You got a door, you got a gym. And now you can add ‘stairs’ to that list.
Kinesiologists at McMaster University and UBC Okanagan have just released their findings on the one exercise that can strengthen your heart’s health and ultimately help you live longer – stairclimbing.
Sure, you could argue that there’s a lonely Stairmaster in the gym most days of the week, but there’s practically stairs everywhere else from office buildings to shopping centres for people to tackle. The point the researcher are trying to push here is that people can now improve their health anytime and anywhere with just a few simple steps – literally.
The findings were published in the journal Applied Physiology, Nutrition and Metabolism and highlight the benefits of ‘fitness snacking’ – the latest exercise trend that involves breaking your workouts down into short, digestible chunks.
“The findings make it even easier for people to incorporate ‘exercise snacks’ into their day,” says Martin Gibala, a professor of kinesiology at McMaster and senior author on the study.
“Those who work in office towers or live in apartment buildings can vigorously climb a few flights of stairs in the morning, at lunch, and in the evening and know they are getting an effective workout.”
Not everyone is convinced though.
In a recent story we did on the rise of ‘fitness snacking’, sceptics called out the effectiveness of these latest findings.