Oh so recognizable…
Many people, even the fittest among us, get out of breath after climbing a few flights of stairs. Glamor cats don’t sweat, of course, but we still occasionally arrive at the top of the stairs puffing with a red face. And all this while you are in good condition! We will explain to you how this is possible.
Lots of Energie
Maybe you’re enthusiastically training for a marathon. Maybe every day is leg day for you. Yet you are completely out of breath when you have climbed a number of stairs. At such a moment you quickly start to doubt your fitness, but there is no need for that! This is how a personal trainer and a cardiologist explain. Because climbing stairs? That is absolute top sport!
“Being out of breath when climbing stairs doesn’t mean you’re out of shape. Your heart rate increases and you need more oxygen,” explains trainer Jordan Syatt. No wonder you start breathing a lot harder! Cardiologist Nieca Goldberg agrees. Unless you really throw yourself into a StairMaster workout every day, it’s really not surprising that such a short burst of energy causes you to huff and puff.
Intensive
Climbing a number of stairs is simply very intensive, Syatt summarizes. “You’re essentially doing upward lunges and fighting gravity.”
In addition, you probably already lead an active life outside of climbing stairs. Regularly going to the gym, exercising outdoors, or simply going for a walk: we put our body to work. In addition, climbing endless stairs is extra challenging.
Jason Fitzgerald, a fitness expert from Greatist, states: “Running up twenty steps is very different from simply running for twenty steps. It combines an aerobic exercise with a strength exercise. Even if you are in great shape, you quickly get out of breath.”
Train
Fortunately, you can help yourself by training smart. Now, of course, we don’t want to say that you have to sprint back and forth through the stairwell every day – that will undoubtedly not make your neighbors happy.
Syatt suggests that you can train the stair movements with additional split squats, lunges and reverse lunges in your regular workout. And hey: if that StairMaster in the gym is free, it might not be a bad idea to spend part of your training there!
Source: Nouveau, Women’s Health Mag, Happy in Shape | Image: Adobe Stock
