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For the Love of Stairs

May 9, 2013 By LazyGirlFitness 4 Comments

I have a bit of a love-hate relationship with stairs. Actually, it’s more of a grudging respect-hate relationship. They hurt, oh how they hurt, but damn they’re good for you.

Stairs Wednesday has become a bit of a tradition in my workplace. Every week we lace up our joggers and head to Mrs Macquarie’s Chair for a little dose of hell on earth. Now the concept of a stairs workout just ain’t that complicated. You go up, you go down. Singles, doubles, jumps, hops, however you do it, it’s  going to hurt. And this week, hurt it did. By the end of our session I was literally dripping with sweat, and my legs were shaking for the entire jog (which I’m big enough to admit petered into a walk) back to the office.

Where the fun begins!

Where the fun begins!

So what is it about stairs that just – in the words of Johnny Mellencamp – hurts so good?

Well, firstly, stairs are an incredible cardio workout – you’ll be huffing and puffing after just a round or two. Don’t give in to the burn – keep that chest up, use your arms and drive your way upwards. Use each trip back down the stairs as active rest.

Strength building – you’re feeling it through your butt and legs and that’s a good thing! Take single stairs to focus on your calves, doubles to work deeper into your glutes and quads and for a real plyometric workout, dig deep and go for triples.

Calorie burn – an hour of stair running could burn up to 1000 calories (although you’d have to be certifiable to attempt it). A 15 to 20-minute session is more than enough to get that blood pumping and the oxygen flowing, and you’ll be burning bonus calories for hours afterwards.

View from the top!

View from the top!

Once you open your eyes to the joy of stairs you’ll see notice them everywhere, so there’s no more room for excuses! Add a little stairs session to your life – I guarantee you won’t regret it.

Filed Under: Workouts Tagged With: Aerobic exercise, Fitness, personal training, Stairs, Sydney

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Comments

  1. aregularcupofjo says

    May 9, 2013 at 9:45 pm

    When I was wrestling in high school, every morning I would run the stadium stairs. Doing this put me in the best shape of my life. Keep up the great work and conquer those stairs.

    Reply
    • LazyGirlFitness says

      May 10, 2013 at 9:14 am

      That’s what Stairs Wednesday is all about! If you don’t feel like you’re going to vomit, you’re probably not doing it right…

      Reply
      • aregularcupofjo says

        May 10, 2013 at 6:27 pm

        Very true. Going to have to hit the stairs soon now 🙂

        Reply

Trackbacks

  1. Make Your Fitness a Priority – lazy girl fitness says:
    June 27, 2013 at 10:07 pm

    […] Make exercise a habit Sometimes motivation can be hard to come by, which is why many suggest the key to a successful exercise program is actually something much more simple – making it a habit. This all comes back to planning, and locking your workouts in ahead of time. Before you know it you’ll be wondering what you did before Stairs Wednesday! […]

    Reply

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