We have bad news and good news. Although climbing stairs does lose weight (but little), it is one of the most effective glute exercises without having to spend the day running, swimming or breaking your skin at the gym.
Benefits of climbing stairs
Climbing stairs is one of the classic ways to burn calories without going to the gym. It is estimated that walking up five stories an average of five times a week burns about 300 calories. However, the same research warns that it would be necessary to climb 42 floors step by step to equate it to an average exercise session.
In return, it is proven that it benefits your cardiorespiratory health and tones the lower body, that is, the set formed by the legs and their union with the pelvis, that is, the buttocks. Hence the origin of gym steps, which are nothing more than the simulation of a step.
- It helps to eliminate fat and strengthen legs and glutes (and the stronger they are, the less sagging and small they will seem …).
- It slows down the heart rate and reduces the likelihood of cardiovascular problems.
- Helps prevent diabetes. It increases the level of good cholesterol and reduces the levels of bad cholesterol in the blood.
- Streamline your mind. According to a study by the University of Concordia, in Canada, climbing four floors a day makes your mind rejuvenate two years for each one that passes.
How to climb stairs to increase glutes
The reason it is recommended to go up instead of going down is because going up stairs works the glutes more together with the muscles of the thighs and calves. While going down is, above all, an exercise for the thighs and you run the risk of overloading the knee more easily.
- Try to do it fast or even running, so you multiply all its benefits.
- Try to keep your spine as straight as possible, without leaning forward so as not to load your knees.
- Don't go up the steps two at a time because fewer calories are burned. Taking small steps is proven to make you contract muscles faster and expend more energy.
- Energetically move your arms at the same time as you go up or down the stairs and in this way you activate the entire muscles of your body.
How many floors do you have to climb to get results
The time and intensity necessary for climbing stairs to be beneficial for health and tone your buttocks varies from one person to another and their physical conditions.
Experts recommend that you do it progressively, gradually increasing the number of floors, then the intensity with which you do it and, finally, when you are already more trained, you can apply the interval method, that is, alternate an exercise of medium intensity with periods short of intense effort, such as getting fit by adding the benefits of walking and running
Photos: Laura Marques and Bruno Nascimento via Unsplash.
