Climbing Stairs Can Help Burn Calories

The last few decades have seen obesity has grown as the new social evil.  One of the major culprits is the reduced physical activity and sedentary lifestyle that has become the norm. It is therefore not surprising that weight loss is on everybody's personal goals.  In a lot of cases, ironically, the methods and techniques have involved turning the clock back, what was being done a couple of decades ago. Let us look at using stairs for example. From an engineering point of view, elevators and escalators were a major focus area in the 1900s and 2000s.  However, now, stair designs that are easy on the body are the highlight.

Let us look at some facts related to weight loss and climbing stairs. These should provide you sufficiently good reasons to start using the stairs next time when you have a choice.

·         Fact 1:  Climbing stairs help burn more calories per minute than jogging. It is declared as a 'vigorous exercise'. 

·         Fact 2: Climbing a step helps you burn about 0.2 calories and going down burns 0.05, so to burn 1 calorie, all you need to do is go up 5 steps or go down 20 steps.

·         Fact 3: However, though the number of calories burned is less by going downstairs, the muscles and joints used for getting down stairs are different. Using stairs to go up and down should be regularly practiced.

·         Fact 4:  Climbing stairs require about 9 times more energy than sitting and about 7 times more energy than required to take the lift.  

·         Fact 5: For going up or down 3 to 4 flights of stairs, taking the stairs helps save about 15 minutes of valuable time (most of it waiting for the lift to arrive).

·         Fact 6: Regular use of stairs safeguards you against heart disease, diabetes, muscle weakness and stroke.

·         Fact 7: Endorphins are released when you climb stairs, which also induce a feeling of well-being.

·         Fact 8: Overweight people burn more calories by climbing stairs.

·         Fact 9: Taking one step at a time in more beneficial than taking two at a time. Calories are burned gradually, but more efficiently.

·         Fact 10: Climbing stairs is eco-friendly as well, as it reduces carbon emissions. Just another reason why you should avoid the lift!