You will condition your muscles

Going up and down stairs activates multiple large muscles, including your glutes (butt), hamstrings, quadriceps (thighs) and calves. You are also switching on your core muscles with your abs and lower back.

Plus, you have the extra resistance of gravity. It is called “vertical displacement” and for stairclimbing. It means that every time you step up, you are getting a mini resistance workout as you are working against gravity.

This gives you a greater bang for your buck in terms of a workout, compared to running or walking on a flat surface.

Strengthening your muscles has flow-on effects for countless aspects of your physical and mental health. It helps with weight management, helps manage chronic conditions such as diabetes, heart disease and arthritis, and helps with stress, depression and anxiety, among other benefits.

It is proven you will improve your fitness

Many studies have looked at the benefits of stair climbing, which became more popular during COVID-lockdowns when people in apartments were not allowed to leave their building.

A 2019 study published in the Journal of Applied Physiology, Nutrition and Metabolism, found that even doing stairclimbing in “snacks”, i.e short bursts of just 60 steps, three times a day, can improve fitness.

A study of older adults, published in the Journal of Ageing and Physical Activity in 2021, found stair climbing had a “fairly large, albeit only marginally significant” impact on cognition.

Another 2021 study published in the International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health focusing on women found “strong statistical evidence of efficacy” in terms of aerobic fitness and weight, along with improvements in body fat ratios. The study also found that stair climbing at home was “at least as effective as” using a stairclimber machine at the gym.

You will feel in control

One thing many of the studies discovered is that stairclimbing works because people believe they can do it. Most able-bodied people know they can walk up and down stairs – they do it every day. This means there are fewer mental barriers to taking it up, unlike the resistance we might feel to taking up a new sport or a more challenging skill.

Plus, you can easily incorporate it into your day, especially if you take the “snack” approach of short sharp stair climbs. Few of us go through a whole day without coming across some stairs. And because it is part of your day, you do not even have to change clothes, although it is highly recommended that you wear flat shoes with good grip.

Ready for more? Try tower running

Tower running is stair climbing, to the max.

It is often done as a race or competition, but you can just compete against yourself in your own time. The idea is super simple: run up and down stairs in tall buildings as fast as possible.

The international races are serious affairs, with even a Tower Running World Cup. These races are short sharp bursts, often over in 10-12 minutes, but they cover immense heights of more than 90 floors, in the world’s tallest skyscrapers including the Eiffel Tower and the Empire State Building.

If you want to try tower running in your area, you can ty Googling “tower running near me” or “stair climbing near me” to get a list of stairs in your area.