{"id":916199,"date":"2026-11-13T17:44:20","date_gmt":"2026-11-13T17:44:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/916199\/"},"modified":"2026-11-13T17:44:20","modified_gmt":"2026-11-13T17:44:20","slug":"the-health-benefits-of-stair-climbing","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/916199\/","title":{"rendered":"The Health Benefits of Stair Climbing"},"content":{"rendered":"

We\u2019ve all heard the recommendation to \u201ctake the stairs\u201d instead of the escalator or elevator. Not only is it an easy way to squeeze more movement into your day, but research has linked stair climbing to better cardiovascular health and longevity<\/a>. Even the famously long-lived residents of Barbagia, Sardinia\u2014one of the world\u2019s so-called Blue Zones<\/a>\u2014spend much of their day navigating steep hills and staircases.<\/p>\n

But nutritionist Mari\u00e1n Garc\u00eda\u2014better known as Boticaria Garc\u00eda<\/a>, author of Mujeres de Hierro<\/a> (Iron Women)\u2014takes the humble staircase one step further.<\/p>\n

According to Garcia, the benefits of climbing stairs are more numerous than many of us realize: the activity can help increase energy expenditure, improve cardiovascular fitness, strengthen muscles and bones, and even blunt post-meal blood sugar spikes<\/a>\u2014benefits that become especially valuable after 40<\/a>, when metabolism, muscle mass, and hormone levels begin to shift.<\/p>\n

The Rule of Three<\/p>\n

According to Garc\u00eda, consistency matters more than intensity. \u201cWhen I started running<\/a>, I incorporated stairs on my way home as the finishing touch to my workout,\u201d she writes in Mujeres de Hierro. \u201cOver time, the habit grew, and today I not only seek out stairs wherever I go\u2014whether at work or in hotels\u2014but sometimes I even climb them carrying grocery bags or suitcases.\u201d<\/p>\n

You don\u2019t even need to spend hours on the stair climber at the gym to reap the benefits. Garc\u00eda\u2019s recommendation is easy to remember: Simply aim to climb three flights of stairs three times a day. The advice comes from a study in which sedentary adults climbed approximately 60 steps\u2014about three flights\u2014at a brisk pace three times a day, three days a week, for six weeks. By the end of the study, participants had significantly improved their cardiovascular fitness<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Garc\u00eda recommends aiming for an effort level of around six or seven out of 10. \u201cYou should be breathing harder and your legs should know they\u2019re working,\u201d she says. \u201cYou don’t need to sprint or arrive at the top completely out of breath\u2014but you shouldn\u2019t be climbing while looking at your phone, either.\u201d<\/p>\n

How to Get More Benefits<\/p>\n

Once stair climbing becomes part of your routine, Garc\u00eda suggests making two small adjustments.<\/p>\n

Take two steps at a time: \u201cYour stride lengthens, and your glutes and legs have to work harder. That muscle contraction also increases the stimulus on the bone,\u201d she explains.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"We\u2019ve all heard the recommendation to \u201ctake the stairs\u201d instead of the escalator or elevator. Not only is…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":916200,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[62],"tags":[674,337,97,2749,371971,259,673],"class_list":["post-916199","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-fitness","tag-exercise","tag-fitness","tag-health","tag-longevity","tag-mature-beauty","tag-mental-health","tag-wellness"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/916199","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=916199"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/916199\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/916200"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=916199"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=916199"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=916199"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}