This is a form of eccentric exercise, which means that a load is placed on the muscles as they lengthen rather than shorten (as in walking uphill).. Going down the stairs even reduces the risk of diabetes, according to an Australian study that examined a group of obese women. According to this, this exercise reduces resting insulin production and glucose levels, and increases the level of good cholesterol.
Energy boosting effect
When we feel like we’re running low on our daily activities, we crave a caffeinated drink, but there’s a simple, natural solution. Yes, we can figure it out – let’s go up and down the stairs. Just 10 minutes of climbing stairs, according to an American study, found that people felt more energetic than after drinking 50 mg of coffee. This “medicine” is especially recommended for sedentary (e.g. office) workers!
It’s good for the brain
From the above, it can be seen that taking the stairs is obviously good for our body, but there is also evidence that it is also beneficial for the gray matter of our brain. In fact, the more stairs we climb, the “younger” our brains seem, a Canadian study claims. Studies have shown that the decline in people’s brain function slowed to a certain degree if they took the stairs to higher floors every day (gray matter was measured using MRI scanners).
Let’s make it a goal
It is therefore advisable to make a plan to take the stairs every day (perhaps setting a specific number of steps as a goal) – wherever and whenever we can. We have an easy job because, as mentioned, we can do this everywhere.
Some good advice: avoid escalators and elevators in shopping centers, subway or train stations, etc. In the workplace (e.g. in an office building) we use the washrooms or coffee machines on different levels if possible (on foot, of course), and in our apartment building we can even target the upper floors.
Source: Galen
Source: www.patikamagazin.hu
