Run Up and Down the Stair: Calorie Burnt and More

Running stairs is a cardiovascular activity and helps improve your respiratory and cardiovascular health. How many calories you end up burning depends on the duration and intensity of your exercise. Your body weight, pace, and gender also contribute to how many calories you burn during a 60-minute workout involving running up and down stairs. Here is a bit more to help you get a better idea of running up and down stairs calories:

Increase Your Duration

Knowledge about running up and down stairs calories enables you to improve your gains. You can get better results simply by increasing the duration of your workout session. It means that you should start with a 20-minute run but gradually add more time and take it to 60 minutes. You are likely to get best results when you stick with running stairs for more than 60 minutes. To make things easier, you can also consider running 20 minutes at a time thrice a day.

Increase the Intensity

Another simple yet effective way to burn more calories is to increase your intensity. Simply start by counting how many times you can run up and down the stairs in one minute. In your next run, try to beat your score and keep pushing yourself hard. It means that if you can run up the stairs 12 times in a minute, try to beat it by shooting for 13 times during the next round.

Consider Using Interval Training

You can end up burning more calories simply by incorporating interval training into your workout session. What it means is that you have to alternate between high- and low-intensities throughout the exercise. You can start by running up and down at a normal pace for a couple of minutes and then sprint up and down for a minute. Then, walk down at a normal pace and then change your pace again. This will make your exercise more demanding and help you burn more calories in return.

Include Resistance in Your Exercise

Just by wearing a weighted vest, you can add resistance to a simple activity like running stairs. Wearing extra clothing would also help. Resistance training not only strengthens your muscles but also makes your exercise more demanding, which helps burn more calories. Your body continues to repair your muscles after you have finished resistance training and this will again burn calories. It means that resistance training helps you burn calories even when you are resting.

Be sure to think about power when running up stairs. It is equally important to place your foot solidly on every step. Creating greater force will keep you safe and help you burn more calories as well.

Consider pulling your toes inward on the leading leg to avoid shin, knee, back, hip, and hamstring problems. Keeping your weight on the ball of your foot will also help lower risk of injuries.

Keep pressure on your glutes when going down the stairs. Most people injure themselves on their trip down the stairs mainly because they put more pressure on their knees. Keep in mind that your body puts serious pressure on your knees when you take each step down the stairs. Not adjusting your steps properly would make you more susceptible to injuries.

Pay attention to body alignment. This is more important when you are going down stairs. Keeping your knee aligned with your second toe will help keep things in proper shape. Also, do not try to push your hip behind you – you will be better off swaying it to the side. Use the handrail until you have mastered the move.

Work with your doctor in case you have hurt yourself in the process. Massaging your trigger points may help minimize pains. Use a foam roller and move from your hip bone through the side of your thigh and to the front of it. You can also use a massage stick to work on the back of your hip.