Taking the Steps Vs. The Elevator

Stairs offer a chance for impromptu exercise.

Being sedentary can have devastating effects on your health. Many people, however, feel their lives are too busy to fit in an exercise routine. If you're inventive, there are numerous ways you can get more active in your everyday life. Park a little further from your destination, take your bike to work or walk the stairs at your office rather than taking the elevator.

Health Benefits

If you have an office job, odds are you're sitting more than moving during the day. Over time, unless you compensate for this inactivity in other ways, your health will be threatened. Taking the stairs instead of the elevator gives you both a cardiovascular and muscular workout. It gets your blood pumping and your lungs and heart working. It builds your leg muscles and your stamina. This simple exercise helps you manage stress from work. The endorphins produced even make you feel better emotionally.

Convenience

When you take the stairs instead using of the elevator, you need no equipment and can exercise whenever you want. You can break the recommended 30 minutes of daily exercise into 10-minute intervals, taking a few flights of stairs at a time. If you're only a few flights away from your destination, taking the stairs can actually save you time over waiting for an elevator.

Conditioning

When you climb stairs regularly, you tend to avoid such health complications as cardiovascular disease. The fitness that results allows you to enjoy a wider range of activities as you get older. Individuals with knee problems who experience pain walking down stairs can get their exercise walking up stairs and taking the elevator back down. Walking stairs also gives you flexibility, as it allows you to take breaks as needed and, over time, build up your conditioning to whatever level you desire.

No Excuses

Because walking stairs requires no equipment or training, you can work out as much or as little as your body and time contraints allow. This eliminates the excuse that you can't make it to the gym and, unlike a gym membership, taking the stairs is a free way to get your daily allotment of exercise.

References

• New York Times: Great Workout, Forget the View
• Science Daily: Killer Stairs? Taking The Elevator Could Be Worse For Your Body
• Fit Sugar: Riding the Elevator vs. Climbing Stairs
• University of California: Riverside: Stairwell Challenge Climb Your Way to the Top
• Discover Walking: Burn More Calories - Take the Stairs