I hope everyone has been enjoying the beautiful weather we’ve had lately! The longer days and warmer weather has been a great motivator for me to get back outside. Lately, that’s included long walks with some of my friends.
While I was out walking with my friend Megan the other day, we came upon a set of stairs behind an apartment complex. At that point, we stopped and Megan suggested walking up the stairs once or twice as part of our workout. The idea sounded pretty harmless, so I said yes. I really didn’t realize what exactly I was getting into.
So we started the journey and got climbing. After reaching the first plateau on the stairs, my legs were burning. How could this be? I’m relatively fit – heck, I walk and run all the time! Megan laughed and told me that the stairs had become her favorite new workout. She said they were challenging (she only made it up two flights her first time). Before too long, though, she claimed that she got better and eventually made it all the way to the top of the stairs. The beautiful view from the top gave her that extra kick she needed to continue walking the stairs three times a week.
I now add stairs in whenever I find some on my walks and they seem to make my other workouts easier. Stair workouts are great because they are free, require no fancy equipment (just good shoes and lighting), and a person can burns up to 9 calories in a minute*. That’s almost 300 calories in 30 minutes!
Something cool that I recently found out is that some people are now actually using stairs for races. You can sign up to run up the Empire State Building, the John Hancock Center or even the Willis Tower (formerly known as the Sears Tower)!
While I don’t think I’m in shape to run up 100 flights of stairs, I’m working towards it – of course, with my mild fear of heights, this could be an extra challenge for me!
Have you tried running or walking stairs? What is your favorite place to climb stairs in your town? Leave a comment below and share your experiences!
*For a 150 pound individual