By Teddy Amenabar The Washington Post Climbing stairs as fast as possible could be an effective way for older adults to strengthen their legs, a study suggests. It builds on past research showing that a staircase can be an effective source of exercise. Researchers in Belgium randomly assigned 46 hea lthy adults, ages 65 to 80, to either a leg-press machine workout or a stair-climbing exercise. The study showed that both the machine workout and climbing two flights of stairs a few times twice a week for 12 weeks led to gains in muscle power and functionality. As we age, we start to lose not only muscle strength but also power. And muscle power — someone’s ability to quickly make use of their strength — is crucial for older adults to catch themselves when they trip, said Evelien Van Roie, an assistant professor at Hasselt University and the study’s lead author. “If you’re not able to move fast, even if you’re strong, you will still fall down,” she said. “This is something we really need to train.” And the results show stair climbing could be an accessible, at-home way for older adults to build muscle power, she said. “In Belgium, older adults are not really used to going to gyms to work out,” Van Roie said. “We need to find alternative ways to train muscle power.” The stair-climbing workout Twice a week, the study participants exercised at a university lab for 35 minutes. After a 10-minute warmup on a stationary bike, they completed two upper-body exercises on weightlifting machines — a chest press and a low row. Then half the participants were randomly assigned to a leg-press machine workout and the other half to a stair-climbing exercise. The stair-climbing group started with four sets of step-ups on a box about 30 or 40 centimeters (about 1 or 1.3 feet) high, alternating two sets per leg, to induce muscle fatigue and build strength. Participants moved at a slow, controlled pace, taking two seconds to step up and another two to step down. When climbing stairs as exercise, build strength before power by starting slowly. Taller steps increase muscle activation. (Tommy Larey / Adobe Stock) At week five, they climbed as fast as possible up two flights of six stairs each (with a landing in between) and rested for 45 seconds, which included walking back down. They did this sequence four times, and they were not allowed to skip steps or use a handrail. By the end of the study, the stair climbers wore weighted vests as they went up the steps. Van Roie called it “a very short burst of exercise.” On average, the fastest participant took 3.1 seconds to climb the two flights of stairs and the slowest took 6.8 seconds. She said some of the participants were skeptical that scaling the stairs four times amounted to a workout; they didn’t think it was hard enough. The other group did four sets of 12 to 15 repetitions on a pneumatic leg-press machine, which relies on pressurized air to create resistance, alternating two sets per leg. After four weeks, the researchers instructed participants to push as fast as possible with their legs, even pushing off the platform of the machine. The results Both groups saw gains in muscle power, as well as improvements in their walking speed and time required to stand up from a chair. Van Roie said the results show “you don’t need a fancy gym” to build strength. Simple, consistent and progressively challenging exercises will lead to results, she said. “It does not need to be an hour of exercise,” Van Roie said. The lower-body exercises took around 10 minutes to complete. If you want to try this at home Climb the stairs at a steady, slow pace before increasing your speed. You want to build strength before power, Van Roie said. “If you immediately start with performing very fast movements, you risk being injured,” she said. If you can safely climb the stairs without holding on to the handrail, try do so, Van Roie said. The handrail should be used for balance, not for pulling yourself up. If you can’t climb the stairs without pulling on the handrail, it might be safer to stick with a step-up or sit-to-stand exercise, she said. You can re-create the weighted vests used in the study by adding water bottles, or extra weight, to a backpack. And, for more of a challenge, you could skip a step while hiking up the stairs. “A higher step gives a higher amount of muscle activation,” Van Roie said. What other experts say Independent researchers agree the study shows regular stair-climbing exercises could be an effective workout regimen for older adults. “You don’t necessarily have to go to the gym to increase your muscle power,” said Kenton Kaufman, a musculoskeletal research professor at Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn. It’s another reason to choose the stairs instead of taking the elevator, he said. Related Articles All the News That’s Fit: States and doctor stats, antiseptic history, and an epic Jell-O experiment A simple technique to help you fall asleep Layoffs begin at US health agencies charged with tracking disease, researching and regulating food 9-year-old San Diego girl dies hours after dental surgery UC workers set for one-day strike Tuesday The group on the leg-press machine used “rather low” weights, said Lars Donath, a professor at the German Sport University Institute of Exercise Intervention Research. For power training, people typically use higher loads, he said. But the researchers probably did this to match the workload of the stair-climbing group, and the study shows “even small amounts of stair-climbing helps,” he said. “This is good news,” said Donath, who has studied stair-climbing exercises for older adults. “You don’t have to torture yourself with tons of weight and repetitions just to induce reasonable adaptations.” Stuart Phillips, a professor of kinesiology at McMaster University in Ontario, said you’ll probably need a longer staircase than what most people have at home. “But why not give it a try?” he said. The study’s limitations The people who volunteered for the study were healthy and likely to be motivated to start a free exercise program, Van Roie said. “The big step now is, how can we implement this in the real world where there’s no supervision?” she said. “Where people have to do it in their own homes?” And, at 12 weeks, the study was relatively short, said Michael Roberts, a professor of kinesiology at Auburn University. Over a longer period of time, the leg-press machine may have a “clear advantage” because participants can continue to add weight, Roberts said. The gains in performance from stair climbing could plateau if there isn’t a way to add to the challenge. ...read more read less