The Latest Low-Cost Exercise Craze Is Stair Climbing

If you want to stay healthy on a budget try the latest low-cost exercise craze: stair climbing.
According to USA Today, a growing number of people are avoiding the gym and heading
to the tallest building they can find to run, walk or hobble up as many stairs as they can.
They’re seeing some serious results. Lindsy Goss is a 38 year old mom who’s hooked on
stair climbing. She and her girlfriends meet twice a week to climb the stairs at a local
high-rise. They’re getting ready for a charity climb, up the 103 floors of the Willis Tower in
Chicago. She says her overall strength and endurance has improved dramatically, and she’s
dropped at least one dress size. The benefits aren’t just physical. She says climbing with
her friends gives her a chance to de-stress and do something social that doesn’t revolve
around food or shopping.

Fitness experts are saying stair climbing as a great way to get fit without dropping a lot of
cash. According to the American Council on Exercise, climbing stairs is the best way to
strengthen your legs and glutes and it’s a fantastic cardio-vascular workout; it burns more
calories than walking OR jogging! However, just like the gym you have to keep going to
see any benefit. Barbara Bushman is an exercise physiologist at Missouri State University.
She says you have to do cardio at least three to five days a week – every week - before
it’ll do you any good! If you really get into stair climbing, there are marathons you can
enter too. Just go toTowerRunning.com for a list of marathons all over the world.