So you don’t feel like you want to go to the gym? Perhaps you don’t want to spend the money to go to the gym? Well I have you covered here in this post, all you need to do is find some stairs and this quick stair workout will have you torching the calories in no time.
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There is something refreshing about finishing a workout without any real workout equipment, it’s just you, your body and the elements. Back in Wanganui I used to do the Durie Hill stairs (they are long and steep!) quiet regularly. Sometimes I would do the stairs before going to the gym and on other occasions I would do the stairs after a walk or run around the bridges.
Depending on how I felt each day would determine if I would run or walk up the stairs and how many times I would do it. No matter what I ended up doing I always felt like I had a great workout and was always tired afterwards, I always slept well those nights!
First of all you need to find some stairs that are close to you. You may find these in a park, train station entrance, near a bush walk, in your house or even the stairs in your office building? Finding the stairs is key to this quick stair workout.
It is less important how long and steep the stairs are and more important that you just find some that are close enough to you that you won’t find excuses to get out of the workout. Of course if you have different options of which stairs you can use then I recommend going for the longer option.
There are many different ways to use to the stairs depending on your fitness level and how hard you want to work. The first and most obvious would be to simply walk up and down the stairs. If you’re not comfortable with stepping up to running the stairs (Ha, see what I did there!) I would try to make it harder by taking two steps at a time or taking a light jog down the stairs which is easier than jogging up them. Once you are more comfortable with the stairs you can use them for interval training by sprinting up a flight then walking down them.
Ultimately do what is a challenge but won’t ruin you, we all have differing degrees of fitness and stairs can be tough work so if you need to walk then walk. Scale the exercises for what will work for you at that point in time and work on getting up to being able to do the full workout as listed.
Anyway, let’s get into the full workout!
Depending on how much time you have and the length of your stairs complete this circuit 2-5 times and then get on with your day 🙂
Begin by walking up and down your set of stairs once – after stretching of course! Next you should walk up and jog down – take it at whatever pace you can handle at your current fitness level.
Then we move in to the first of our bodyweight exercises which is to perform 15 low squats, squat down as low as you can comfortably and safely go and then move on to walking (or jogging if you’re up for it) up and down the stairs two stairs at a time. By now your heart rate should be starting to speed up and you may even be feeling a few beads of sweet.
Next you will perform 10 incline push-ups (either on your knees or full push-ups depending on your abilities), your hands will be up on one of the stairs and then you perform the push-up as normal. Being raised on an incline does make the push-up a little bit easier.
Now sprint up the flight of stairs and walk back down. If you have a really long flight of stairs sprint to a certain point then walk a few stairs then sprint again until you are at the top of the stairs. This will be the toughest portion of the workout so push yourself (safely of course).
We are almost at the end of the circuit and you are going to perform mountain climbers – pop yourself down into the push-up position with your hands on one of the stairs then bring each knee up one at a time as close to your chest as possible and then back into the top of the push-up position – you can either do this slowly one leg at a time or quickly as though you are running on the ground.
Last but not least jog gently up the stairs and then walk back down while catching your breath. If you’re doing a few rounds of the circuit then take a few minutes at the bottom to catch your breath and have some water before doing the circuit again.
There we have it, a quick stair workout you can do any time! No excuses as there are stairs everywhere!
Have you ever incorporated stairs into your workout before? – Please do scroll down and comment below as I love hearing from you 🙂
Great idea! I wish we actually had some stairs nearby – can’t think of many spots off the top of my head that I have access to! When we were in Korea and Japan, there were stairs EVERYWHERE. We were constantly running up and down them to catch subway trains or while sight seeing. It was non stop and chaotic! At first we were all feeling the burn but after a while, it got easier and easier! Was definitely good for us! Mr Unprepared had the hugest work out because he was often in charge of carrying the Little Mister (it was often too busy to let him walk)!!
This is a great idea. I always take the stairs whenever I see one. Even though I’ll have to go to the 10th floor of a building, it doesn’t matter. I still take the stairs.