Since the invention of the elevator and escalator, stairs are now ‘the road less travelled’
However, recent research and studies prove that there is much to benefit from by opting to take the stairs!
Taking the stairs has been given a huge vote of confidence by a new study that found that short bursts of high-intensity stair-climbing can make a significant difference to your cardiorespiratory fitness (the health of your heart and your lungs).
Researchers from McMaster University in Canada recruited 31 sedentary (but otherwise healthy) subjects and put them through two different stair-based high-intensity exercise regimes, each of which lasted six weeks. Both of these required just three ten-minute workouts a week, with that time including warm-up, warm-down and recovery periods.
The first exercise plan involved three 20-second bursts of “all-out” climbing, while the second involved 60 seconds of vigorous climbing up and down one set of stairs. Both types of stair-based HIIT workouts were found to increase cardiorespiratory fitness, which is linked to overall longevity.
Ten minutes of exercise, three times a week – why wouldn’t you want to get in on that action?!