Climbing stairs can help improve balance, strengthen legs, and increase cardiovascular fitness.
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If you live in an apartment building or multi-story house, you may be afraid of going upstairs every day. And, if you’re older, you might think that dodging stairs means you’re less likely to trip and stumble. But actually, going up a couple of flights of stairs helps a lot. preserve your balance as you age.
“Although you can use a railing for assistance, the stair climbing exercise improves balance because you need to balance on one leg as you press down on one leg and lift the other leg up the same or next step,” he says. Laura Flynn Endres, CPTa California-based personal trainer who works with older adults.
Standing on one leg (as you do when climbing stairs) also helps strengthen a variety of muscles, including your core muscles, glutes, quads, and calves.
But the benefits of climbing stairs don’t end there. Learn all the reasons why you might want to skip the elevator and take the stairs.
How to climb stairs safely
It is important to climb stairs progressively and start little by little. Get on a low step and hold on to both rails, says Flynn Endres. Once you’ve been able to do this easily on a regular basis, you can level up.
“From there, work your way up to higher steps, stepping without holding on, alternating legs, repeating one leg over and over, and so on,” she says.
You’ll also want to focus on strengthening the muscles you use to climb stairs, like your quads, hamstrings, buttocks Y calves, as well as keeping up with your mobility and balance exercises. Adding these exercises to your routine will result in safer and more efficient stair climbing.
1. Build lower body strength
Because climbing movements move your hip, knee, and ankle joints, stairs can help strengthen all of your leg muscles, including your quads, hamstrings, glutes, and calves, says Flynn Endres.
“You’ll also work your hip flexors when you raise your leg, your gluteus medius [smaller glute muscle] to help you maintain your balance, lower back, and abs as you lean toward stairs and the muscles in your feet, especially if your heel hangs off the step as you walk up,” he says.
Strengthening these muscles is important as you age because age-related muscle loss can put you at higher risk for falls. About one in four older adults experience a fall each year, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. But when you have a solid base of support, you’re less likely to fall.
2. Helps you stay mobile
Mobility is key to maintaining your independence later in life, according to the National Institute on Aging. just put, mobility exercises Keep your joints in top shape by moving them through their full range of motion. This allows you to do the things you love, like playing with your grandchildren on the floor or tending to your garden.
“Climbing stairs can improve mobility because it requires the use of the ankle, knee, and hip joints. It’s a fairly dynamic exercise that requires power, balance, and strength,” says Flynn Endres. “While climbing stairs may not be specifically improve flexibilitymoving through the necessary range of motion can help us maintain the required flexibility.”
3. Improve your cardiovascular fitness
There’s a reason stair climbing can make your heart race, even for the most highly trained athlete. Climbing stairs in itself is a cardio workoutwhich means it strengthens your heart and improves your aerobic capacity.
In a January 2019 study in Applied Physiology, Nutrition and Metabolism, a small group of sedentary adults quickly climbed three flights of stairs three times a day, with between 1 and 4 hours of rest. After climbing three days a week for six weeks, these stair-climbing “snacks” or intervals helped improve cardiovascular fitness, and average stair-climbing time decreased over the six-week period.
Additionally, research suggests that the cardiovascular health benefits of stair climbing are comparable to a 1-mile walk. Researchers in a small February 2017 study in the International Conference on Movement, Health and Exercise found that people who climbed seven floors twice a day, five days a week for a month and people who walked 1 mile on a treadmill for the same amount of time saw improvements in cardiovascular fitness.
4. Improves bone density
Contrary to popular belief, your bones get stronger with exercise.
Any weight-bearing exercise, like climbing stairs, forces you to work against gravity, conditioning your bones to bear loads and thereby making them stronger, according to the National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases. This helps prevent the risk of osteoporosis, a condition in which bones become weak and brittle, which increases with age.
