Going up and down stairs is a good exercise to lose weight, tone your legs and fight cellulite. This type of physical activity burns calories, being a good exercise to burn fat and at the same time strengthen your thighs and butt.
However, to climb stairs safely, you should wear walking or running shoes, because they have good cushioning on the sole, and wear comfortable clothes, as well as not being too overweight, nor carrying any bags for your body, not having to do it. more effort from just one side.
How to use the stairs to lose weight
For those who live in a building, the ideal is to escape the elevator and always choose the stairs in your day to day. In addition, you can also go up and down stairs for 20 minutes, without stopping to rest.
Initially, you can climb stairs at a slower pace, but after the 3rd week, you should try to increase the pace to burn more calories and stimulate the bloodstream more, which brings more benefits to the cardiovascular system, helping to prevent infarction and stroke, for example.
Other benefits of using stairs
The main benefits of going up and down stairs include:
- Strengthen the thigh and butt muscles; Burn about 200 calories in just 30 minutes; Help fight cellulite and poor circulation; Stimulate blood circulation and protect the heart; Increase the feeling of well-being due to the release of serotonin in the blood; Decrease stress by helping to lower blood cortisol levels; Decrease the risk of thrombosis, osteoporosis and fractures; Prevents the formation of varicose veins because it improves venous return; Improve physical conditioning and breathing.
Some important guidelines to get the best out of the stairs are: being close to the handrail to hold on, if necessary, climbing only 1 step at a time, not running on the stairs until you have good physical fitness, not carrying several volumes in your hands; do not use stairs with slippery floors.
Does climbing stairs hurt?
Despite being a great exercise to lose weight, stairs should be avoided by people with some knee disorder such as arthrosis or chondromalacia, for example. In these cases, the joint is damaged and there is usually weakness in the thigh muscles, which further forces the joint, which can aggravate the situation.
Other situations that make the use of stairs not advisable include heart problems, such as arrhythmia, vision and respiratory diseases that hinder the passage of air. In such cases it is important to talk to the doctor before adopting the stairs as a lifestyle or type of physical activity.
Climbing stairs may also be discouraged, especially at the end of pregnancy, because at this stage the woman becomes more unbalanced and may fall, causing damage to her health and that of the baby.
