If you’ve always hated running, rowing or any other forms of cardio exercises, do not worry. Try taking the stairs!
Yes, you didn’t hear me wrongly.
The flights of stairs in your office building and HDB block might just be your answer to shedding those extra kilos. We are very fortunate to be living in Singapore.
Besides being able to take the stairs up our HDB or condo block, we can also take the stairs whereever we can – think MRT stations, office stairs, shopping malls etc. The possibilities are endless.
The best thing about stair-climbing is that you can train anytime, anywhere. Unlike gyms which have fixed opening hours, staircases do not close. Walk up the train platform every morning to work instead of riding on the escalator. Not only are you burning calories, you are also working your lower limb muscles. In fact, stair-climbing uses pretty much all the lower limb muscles and trains your quadriceps, hamstrings, calves and butt! You will be surprised if you feel your thighs feeling more toned and your jeans starting to feel looser if you incorporate stair-climbing into your arsenal of cardio activities. More interesting, according to research studies done, stair-climbing burns 8 to 17.1 calories per minute as compared with 7.9 to 17.47 calories for running. This is of course when one assumes you pound the stairs at a relatively fast pace instead of climbing and stopping only to start climb again.
But before you start your stair-climbing tomorrow with fervour, here’s some very useful tips for you to take note.
1. Do not attempt stair-climbing if you suffer from arthritis or experience any pain in the knee joint.
2. Maintain a proper climbing posture by leaning forward slightly from the hips but keep your back straight. No hunching of your back in short.
3. Place your whole foot on the stpe instead of climbing with the forefoot with heels hanging off the edge.
4. Start with a few flights or stairs and not 20 storeys at one go. Remember, you are in for the long haul.
Happy stair-climbing!
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