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Going up and down stairs is a good exercise to promote weight loss, 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, as they have good cushioning on the sole, reducing the impact on the joints, and wear comfortable clothes. In addition, it is important not to be carrying weight on only one side of the body, as it is possible to avoid overloading a joint.
In the case of being overweight, it is important to be careful when climbing the stairs, and this activity must be accompanied by a physical education professional in order to avoid injuries.
How to use the stairs to lose weight
Going up and down stairs helps in the weight loss process because it promotes an increase in heart rate and metabolism, favoring fat burning and muscle mass gain. However, for this to happen it is important that a constant pace is maintained and that it is done with a certain intensity and frequency.
Initially, you can climb stairs at a slower pace and increase it gradually so that you can burn more calories and stimulate the bloodstream, which brings more benefits to the cardiovascular system and helps prevent diseases, such as heart attack and stroke, for example.
Other benefits of using stairs
In addition to helping with the weight loss process, going up and down stairs also has other health benefits, the main ones being:
- Strengthen the thigh and butt muscles;
- 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;
- Avoid the formation of varicose veins, as it improves venous return;
- Improve fitness 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, the use of stairs as a form of physical activity 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 for exercise 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.