FILE – In this photo provided by ISF/Meeting, runner Yuri Yoshizumi competes during a race of Stairclimbing World Championships in Osaka, western Japan. (ISF/MEETING via AP)
Stairs are available in many places. And research shows stair-climbing is more effective than walking on level ground.
“Overall, it is a fact that stair-climbing gets you fit faster and consumes more calories,” said Lauri van Houten, vice president of the International Skyrunning Federation. The organization oversees a number of activities that involve climbing.
“How many calories will I burn is the question everyone wants to know,” van Houten said. “Here’s the good news: The overall energy expenditure of the exercise depends on your weight. Therefore, the more you weigh, the more you burn,” she said.
Research shows you burn about 20 times more calories going up stairs than walking on flat ground. Even going down stairs, you burn around five times more because your muscles have to work to slow the body.
That might be all you need to know if you are trying to lose weight.
Dr. Alberto Minetti of Italy’s University of Milan has done a large amount of research on human movement — including stair-climbing. It is an exercise everyone can do and does not cost money, he said.
Minetti did the math to explain why going up stairs is so effective for burning calories in a short amount of time.
“To move 1 kilogram of body mass over one horizontal meter, you expend 0.5 calories,” he said.
But, he added, “If you move 1 kilogram of body mass vertically on stairs it’s 10 calories. So it’s 20 times the calories moving vertically rather than horizontally.”
And it can easily become part of an exercise plan.
Yuri Yoshizumi won last year’s women’s division of the Stairclimbing World Championships in her native Osaka, Japan. She completed the 285-meter climb — 1,610 stairs — in 10 minutes, 20.06 seconds.
“Stair-climbing is an easy sport for beginners and the general public to get into,” Yoshizumi told the Associated Press in an email. She said the exercise helps to “strengthen your muscles and your cardiovascular system in a short amount of time.”
Yoshizumi noted that cities usually have many public stairways for people to climb.
“Just using the stairs instead of the escalators at (subway) stations and department stores is a good way to get some exercise,” she said.
I’m Ashley Thompson. And I’m John Russell.
Stephen Wade reported on this story for the Associated Press. John Russell adapted it for VOA Learning English.