New Study Suggests That Use of Stairs Can Increase Lifespan and Cardiovascular Health

Ishraq Ahmed Hashmi

·        New research has revealed that stair climbing can help you reduce your chances of developing a cardiac event or dying from any cause.

·        As far as the stairs are concerned, such specialists stated that there is not enough evidence that suggests the number of stairs a person should climb daily, but any kind of stair-climbing has its advantages.

· The first way to easily introduce exercise in your everyday life is to start observing your environment.

It’s no secret that climbing stairs daily cuts calories and tones muscles, but a new analysis shows that you are likely to live longer if you do it.

In a study conducted on nearly 500, 000 people, a relation between stair climbing and a lower risk of dying from any cause was established. The authors also noted that stair climbing seems to reduce the risk of any cardiovascular event which includes heart attack and stroke. 1

The results, which have not been published in a scientific journal, were reported at the conference of the European Society of Cardiology at the end of April.

“This is the first meta-syntactical analysis of stair climbing as a form of physical activity and a potential risk factor in cardiovascular disease,” the head of the study, Sophie Paddock, MD, from the University of East Anglia and Norfolk and Norwich University Hospital Foundation Trust in the United Kingdom, said Health. ”

Dr. Tamanna Singh, the co-director of the Sports Cardiology Center at Cleveland Clinic, explained to Health that it is vital to understand that the study is observational and does not prove causality. However, you can only conclude that it appears that stair climbing reduces the risk of dying and developing heart disease.

 

A Look at the Study

Climbing stairs was associated with a reduced risk of cardiovascular disease and premature death according to nine reviewed studies. Such papers involved 480,479 patients with no evidence of cardiovascular disease or those who had prior myocardial infarction or peripheral arterial disease. Participants were between the ages of 35 and 84 years, and 53 % of participants were female.

The team determined that stair climbers were 24% less likely to die of any cause compared with non-stair climbers. Stair climbers also had a 39% reduced risk of death from cardiovascular disease, which is a group of diseases including coronary artery disease, heart attack, high blood pressure, and stroke. Cardiovascular disease is a leading cause of death in the world today.

Stair climbing was also found to lower the risk of cardiac events including heart attack, stroke, and heart failure.

Paddock stated that the main flaw of the study is the fact that studies included in the review relied on participants’ self-reports of climbing activity. “This may not be fully representative of their actual stair-climbing behaviors,” she said.

She also opined that there is a need for more ‘surveys that quantify people’s stair use and its effects on their health in the long run’.

 

Why Stair-Climbing Boosts Health

Per Singh, the exercise’s benefits come down to one specific attribute: its vertical nature. So, climbing stairs can be considered more of an “exertional challenge for your body to move against the pull of gravity”, as compared to an activity such as walking on level surfaces.

This type of movement accounts for 9. Six times the amount of energy as sitting, Paddock stated.

This also leads to the fact that climbing stairs “improves our cardiorespiratory fitness,” as Paddock noted, and the other parameters In addition to this, climbing stairs “strengthen your posterior chain—glutes, hamstrings, hip flexors, calves— which improve overall mobility and musculoskeletal resilience,” as Singh pointed out.

 

How Many Stairs Should You Climb?

Paddock mentioned that her survey does not indicate what number of flights or the level of intensity needed to match the benefits noted in the study.

However, she mentioned that according to some research, it is possible to see results after climbing five to six flights of stairs daily or 50 to 60 steps in total. For instance, a 2023 study revealed that walking at least 50 steps a day is associated with a 20% reduction in the likelihood of atherosclerosis, which occurs when plaque accumulation solidifies arteries.

However, as Singh put it, “Any stairs are better than none.”

She also pointed out that stairs, even when “they are not systematic exercise regimes,” greatly diminish all-cause cardiovascular mortality.

 

How to Practice Climbing Stairs

Incorporation of stair climbing into your lifestyle begins with as basic as looking around you. Search stairs in homes, workplaces, parking structures, etc.

According to Singh, “If you see stairs, climb them.”

“This kind of exercise is suitable for almost anyone,” she further said.

To overcome this, Singh suggested it could be helpful to make a stair challenge at work or find an app that counts the steps or the number of flights climbed.

If you do create a stair climbing routine and it at some point feels easy, she said that one should “build fitness” by either adding “miles” of steps climbed, or the frequency or the duration of stair climbing.

If you have trouble moving around or cannot use stairs, try to move any part of your body that you can, advised Singh. The same results can be obtained with regard to other types of exercises including swimming, cycling or rowing.

Singh’s quote, “Any physical activity is better than none,” summarizes this idea as he continues, saying, “Your heart really does not care what you do as long as there is a consistent practice of exercise.”