Stairs Are a Free Fitness Exercise You Do at Home

To lose extra fat, you need to burn calories by exercising.

Most of us go for well-defined exercise plans to lose weight but we do pay the cost by ignoring the routine or daily activities of our daily life. One such activity is climbing the stairs. It can be done without any formal training or previous experience as an exercise and can help you lose weight faster.

Most of us go out of our way to avoid stairs because we take automatic flights or elevators. However, using them as part of our exercise routine is a great way to lose weight, flatten the stomach, improve fitness, tone the muscles, and strengthen legs, tummy, and buttocks. It also builds our stamina and strengthens our respiratory system.

Advantages of Stair Climbing

Why you should do stair climbing exercise at home?

Taking the stairs is one of the simplest and easiest home-based no-equipment exercises. It does not need any formal training or expertise, and you can simply get started with a bit of warmup. The key is to do it carefully and not to do it in a hurry because you may fall and hurt yourself.

Tip: We would recommend that you always consult a fitness expert for the best results.

There is a simple but systematic way of doing it. You should start simply by just climbing and alighting two steps on a flight of stairs for the first few days. You can increase your speed and intensity and after a few days, you can increase the number of flights gradually once you get used to the act.

It will also help you to tone the muscles of your lower body and burn some extra flab on your belly and thighs. The more you do this exercise every day, the better results you can see for your fitness regime.

Here are some advantages of doing this anaerobic activity every day:

Burns more calories

In comparison to walking, climbing stairs is more strenuous and consumes more energy. You are likely to burn 3 times more calories by climbing the stairs than walking. Spending 15 minutes of your time taking stairs, going up and down, equals 45 minutes of brisk walking in the park.

Strengthens core muscles:

If you don’t like doing the crunches, taking the stairs can help you. Working out on the stairs is like a standing crunch. You would note that pulling the knee closer to your chest while climbing stairs tones your core, lower back, and thighs.

Increases metabolism

Apart from strengthening your core muscles, it increases the rate of your metabolism due to a higher rate of fat burning. On an average, climbing 30 steps at a time might help to burn over ten calories in just a few minutes!

Also read: Busting Some Common Myths about Diet and Exercise

Helps in digestion

Climbing stairs burns more calories, improves circulation, and puts pressure on the core muscles. This also helps with the digestive process and reduces constipation, thus boosting your weight loss endeavors too.

Excellent workout for the lower body

Taking a flight of stairs will ensure that you work more on your hamstrings and gluteal muscles, thus improving blood circulation in the lower body. Returning the blood to the heart from the lower body is difficult and it needs a little push, but working on the muscles of the lower body makes this achievable.

Tip: Skipping ropes too is a smart workout and can be done easily at home.

Proper blood circulation ensures better muscle and bone health by reducing muscle cramps, cold hands and feet, and fatigue. This translates into long-term benefits of better fitness and resistance to cramps and early fatigue. You can also back it up with a 5k race subsequently, here’s how to do it.

Tip: The above-highlighted benefits should encourage you to use stairs both as an exercise and as an alternative to using elevators. By choosing this activity as an integral part of your workouts, you might lose weight even without noticing.

Stair workout variations

If you want to work out by climbing stairs, you could choose from several variations. We would recommend consulting a fitness expert for the best results.

Does climbing stairs help lose belly fat?

Yes, it does. Climbing stairs can help you burn belly fat faster, besides strengthening the muscles and tendons of the lower body. You may count on toned butts, thighs, calves, belly, and feet. You would also get a strengthened respiratory system and a matching pulse rate.

What type of exercise is stair climbing?

Stair climbing is a simple but rewarding form of cardio workouts. It strengthens your respiratory and cardiovascular systems, and also tones your core when done regularly.

How many flights of stairs is a good workout?

This would vary from one person to another and would also depend on the height of the stairs. You can safely consider that vigorously climbing stairs for 30 to 60 minutes every day for two to three months without break would help you see desired results.

Disadvantages of climbing stairs

Here are some disadvantages of stair climbing, if done improperly:

Risk of injury or fracture from falling down
People suffering from issues on the lower back or spinal cord, or arthritis should not do it
If you are overweight or obese or are ill, then you should not do it
The cartilage between knees may wear out sooner in some cases

Some of the Simple Types of Stair Workouts Are Highlighted as under –

Sprint It Out:

Run as fast as you can up the stairs touching each stair with one foot. Walk back down to the start. Repeat. This one works straight on your butt and thigh muscles.

Foot Speed Drill

This one works for your butt, thighs, and calves. Start on the ground level and step left foot onto the stair. Immediately step right foot onto step while simultaneously returning the left foot to start. Repeat as quickly as possible.

Broad Jump

This type of stair workout works on your arms, butt, thighs, and glutes. Using your arms to propel you, leap to jump up 2 or 3 stairs and try to land with knees of both feet. Return to start. Repeat.

V Up:

Here’s a good one for your abs. Lie face-up on the ground with arms extended behind the head, legs extended in front of you, heels placed on the second stair. Crunch up and touch fingers to toes. Return to start. Repeat.

Decline Pushup Start

This amazing workout has something for all the body parts. This move works for the shoulder and the chest. Put your feet on the fourth or fifth stair from the ground and hands on the ground at shoulder width. Bend elbows to the lower chest to floor, keeping hips lifted and back flat, then press through palms to rise back up.

These are some of the variations you must try to have a complete body workout without any equipment or gym. Where to find stairs? Apart from the ones in your home and office, here are a couple of typical places to find them:

High-rise car parks
Shopping centers
Sports grounds
Parks
Local monuments and lookouts

Stair Climbing: Before and After

Taking the steps is a great way to shed off those extra pounds. It would help you to a lot many health and fitness benefits, provided you do it right. This simple exercise is insanely better than running on a treadmill for the same duration because the former does not require any type of special equipment and is free. These advantages and types of stair workouts are compelling enough to try one out for sure!