Let’s look at a few scenarios:
A. You walk into a department store, in front of you, the stairs, next to them, the elevators. Any thoughts? No, you hit the elevator button, and up you go.
B. You exit the airplane and see a ramp/escalator and stairs that take you down to the arrival hall — you take the ramp/escalator.
C. You walk into a hotel; the restaurant you’re dining at is on the 2nd floor. Do you take the stairs or the elevator? Let me guess — the elevator.
I don’t know why, but stairs have a terrible reputation; most avoid them like the plague!
I, on the other hand, love stairs and steps — I seek them out wherever I go and use them unless we’re talking about going up to the 25th floor in a hotel. I’ll always opt for the stairs within the realm of reason and possibility.
You’re generally going to arrive at your destination faster if you take the elevator; however, once you learn to appreciate the stairs and the significant extra health benefits they provide by using them, you’ll learn to love stairs and steps.
I don’t only use the stairs as much as possible in daily life — I seek them out to train on — amazing exercises can be done on a set of stairs, indoors or outdoors.
And that’s another great bonus — even if you’re in a cold winter climate now, you can likely find a set of stairs close to you indoors to workout out on.
The Amazing Benefits of Stairs.
- A great cardiovascular workout — even if it’s just for a few minutes
- Walking the stairs builds more muscular legs & butt
- The more you walk up and down stairs all day long, the fitter you become
- Sprinting up 2 to 4 flights of stairs a few times is a phenomenal and fast workout, which builds lean muscle and burns fat
- You can strength train on steps by performing lunges, push-ups facing up, and facing down. The latter is challenging but super powerful — a tremendous lean muscle building exercise
- Walking the stairs boost mental strength and boosts your confidence — you’re not being lazy — instead, you’re promoting your health, fitness, and a positive accomplished mind
- You can get others to follow you and thus are supporting their health and fitness journey along the way
All points are a clear win-win.
Summing Up.
We sit around for so many hours — at work, home, in the car, in restaurants, and so on. And that’s the reason I take every opportunity I get to walk to as many places as I can, and when I see stairs, I’ll take them every time, unless we are talking the Empire State Building.
That brings me to a point — one of my main bucket list items is to walk to the top of the Empire State Building. I’m not sure if you’re allowed to any more these days, but I’ll find out!
If so, maybe we can arrange a group walk up to the top of the Empire State? That would be a blast. I’ll let you know if it’s possible!
Next time you see steps or stairs, do your best to make time and use them.
Make this a daily habit, and you’ll soon see an improvement in your general health, stamina, and mindset.
Learn to love the stairs.
Thanks for reading,
Rob
