Then
climb ‘em again!
by Phillip Day
Stair-climbing is shunned by most, yet a more remarkable form of aerobic exercise one can not imagine without all the dread of anticipating it.
‘Goodness, stairs!’
Climb them.
Then climb them again.
You can do it in the home. You can do it at the train station. Stair-climbing increases the heart-rate, works the lungs, reduces insulin levels and is a great, overall muscle-conditioner. I seem to live in hotels, so Samantha and I make a point of working the stairs at every opportunity. Stair-climbing machines are also great if you have a gym membership or the motivation to use one at home (I don’t). When I lived in California, local residents would make use of a colossal flight of steps that ran up a Santa Monica hillside (200 steps at least). I went back there the other day. Dozens still show up from dawn onwards, young and old alike, and wheeze their way to the top. And then come down and do it all again!
Stair-climbing is one of the best exercises going, since its action is aerobic (oxygen-burning) and galvanises the metabolism (this is especially important for cancer patients who can use this as part of their 40-60 minute-a-day oxygenation regimen). Don’t overdo. Exercise to the degree that you’re able, and consult a doctor if you have an existing condition.
‘Counting steps instead of miles can boost your walking
workout and save you time,’ says www.prevention.com. ‘Researchers
in England and Northern Ireland asked 12 sedentary women to climb a 200-step
staircase, progressing from once a day to six times a day (they were allowed to
take the elevator down.) Each ascent took about 2 minutes, so by the end of the
study, the women were exercising only 12 minutes a day.
In less than 2 months, they saw a boost in their fitness
level, along with improvements in their cholesterol level that were enough to
cut their risk of cardiovascular disease by 33 percent.
‘This is among the best evidence that short bouts of exercise can have tremendous health benefits," says study author Colin Boreham, PhD, of the University of Ulster in Northern Ireland.’[1]