Stair Workouts for Home & Travel

Stairs have long been used by athletes to increase
 strength, power and endurance, but anyone
can use them to help increase their fitness level.

The last post was on the Power of Intervals; how they can help you lose weight and become more fit.  Sometimes it may be tough to do intervals because the weather is bad outside and you don't have access to any type of exercise equipment.  Well there is a piece of equipment that most of you have right in your homes, a flight of stairs!

Stairs can help you increase your strength & power as well as increase both your aerobic and anaerobic capacity.  Below is a short list of workouts that you can try out at home or when you are on the road. 

This first group can be done anywhere you have a full flight of stairs or two 1/2 flights (which would equal one flight like in a split level home or in some hotels or apartments).  If you are new to working out, you could perform these walking instead of running. You can choose either running the workouts by hitting every step or by hitting every other step.  Hitting every step will work foot quickness more and cause less fatigue in the legs, whereas hitting every other step will work more strength/power.  Both methods can be challenging.  The amount of sets and reps you do will be determined by your fitness level, time, and whether you are doing stairs as your sole workout of the day or if it's your finisher after your normal workout.

Hurry Up, Slow Down

Fast as possible going up, followed by and easy walk down.   Do 10 flights for 1 set.  Do 1-5 sets with 2-5 minutes rest between sets.

Dueces Are Wild

Go up and down 2 flights at a very fast pace, followed by walking up and down 2 flights (this would be 1 rep).  Do 1-4 sets of 5-10 reps, but stay under 20 total reps unless you are feeling great.  Examples: 3 sets of 6, 4 sets of 5, 2 sets of 10, 1 set of 15, etc.

Lucky 7’s

Go up and down 1 flight at a fast pace, then walk slowly up and down 1 flight.  Next go up and down 2 flights at a fast pace, then walk slowly up and down 1 flight.  Continue at this pattern until you go up and down 7 flights at a fast pace, then continue the pattern going down until you finish with go up and down 1 flight at a fast pace again.  When beginning this workout, you may only do have of it or take a 2-5 minute break after your 7 flight interval and then work your way back down.

Crazy 8’s

Go up and down 8 flights at a fast pace followed by walking around ground level for 2-5 minutes (that would be 1 set).  Do anywhere from 1 to 5 sets depending on time and how you are feeling.

The next two workouts can be done in hotels or apartments that have a multiple number of flights. 

2 Up, 1 Down

Sprint up two flights of stairs as fast as you can and then slowly walk or jog down one flight.  Set a goal of what floor you want to finish on and continue the pattern until you reach that floor.  There are many variations you can make to fit your fitness goals, like 3 Up 2 Down (bigger rest:work ratio = faster speed) or 4 Up 1 Down (small rest:work ratio = slower speed).

Ladder On the Stairs

Sprint up one flight of stairs and then walk or jog down one flight.  Next, sprint up two flights of stairs and then walk or jog back down two flights.  Set a goal for the number of floors you would like to do and be done when you get back down after your final sprint/run.  Variations include completing the ladder back down (ex. up 1, down 1,  up 2, down 2, up 3, down 3....up 7, down7 , up 6, down 6, up 5, down 5,...up 1, down 1) or start with your goal number of flights and do only a descending ladder (ex. up 7, down7 , up 6, down 6, up 5, down 5,...up 1, down 1).  For more speed/power work, keep your goal flight lower and do more sets, and for more anaerobic capacity/aerobic mix raise the goal flight and do less sets.


Give these workouts a try either next time you're traveling, to change things up at home, or to use as a finisher to a strength workout.  

H