CG Fitness: Personal Training, Nutrition & Yoga

Happy Thursday my friends!

If you’re just starting out on your fitness journey or don’t have any fitness equipment…stair workouts are a great way to get started. Climbing up stairs burns twice as many calories and is a basic functional movement that we all do.

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Here are 5 reasons to start adding in stair climbing into your daily activities:

1. It’s easy and convenient: you don’t need to join a gym, purchase fitness equipment and you can do it inside and outside to avoid harsh summer heat and winter cold. All you need is properly fitted sneakers to get started.
2. You can burn more calories than you would jogging or cycling at a moderate pace in the same amount of time.
3. Climbing stairs is heart healthy: a team of British researchers estimates that climbing stairs for seven minutes daily could reduce your risk of heart disease by about 60 percent!
4. You can do it pretty much anywhere: at work and at home (especially if you live in a high-rise building).
5. It’s low-impact: the pressure from stair climbing is said to be the equivalent of twice your body weight compared to three to four times the impact with running.

If you’re not already fit, I advise checking with your physician before you start climbing stairs. And if you’re going to be climbing in a high-rise building, I suggest doing it with a workout partner for both encouragement and safety. Start slow and work your way up. Hold on to the hand rails when you first get started and then when you feel comfortable let go and use your arms to keep your momentum going and keep your core tight. Also know that going down the stairs may be as challenging as going up, take them both ways!

If there is a park with stairs near you, take your workout outside in the fresh air and start by warming up with some moderate walking then do some stair climbing intervals (example: climb up the stairs then do 10 jumping jacks..with the jump or by stepping them for low-impact, then climb back down) then finish up with a walk and some stretching.

Before I got my treadmill I would climb our apartment stairs in the winter for extra activity and to burn more calories. 🙂 There wasn’t much to look at and my husband just laughed as he heard me going up and down, up and down…lol but it’s free and easy and if it gets you up off the couch then it’s a plus in my book! I also love to do some calf stretches by standing on the edge of the step and let my heels reach towards the floor.

Remember that “a body in motion, stays in motion” so just keep moving. Our bodies weren’t meant to be sitting all day.

Have you ever tried stair climbing?

Stay Healthy (& fit) my Friends!

XO,

Carrie A Groff