NEW YORK (AP) — Tom McGee started climbing stairs to exercise 20 years ago in an effort to quit smoking. It wasn’t always easy: His climbs on hotel stairwells sometimes attracted the attention of security guards.
“I’ve been kicked out of almost every hotel in the city,” said McGee, a 69-year-old market researcher who lives near Chicago.
Climbing stairs has become increasingly ingrained in exercise instruction, but many regular stair climbers say it can be challenging in an era when office building managers often cut off access to stairwells.
Here’s a look at stair climbing as a form of exercise and some of the unexpected challenges some people encounter when trying to climb them.
Climbing stairs is a good exercise
Dr. Luis Rodriguez, a semi-retired pediatric pulmonologist, participates in stair climbing events and appreciates its benefits.
“You’re working your legs. You’re working your heart. You’re working your lungs,” Rodriguez, 66, said. “You get more benefits than just walking because gravity is working on you.”
He’s backed up by research, which found that four minutes of climbing stairs is roughly equivalent to 10 minutes of brisk walking or 20 minutes of slow walking.
In 2018, federal physical activity guidelines changed to promote short-term activities such as taking the stairs every time you have to move between floors at work. The guidelines say such activity can add up throughout the day, meaning you can improve your health even if you can’t run or do 30 minutes of exercise.
Stella Volpe, an exercise expert at Virginia Tech, says many people “don’t realize that they don’t have to do the entire exercise in one round to be effective.”
Climbing stairs also has the potential to improve mental health for many people and has been linked to improved feelings of energy, said Jennifer Gay, a public health researcher at the University of Georgia.
Experts say those who may have trouble climbing stairs should talk to their doctor before trying climbing therapy.
For some homeowners, stairs are a potential burden
The American Lung Association hosts fundraisers every spring at office buildings in cities across the country. The Fight for Air event is widely regarded as fun, but organizers say the name comes from the shortness of breath people experience after climbing dozens of floors or suffering from lung disease.
Landlords are not always so helpful.
Some law firms are telling landlords and property owners that they can be held liable if someone trips or slips on the stairs. If someone falls and is injured, things like poor lighting, liquid on the steps, and broken handrails can all be brought up in a lawsuit.
Many building managers take to heart the advice that stairs should only be used in emergencies.
A study of hospital emergency department visits released in 2018 concluded that more than 1 million stair-related injuries occur in the United States each year, with fractures being more common among older adults. More than 60% of those injured were women.
Guy said studies show that stair climbers have a small risk of injury. She added that the risk could be greater down the stairs and that building managers “can’t make it a one-way street”.
For more than a decade, some health advocates have been urging people to get better access to steps.
In 2013, a California health policy nonprofit called ChangeLab Solutions released a resource guide urging property owners to open stairwells, arguing that stairwells pose no greater liability risk than other common areas.
Gay and her colleagues estimate that 60 percent of U.S. workers work in multistory buildings with stairwells. But there are no statistics showing what percentage of these buildings have restrictions on stair access.
How to find a way to climb
Many people who enjoy climbing have had the experience of not being able to find stairs that they can use.
Lisa Bai, a New Yorker who works in real estate, said she can’t use the stairs in her office building. It may seem like an easy workout, but sometimes “it’s not,” she says.
Bai and others said they found other ways to step up. Fitness equipment like the StairMaster machine can approximate the physical exertion of climbing stairs, although tower climbers say it’s not as strenuous as climbing real stairs.
If you have trouble climbing stairs at home or in a public place, you may need to get creative.
Carmen Erickson and Vivian Dawson, who live in suburban Detroit, met to climb the stairs about three times a week for about ten years, usually in a nearby park.
But when they travel, things can get trickier. When they vacation together, they stay on the top floors of tall hotels so they can use the stairs. They also looked for hills and hospital parking lots.
They also negotiated after-hours access to a building’s stairwells, agreeing to sign a waiver and check with security staff each time.
“If you contact the right people and tell them what they’re doing and agree to the rules, it’s not really a problem for us,” Erickson, 53, said.
But Dawson, 64, added: “You have to really want to do it.”
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The Associated Press Health & Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Department of Science Education and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. The Associated Press is solely responsible for all content.
