Stair Climbing Study

December 13, 2012
The cheat's guide to exercise: Taking the stairs one at a time burns MORE calories than leaping up them

Lead researcher Rodney Kennedy said: 'Given that such improvement resulted from less than 30 minutes per week of moderate exercise, stair climbing in the workplace should be promoted as a health-enhancing physical activity.'

I'm a believer in "baby step" theories. Doing something is definitely better than doing nothing. It doesn't take much of a behavior change to make a big difference if one just sticks to it.

Starting in June of 2011, I have been climbing at least 20 flights of extra stairs each and every day. These days, I generally break it into 4 sets of 5 flights. Now that I'm in relatively good shape, they take about a minute each. That's roughly 28 minutes per week. No big deal!

It took so little to feel so much better. I'm about 20 pounds lighter than when I started. I'm generally doing a lot more activity per day than just 20 flights of stairs though. Exercise begets exercise. 20 flights is still my minimum. It's enough to keep me in the game, so to speak. Some days I just do the bare minimum. No big deal!

No stress. No eating rice cakes. No pain, no pain. I've been doing a lot of walking around the neighborhood in recent months. And I mean a lot! I honestly enjoy it. Rain? Shine? It's all good. That's what umbrellas are for. It all started with baby steps on the stairway.

“Focus on the journey, not the destination. Joy is found not in finishing an activity but in doing it.” - Greg Anderson

That's the difference this time. I'm doing what I think I can do every day for the rest of my life, and not because I feel the need to do it. I do it because I enjoy how it makes me feel.

And on that note, I'm off to walk a 1.5 mile loop around the neighborhood. It's a beautiful night. The air is crisp. I won't have to ask my dog to join me more than once. Dogs somehow inherently know that walking can be fun. And yet it is we humans that need to be trained? Go figure! :)

Thanks to Rik in the comments of this post for bringing the article to my attention.