How to Get Fit With a Stair Stepper

Video Transcript

"Hi, I'm Les Whitley. I'd like to take a few minutes right now and talk to you about how to get fit when using a stair stepper. A stair stepper, like any other piece of equipment, should be one among many tools that you use to accomplish your goals. With a stair stepper especially, don't get caught up so much on how much time you're spending on it. But make sure that you're getting the most effectiveness out of the time that you're spending while using that piece of equipment. Again, let it be one tool in your mini arsenal of different things that you can use to accomplish those goals. A stair stepper in particular, make sure that you're getting even spacing through a full range of motion. I'm sure many of you have seen individuals in the gym that put a lot of pressure and force on their hands. And take the force off their lower body. The stair stepper mimics the activity of you climbing either up and down steps. Which involves using the large muscle groups of your lower body. If you take the pressure off of your lower body by using your upper body to stabilize, you are minimizing the effectiveness of this exercise. So you might as well choose something else. To get the maximal effectiveness, make sure maintain an upright position. Just like you would while climbing stairs. Bending at the knee and the hip. Alternate your body moving up and down. Try to maintain a good even pace an rhythm. For this particular piece of equipment, you utilize the upper body as well to engage more muscle mass for the overall body. To increase the overall effectiveness of the calorie expenditure. Again, by alternating moving up and down. Keeping the body close to the machine. So that you mimic an upward climbing as well as using the lower body. Time spent on the machine will vary depending on your level of fitness. Starting off with as little as one minute. Working yourself up gradually to five, ten to twenty minutes. Depending on the level of intensity. Ideally, the higher the intensity, the shorter duration for maximal effectiveness while you are engaging in your workout."