‘No time for fitness’ can no longer be an excuse if you are living in a multi-story building.  (Multi-storey means more than 1 floor so no excuse here too.)

Just climb the stairs every time you go down. Or make it better by planning a staircase exercise.

One study found that simply walking up 200 steps twice a day, five days a week, for eight weeks, can cause a 17 percent increase in VO2 max (VO2 Max means the maximum or optimum rate at which the heart, lungs, and muscles can effectively use oxygen during exercise, used as a way of measuring a person’s individual aerobic capacity.)

Just 200 steps twice a day, that’s it. Add some Yoga and your daily fitness activities are over. Still no time? Well, in that case, any good or bad city hospital will take care of you. All the best. No amount of excuse will work.

Ultimate strength-and-cardio workout: Stair climbing, recommends following tips when you do staircase climbing as an exercise.

• Start by warming up with exercises such as skipping or jogging, and cool down with stretching.
• When it comes to stair climbing, like any other type of exercise, practice good form. You’ll be able to work out harder and reduce the likelihood of injury.
• Don’t just use your calf muscles to power you up the stairs and avoid stepping just on your toes.
• Focus on using your larger leg muscles. With each step you take, make sure you lift your leg high, put your foot on the step and push off with your heel. This will help reduce strain on the knees and transfer the force to the hamstrings and glutes.
• When climbing downstairs, it’s safest to descend using each step. Also, ideally walk, don’t run down the stairs as this stresses the knees and ankles. You can also do like some stair climbing experts suggest and walk or run up but use an alternative means (e.g. elevator, sloping path) for your trip back down.
• Slow down and walk when you need to, or take a break. And remember to hydrate, especially in the summer.
• Look for long, straight, wide staircases for your workout. Some narrower staircases have many tight corners to negotiate and spiral staircases may be equally troublesome.
• Remember that stair climbing is a strenuous form of exercise so check with your healthcare professional before starting a new workout routine. Once your doc has given you the all clear, start off slow and easy and only increase the intensity and duration of your workouts gradually.

Staircase climbing is a kind of cardiovascular training. Cardiovascular training improves our endurance parameters, the efficiency of our heart’s pumping action, resulting in better cardiac output, lower resting heart rate, control blood pressure and improve lipid profile.

Just remember:

1. Wear proper exercise shoes.
2. Hydrate properly as staircase climbing is like any other exercise.
3. While climbing down, do not hurry. Just walk down. Running down affects our ankle and knee health.
4. Do consult your doctor/fitness trainer before you start to assess your capacity

Read: 6 things you must know about walking (Pick up relevant walking tips for staircase climbing exercise)

When Bollywood fitness role model, Akshay Kumar is shooting and doesn’t have time to devote to martial arts he prefers climbing a staircase. When he was shooting for “Singh is King” in Singapore he used to climb 74 floors.

It’s easy, it’s very much closest to your home, its free, it’s anytime you prefer and it’s beneficial. Staircase climbing can make you fit and saves your elevator’s bill too. Use staircase for your fitness and promote staircase fitness where you live. It is good for the society and good for housing society too.

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