I couldn’t leave my building today so I resorted to stair climbing (I live on the 10th floor).
FWIW I still prefer running outdoors (wind, fresh air, birds, other runners and yogis…), but apparently stair climbing is more effective to burn calories, even more if you take 2 steps at a time.
If you do both, is there any proportion that works best for you? like 2 days running and one day stair climbing? alternating days?
Any drawback doing too much stair climbing?
If you can’t go anywhere, another option is jumping rope. 10 minutes of jumping rope is about equivalent to jogging for 30 min.
I personally prefer a slightly weighted (.8lb) rope with the mass concentrated in the rope portion rather than the handles.
Variety is always welcome in my book.
Any drawback doing too much stair climbing?
If you do it before running, your muscles can be over-stressed at the start of a run, increasing risk of impact injuries. So make sure to give yourself recovery time after stairs before you do a hard run again.
Done in this way, you can build up your support muscles which will actually decrease the risk of running injuries.
I use the stair machine regularly after a workout. Not all the time, but often. It’s very exhausting. I have a fitness watch and my heart rate is in the 170s for the majority of it.
I find it really helped my leg muscles develop better. Especially my thighs and the muscles connecting to the knee.
What about running up the stairs?
That’s what I do… my running route has flights of stairs in it.
