Why you should ignore the LIFT and take the STAIRS …

Taking the stairs in the most accessible form of exercise. It’s a rare person who doesn’t have steps or stairs feature in their daily life. Yet, many of us will opt for the elevator, escalator or a ramp, or park our cars where there are no steps. And it’s not just because they are there that you should take them. There are some jolly good health benefits to taking the stairs:

Lose weight effectively. Taking the stairs instead of using elevator will help you achieve your weight loss goals. Research shows that you use about 8-11kcal of energy per minute when you climb stairs, and it is higher than other moderate level physical activities. Every step you climb helps burn about 0.15 calories, which means you will end up burning a calorie for about 10 upward steps.

Enhance heart activity. Climbing stairs is one outstanding way to enhance your heart activity. This physical activity contributes to proper oxygenation and offers a number of other cardiovascular benefits. Research shows that climbing stairs regularly will also help improve the amount of “good cholesterol” in the blood. Doing it for about 7 minutes a day may reduce the risk of a heart attack to half.

Strengthen your muscles. Your whole body will be at work when you climb stairs. You will be using your major muscles in the legs and thighs as well as muscle fibers to balance your body while climbing up. This will strengthen your muscles over time.

Improve your stamina. One of the obvious benefits of taking the stairs is that it improves your stamina. Regularly walk the stairs and you will soon notice an increase in your stamina and have more energy as well.

Save hundreds of money. You don’t need a gym membership to burn calories when you include “stair climbing” in your routine. It doesn’t require any expensive equipment. You don’t even need to go out of your home to start burning calories. This will be even easier when you live in a high-rise building.

More intense than many other exercises. Climbing stairs is an intense form of exercise, and is therefore quite beneficial for someone trying to lose weight or worried about dealing with anxiety-like problems. This challenging activity helps you burn more calories per minute than you burn through jogging.

Manage back pain. Have you been dealing with back pain for quite some time now? The use of stairs may help manage your back pain better. Regular use of stairs prevents backache and, if you already have it, helps with pain management. You use your lower back muscles as well as abdominal muscles while climbing stairs, which will strengthen them and reduce back pain over time.

No skills required. Stairs are everywhere, in shopping malls, markets, colleges, offices, and at home. All you need is the determination to include this challenging exercise in your routine. It is a safe exercise in most cases and doesn’t require any special training, skills, or sporting prowess. It doesn’t put a lot of stress on your knees, so you can do it even when you have other physical problems.

Help prevent osteoporosis. Your bones lose their mineral density due to a disease called osteoporosis. Stair climbing proves quite helpful because it reduces the risk of mineral loss in the bone. Many studies have also found a positive connection between bone density and stair climbing in post-menopausal women.  This is exercise that traces nothing more than the mindset to do it. Are you going to take the stairs more often now you know the benefits?

“One of the obvious benefits of taking the stairs is that it improves your stamina. Regularly walk the stairs and you will soon notice an increase in your stamina and have more energy as well.”

“Taking the stairs instead of using elevator will help you achieve your weight loss goals.”