Boost fitness with stair climbing

When it comes to exercising, many of us will find a few excuses not to do it at all. After all life is so busy and there is no time for it on most days or there is no access to a gym close by. But we know that exercise is good for our health and with our lives and jobs becoming more sedentary, it is necessary to find the time and the inclination to incorporate an exercise plan in our daily routine.

Sprint Interval Training (SIT) involves brief bursts of vigorous exercise separated by short periods of recovery and improves cardiorespiratory fitness.

Scientists have now found a way for us to exercise – we don’t need the gym and it certainly doesn’t take up much of our time.

Sprint interval training (SIT) is a time–efficient workout method in which you alternate periods of high-intensity exercise with low-intensity exercise; known to improve cardiorespiratory fitness (CRF). But so far studies about SIT and its contribution to CRF, have taken place in a laboratory setting and required specialized equipment.

Whereas previous studies have shown the benefit of stair climbing over sustained periods of time (up to 70 minutes a week), scientists set out to investigate the efficacy of intense stair climbing as a practical method of SIT to improve cardiovascular health.

31 sedentary but healthy women were recruited to be tested for this study. Two different protocols were tested on the women. Each protocol included warm-up, cool down and recovery period requiring a commitment of 10 minutes.

The exercise sessions were conducted three times a week for a period of six weeks.

The first protocol involved three, 20-second bouts of continuous stair climbing. The results of this protocol were compared to participants who ran the same protocol but using an exercise bike which has already shown to improve fitness.

In the second experiment, participants climbed up and down one set of stairs continuously for 60 seconds. According to the scientists this kind of exercise can easily be adopted at home.

Both protocols involved a commitment of 30 minutes a week. It was found that both types of stair climbing experiments increased cardiorespiratory fitness which is linked to longevity.

Stair climbing is an exercise which you can do at Home, at work, in your lunch break- anytime. You don’t need a gym and is a convenient and cost free method of incorporating fitness into your life.

As a SIT method, it is a time-efficient way to get fit quickly and with many health benefits.

So come on – no more excuses!

Source: Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise.