05 Jan Taking the stairs instead of the elevator healthier – and faster

Staying fit is much more of a marathon than a sprint. It takes making good choices over a long period of time, rather than getting in a few good workouts here and there.
Studies gave shown that even exercising just 30 minutes a day three times a week can help improve your health, although at least five days of exercise a week are recommended.
And when you aren’t exercising, don’t turn off the fit mindset. Eat right and try to do even little things that will help improve your fitness.
Here’s a great example I stumbled upon recently in a fun mini-study, and I do mean mini-study, conducted by the Canadian Medical Association Journal.
A researcher had four people ranging in age from 26 to 67 compare the difference in time it took to get up and down a seven-floor building using the stairs and an elevator.
The study participants made trips throughout the building of different lengths and at different times of day and recorded how long it took on the elevator and stairs.
The stairs on average took just 13.1 seconds, while one elevator bank took 37.5 seconds and the other used averaged 35.6 seconds. The extra elevator time was mostly taken up waiting for the elevator to arrive and open.
The participants, who were hospital workers, didn’t report feeling any extra degree of fatigue after taking the stairs instead of the elevator. And since they were often required to visit different floors of the hospital, they concluded taking the stairs could add up to 15 minutes of time a day.
So there you have it – taking the stairs not only helps you burn more calories than the elevator, it can actually save you time, too.
Small choices such as taking the stairs can help add up to big results for someone with a healthy lifestyle.

At Home Fitness consultant Aaron Dorksen’s blog deals with a variety of fitness topics, ranging from workout tips, motivational ideas and feature stories on how exercise impacts people’s lives. E-mail him with comments, questions or ideas for future blogs at aaron@athomefitness.com