Walking The Stairs Increases Physical Fitness And Heart Health
When you have a heart condition or are at risk of such a disease … you know that regular exercise should take first place on your to-do list.
But when it’s time to put on your sports shoes, you find plenty of excuses why the exercises are not possible, at least at this point.
Something hurts you. The entrance card for the gym is too expensive. You do not have time for this.
I understand. Sticking to a regular exercise plan and paying for it can be a real nuisance.
But a new study showed that these “reasons” for lack of form are what they are: SCREAMS.
Heart health and physical exercise
Researchers from the Department of Kinesiology at McMaster University have found a simple way to improve physical fitness and care for heart health. It is easy, free, fast and (for most people) painless.
All you need is a staircase.
It turns out that going up and down the stairs – and short series – can improve cardiorespiratory fitness. It is a sophisticated term determining how well your heart and lungs drive your body during physical activity.
Circulatory-respiratory fitness is a sign of health that is associated with a long life. Its low level can put you at high risk of heart disease .
Previous studies have shown that climbing stairs for a longer period – up to 70 minutes per week – improves cardiorespiratory fitness. Now we know that you can achieve positive results in a much shorter time.
Researchers invited 31 women to participate in two different experiments with physical exercise , but healthy in other respects.
Each of the experiments required performing 10-minute exercise programs three times a week for six weeks. These included a warm-up, a period of tranquility and a rest period.
In the first experiment, the participants entered the stairs quickly in three 20-second series or rode a stationary bike, also in series.
In the second experiment, women quickly walked up and down one flight of stairs in a series of 60 seconds.
It was shown that with the effort lasting only 30 minutes per week, the cardiorespiratory fitness improved. This has a significant impact on heart health.
Heart health – recommendations
Usually, I recommend a minimum of 20 to 30 minutes of exercise per day. But these results are quite promising, and they require much less time to sacrifice.
Exercises on the stairs are probably the most interesting, because it’s easy to repeat them at home. Provided that you have a staircase or mix in the house.
All you have to do is just walk up and down the stairs 10 minutes three times a week to get the benefits.
You do not incur any costs, there are no complicated rules … no excuses!
Of course, unless your knees have attacked osteoarthritis.
In that case, find a holistic medicine doctor. It will help you develop a natural plan to reduce pain and swelling – and return to the stairs again.