Stairs Are Your Friend

When you approach stairs, what do you think and or do? Do you think, Oh, no! Or do you say yes and charge up them? Do you immediately find a way to avoid them, seeking the nearest elevator?

When given a choice, the majority of people take the elevator or escalator. I observed this recently at our local grocery store, located on a second level.

They offer an elevator, escalator, and stairs to get up to the second-level store. In preparation for this blog, I observed, out of a quick count of 17 people, heading up to shop, two of us chose the stairs.

When we tell people we live in a four-story townhome with stairs, people gasp and say, “why? How do you deal with all those stairs?

” We reply,” climbing stairs daily keeps us in shape!”

It’s true if you talk with most people looking for a home, they prefer a one-story, with no stairs. The mindset, no stairs, makes day-to-day living easy. That may be true, but daily stair steps keep you fit!

If you are one of those no, thank you, no stairs people, I’m about to inspire you to make a shift in your thinking and make the stairs your friend.

Do you want to live an active lifestyle? Lower your resting heart rate? Get in and out of a chair easily? Do you have great balance and flexibility? How about toned legs? A shopping trip for new clothes because your clothes are too big – FUN! Make the stairs your friend daily, and you will reap the benefit. Your body will respond to the movement, and you will feel great!

Climbing stairs is great exercise; it strengthens your lower body, toning your glutes (butt), quads (thighs), and calves. You will burn fat and lose inches around your midsection while strengthening your core and abs. Let’s not forget about all the good climbing stairs does for your cardiovascular system and lungs.

When you have an option to take stairs, take the stairs….mindfully. Keep to the right and hold the handrail. Keep the chin up and look up where you are going. Pull in your belly button, bracing your core, and when you step, step with intention and be sure you place most of your foot on the step.

Stepping up leverages gravity, and the heavier we are, the harder we work and the more calories we burn. It helps build bone strength because it’s a weight-bearing exercise. Let’s face it; stairs does the body good!

Stair workouts are done best in a short period of time. With stairs, you can get in a great workout in 20 minutes. The goal would be for a minimum of 20 minutes to a max of 30 minutes.

You can use a small set of stairs in your home, several floors in a parking garage, apartment building, office building, hotel, a football stadium – stairs are all around you. Start with a few floors and build up over time. You work at your level at your pace. Gradually over time, as you gain strength, your pace will pick up.

• Workout 1: If you are in a hotel or office building with multiple floors– go up a floor – back down to start, then up two floors, down to start, go up three floors, down to start, go up four floors, down to start, go up five, down to start and so on – Go by time 20 to 30 minutes.
• Workout 2: Run up several flights of stairs, walk down the stairs to starting point….repeat for 20 to 30 minutes.

Another great fact, stairs are FREE, and you can find them everywhere. Get up, meet your best friend, stairs, and get your climb on!

Are you ready to start your journey to better fitness? Take action and contact K Factor Coaching today.