My Favorite Part of My New House!

Wednesday, August 4, 2010

"He who has health, has hope. And he who has hope, has everything." -Proverbs

I have always been a big fan of stairs! Just ask my past boot camp classes. My all time favorite piece of equipment in the gym is the Stairmaster. So you can imagine my delight that our new house has not one but two sets of stairs. That’s right my loving husband fell in love with a three story town house, so that’s what we got. Now, I’m not complaining, I absolutely love our new house! The stairs by themselves are great, on moving day I probably went up and down them about 100 times (and I’m not exaggerating). My calves were unbelievably sore the next day! I loved it!! The thing that makes this house an even better workout tool, is that the only restrooms are on the third floor. Who thought that was a good idea (besides me)? If you know me, you know that I have to use the restroom every five seconds (I think the 20 water bottles I drink a day may have something to do with it). This in turn gives me yet another reason to run up and down the stairs. I know you are probably thinking, “She’s crazy,” but let’s take a look at all of the benefits of stair climbing.

Benefits of hiking up stairs:
  • It burns calories. Climbing stairs burns significantly more calories than walking across the house (to visit the potty for example).
  • It’s a non-impact form of exercise. As long as you maintain proper form, it is fairly easy on your joints.
  • It builds strength. Stair climbing strengthens the major muscle groups of the lower body; including the quadriceps, hamstrings, calves (I can testify to this one), and gluteus maximus

This set leads from the 1st floor (aka garage) to the 2nd floor.


This beautiful set leads from the 2nd floor to the 3rd floor!

If you are still skeptical about skipping the elevator for the stairs, listen to these statistics found in Prevention Magazine. “Researchers in England and Northern Ireland asked 12 sedentary women to climb a 200-step staircase, progressing from once a day to six times a day. (They were allowed to take the elevator down.) Each ascent took about 2 minutes, so by the end of the study, the women were exercising only 12 minutes a day. In less than 2 months, they saw a boost in their fitness level, along with improvements in their cholesterol level that were enough to cut their risk of cardiovascular disease by 33 percent.” This is also proof that short bouts of exercise can have tremendous health benefits! “In a second study of nearly 13,500 men, those who climbed up and down at least 700 steps a week, or 100 steps a day (half that of the first study), reduced their risk of death by nearly 20 percent. This reduction is comparable to what you'd achieve by walking about 2 miles a day, which takes most people 35 to 40 minutes. From a calorie-burning perspective, you'd have to walk briskly for 30 minutes to burn the same number of calories that you would climbing stairs for 15 minutes. Stair climbing is vigorous exercise. The higher intensity seems to be a key factor in these benefits, explains Dr. Boreham. “

After reading these statistics, I was even more excited about the two sets of stairs in my new home! I know I know I’ve lost my mind. To increase the benefits of running up and down the stairs, I change up the way I climb. Sometimes I skip every other step, then next time I’ll climb sideways, and then I will climb each step focusing on speed. I hope this inspires you to look at stairs as a chance to get in a mini workout anytime anywhere!

What do you think:
What do you do to fit in extra exercise throughout your day?
If your not doing so now, how can you fit in a little extra exercise today?
Yours truly,

Lauren G.

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2 Comments »

2 Responses to “My Favorite Part of My New House!”

  1. I LOVE the stairmaster, but try to switch it up often! If you are walking on it correctly, using your glutes and thighs, not your knees, its an AWESOME workout..and like you said, something we do in our daily life!!

    My extra exercise is throwing my clients around ;-) Showing them what to do, etc. And, cleaning. I try to sneak in extra stretching when I can , bc I need that the most!!

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  2. Very interesting! I really need to use a stairmaster!

    xo

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