Walking is among the best exercises for your overall fitness and health. It helps improve your heart health, strengthens your bones, and also makes you achieve your weight loss goals. While experts say walking 10,000 steps is ideal, as it helps you develop mobility and balance, climbing stairs can have the same effect too.

A recent study, published in the medical journal Atherosclerosis, discovered that climbing 5 flights of stairs a day or roughly climbing 50 steps reduces the risk of heart diseases like heart attacks or stroke by at least 20 per cent. The research also noted that climbing stairs frequently gives you short bursts of energy, which is a time-efficient way to improve cardiorespiratory fitness and lipid profile—especially among those unable to achieve the current physical activity recommendations.

“These findings highlight the potential advantages of stair climbing as a primary preventive measure for ASCVD in the general population," said Dr. Lu Qi, study corresponding author, HCA Regents Distinguished Chair and professor at the Tulane University School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine. According to Dr. Lu, it is great, especially for those who often struggle to find time for fitness and can easily climb stairs.

The study also said those who stopped climbing stairs every day during the research period showed a 32 per cent higher risk of cardiovascular disease compared to those who never reported climbing stairs. “This study provides novel evidence for the protective effects of stair climbing on the risk of ASCVD, particularly for individuals with multiple ASCVD risk factors,” Qi added.

Experts recommend you aim for three to six flights of stairs daily (assuming each flight is 10 to 15 stairs) for a good health goal. Previous studies have also suggested climbing more than five flights of stairs (or 50 stair steps) daily may reduce the risk of heart diseases like strokes, heart attacks, and even blood clots.

According to experts, as compared to walking, climbing the stairs is equal to an uphill walk as it requires you to lift the body weight against gravity and it is a high-calorie burn exercise. It also helps build strength in muscles as the exercise targets the quads, hamstrings, glutes, calves, and core muscles.

While stair climbing is a more intense activity than walking, you not only burn more calories but also save more time. Climbing the steps elevates your heart rate quickly and it is the perfect cardio workout that develops endurance.

So what to do if you do not have stairs at home? Well, there are plenty of ways to incorporate more stair climbing into your daily life. So, if you work in an office or other type of building with multiple floors, you can take the stairs instead of the elevator. Other buildings, such as hotels, malls, airports, doctor’s offices, and hospitals, have stairwells that are typically available for public use.

To get the most out of stair climbing, experts recommend picking up the pace to strengthen your cardiorespiratory fitness. You could also try the stair climbing machine at the gym if you belong to one or invest in a sturdy fitness step and perform step-ups at home.

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