Training guide
A stair climber is a gym machine for climbing without the walk down. Most gyms have a revolving staircase, often called a StairMaster or step mill, whose steps turn under you like a down escalator; some have a stepper, with two pedals you push down in turn. To use one, hold the rails, step on, start at the slowest speed and climb with your whole foot on each step, standing tall with your hands resting lightly on the rails. Start with 10 to 20 minutes at a pace where you can talk but not sing, and let the stairs stop before you step off.
Stair climbing is vigorous for most people: the NHS counts walking up stairs as vigorous activity, and short stair sessions raised fitness by about 7 to 17% in 6 to 8 weeks in small trials. Leaning on the rails makes it easier than the display says, the calories on the screen are an estimate, and no study has shown that a stair machine grows your glutes.
This guide covers both machines step by step on the 3D figure, the handrails and posture, speed and time, calories, what it works, your knees, real stairs as an option, and a stair climber workout to follow.
The revolving staircase (a step mill, what most people now call "the StairMaster") makes you climb real steps that turn under you; the stepper has two pedals you push down in turn. Both are climbing without the walk down, and both are vigorous for most people: the NHS lists walking up the stairs as vigorous activity, and the Compendium of Physical Activities rates a stair machine at 9.3 METs (multiples of the energy you use at rest).
Hold the rails, step on and start at the slowest speed. Put your whole foot on each step and stand tall. At the end, slow right down, let the stairs stop completely, and step off one foot at a time, still holding the rails, as the maker's manual says.
In between, rest your hands lightly rather than leaning: supporting yourself on the rails lowered oxygen use and heart rate in two small studies, so the workout becomes easier than the display says. If you need to lean to keep up, slow down.
At a pace where you can talk but not sing, building towards 30 minutes over a few weeks (our editorial starting point, as on our move pages). Most people climbing steadily are working vigorously, and 75 vigorous minutes a week give similar benefits to 150 moderate ones.
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For a 70 kg person, 30 minutes at 9.3 METs is about 325 calories (our arithmetic from the Compendium's single value for a stair machine). Machine displays have been wrong by about 20% or more in either direction. At the same felt effort, a treadmill used a little more energy than a stair machine in two lab studies, but stair machines push your heart rate higher.
In small trials of inactive adults, short stair climbs raised aerobic fitness by about 7 to 17% in 6 to 8 weeks, and people who climb more stairs have lower rates of heart disease, a link rather than proof. Climbing works your thighs, glutes and calves, but we found no study showing a stair machine grows your glutes.
Going up stairs put about 316% of body weight through the knee in people with instrumented knee implants, against 346% going down and 261% walking, and a stair machine has no walk down. With pain around the kneecap, slow down and keep sessions short.
From our step mill move page and the getting-on-and-off guidelines in one maker's manual. Machines from several makers work the same way; the buttons differ, so read the label on yours. The 3 to 5 minutes at each end and the gradual speed changes are editorial.
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The movement on the figure: Step mill (revolving stair machine)
Our stepper move page's steps and cues. On a stepper at a fixed setting, a faster or slower step rate didn't change oxygen use or heart rate in one study, so go for deep, steady steps.
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The movement on the figure: Stair-stepper machine
A short flight of real steps on a loop that turns downwards, so you climb at the machine's pace. Each step is a full climb: on one model the steps are 8 inches (about 20 cm) high. Many makers sell them; gyms often call them StairMasters, step mills or stair climbers.
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Two pedals you push down in turn, your feet never leaving them, with the resistance set on the console. Much of the older research on "the StairMaster" used this kind of machine: the StairMaster 4000 in the 1990s was a pedal stepper, by our reading of the model name, as the studies don't always say.
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The same climbing, with a walk back down. The descent is where knees complain and falls happen, as our stair climbing move page says, so take it unhurried and use the rail.
The 2024 Compendium of Physical Activities rates the stair machine at 9.3 METs, and stair climbing at 4.5 at a slow pace, 6.8 in general, 7.5 two steps at a time and 9.3 at a fast pace one step at a time; going down stairs is 3.5. It has no separate entry for a pedal stepper. In 20 people climbing an escalator at 70 steps a minute, the measured cost was 8.6 METs. These are averages; leaning on the rails lowers them.
Climbing lifts your body weight with the front of your thighs (quadriceps), your buttocks (gluteus maximus, the main hip muscle going up stairs) and your calves. A faster cadence raised glute, thigh and calf activity in 33 adults, and the authors wrote that stair stepping "would not be recommended for strengthening of the hamstrings musculature". In trained runners, leg muscle activity on a stepper was up to 60% lower than in treadmill running, except for the thighs. It's mostly cardio: the load is your body weight, many times a minute.
You lift your whole weight with every step, so heavier people use more energy at the same setting and find it harder. Machines have a maximum user weight (136 kg, or 300 lb, on one maker's step mill), so check the label. A fixed step height is a bigger climb for shorter legs: take whole steps at a slower rate. The same setting is moderate for one person and very hard for another, so go by your breathing.
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On a StairMaster stepper, supporting yourself with your arms lowered heart rate and oxygen use at a high setting (6 people). On a step treadmill, in 15 healthy women, "mean oxygen uptake was significantly reduced during continuous light and continuous very light handrail support". On a treadmill, gripping the rails cut oxygen use by 15 to 21% in 10 adults, the figure our incline walking guide uses. The maker says the same: "Supporting your weight (on handrails) while exercising decreases the exercise intensity."
Rest your fingertips or palms lightly on the rails for balance; don't hang on them or lock your arms. If you need to lean to keep up, lower the speed. Hold firmly to get on and off. If your balance is poor, hold on and accept an easier workout (our suggestion, as in our incline walking guide).
On a stepper, short steps with no hands reached a "somewhat hard" rating 105 seconds sooner, at levels 2.7 lower, than full steps with arm support, and 83% of people found them harder; it was a small exploratory study that changed two things at once. Over 22 minutes on a stair machine, people's hands drifted lower on the rails and their glute and thigh activity fell.
On stairs, leaning the trunk forward raised the work at the hip in 20 women, and leaning forward lowered the stress behind the kneecap in another 20, while an upright trunk raised it. On a pedal climber, letting the trunk sway raised the load on the knee in 12 people. So stand tall with a slight forward lean from your hips, not a slump over the console, and keep your knees in line with your toes (our reading).
A handrail didn't add stability for healthy older adults on stairs, but helped those afraid of falling. Use it whenever you want, especially coming down.
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Adults need at least 150 minutes of moderate activity or 75 minutes of vigorous activity a week, plus strength work on 2 days, and stair machine minutes count. Moderate means you can talk but not sing; vigorous means you can't say more than a few words without pausing for breath.
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10 to 20 minutes, building towards 30 (the editorial starting point on our step mill and stepper pages), or 3 rounds of 3 to 5 minutes with 1 slow minute between, as level 1 of our stair climber workout does (editorial). Add about 5 minutes a session or two, changing one thing at a time: time first, then speed, as our incline walking guide advises.
A revolving step mill shows its speed as steps a minute; one maker's machine runs from 24 ("very easy") to 162, and suggests about 24 for a first session. Using the stepmill equation a 2022 validation study used (oxygen cost in ml per kg per minute = steps a minute × step height in metres × 2 + 3.5), with 20 cm steps and no leaning on the rails, the cost is roughly:
Level 7 on one machine isn't level 7 on another, and step heights differ, so the list above is a rough guide only. Go by your breathing, and write down the setting that worked.
Once 20 minutes of steady climbing is comfortable, try 1 minute brisk and 2 minutes easy, 4 to 8 rounds, as our cardio intervals workout does. The stair trials used three short, hard climbs (20 seconds all-out, or three vigorous climbs of 60 steps spread through the day). Keep hard sessions to once or twice a week, with easier days between (our suggestion).
25-7-2 means level 7 for 25 minutes, twice a week. No study has tested it; it's a 25-minute vigorous session, and level 7 differs between machines. It's a fine goal once 20 minutes of steady climbing is comfortable.
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2 or 3 stair sessions a week alongside your other cardio is a sensible start (our suggestion; the trials trained 3 to 5 days a week). An easy session after a leg day is fine; if leg strength is your priority, keep hard intervals away from heavy leg days, as our plans advise.
The Compendium gives a single value for a stair machine, 9.3 METs; multiply by your weight in kg and the time in hours. At a steady, vigorous pace without leaning on the rails, 30 minutes is roughly:
On a StairMaster stepper, "The measured MET values were about 20% lower than those specified by machine settings" in 6 people. On the same kind of machine, 28 adults used more than the maker's estimate at most step rates. On a revolving step mill, the display under-read at every stage (for example 4.0 METs shown against 5.3 measured) in 16 students. In cardiac rehabilitation, displays on mixed machines were close (247 against 230 calories). Go by your breathing, and compare yourself only on the same machine.
At the same felt effort, the treadmill used more energy than all the other machines in 13 adults, and the stair stepper more than an exercise bike; jogging was highest in 10 men. In 30 fit men working hard, the stair climber used 13.35 calories a minute, against 15.18 on the treadmill and 12.82 on the cross-trainer. At the same oxygen use, heart rate ran 7 to 11 beats a minute higher on a stepper than on a treadmill. So a stair machine isn't a calorie shortcut: what matters is how hard and how long you go.
In 18 trained runners, peak oxygen uptake on a stepper (46.7 ml per kg per minute) was close to the treadmill (49.3), but in 30 young adults treadmill peaks were higher. Fitness you build on one machine carries over, but not perfectly.
A stair machine helps through the energy it uses, like any vigorous cardio. Exercise alone takes weight off slowly: about 2.8 kg at 150 minutes a week of aerobic exercise across 116 trials, and the trials of stair snacks found no change in body composition. It doesn't take fat off your stomach or thighs in particular.
In 15 young women, building from 1 to 5 climbs a day of 199 steps over 8 weeks raised aerobic fitness 17.1% and lowered LDL cholesterol 7.7%. In 45 office workers, 3 climbs a day of 145 steps raised predicted fitness 9.4%. In sedentary women, three 20-second all-out climbs 3 days a week for 6 weeks raised it 12%. In 42 inactive adults, three 30-second climbs a few times a week raised it 7%, while 40 minutes of moderate cycling didn't change it significantly. Across 11 trials of exercise snacks, mostly stair climbing in people under 65, fitness improved with moderate certainty. The trials are small and short.
In 23 active college women, 9 weeks on a StairMaster Gauntlet (a revolving stair machine, by our reading of the model name), 4 days a week for 30 to 45 minutes, raised fitness 12% against 16% with running. In 24 women aged 50 to 65, 12 weeks raised it 11.1%. In 22 women, a stair climber, treadmill and cross-trainer gave similar gains.
One stair trial lowered LDL cholesterol; another found no change in blood pressure, cholesterol or body composition; the snacks meta-analysis found no effect on these. In one uncontrolled study, women with mild high blood pressure saw resting systolic pressure fall from 142 to 133 mmHg.
In 458,860 UK Biobank adults followed for 12.5 years, 6 to 10 flights a day went with a 16% lower risk of heart disease and stroke than none. Across 9 studies of 480,479 people, stair climbing went with lower cardiovascular and all-cause death. But two cohorts found no link with cardiovascular death, and in a Japanese cohort the link weakened after allowing for lifestyle. These are observational studies: they show a link, not proof.
In 20 people with coronary artery disease, supervised stair-climbing intervals (three bouts of six flights) raised fitness as much as standard cardiac rehabilitation in about a fifth of the supervised time. That was supervised rehab; with heart disease, follow your team's advice.
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Short bouts of stair climbing after meals lowered blood sugar in people with prediabetes or type 2 diabetes in 8 of 9 studies, but not in people with normal blood sugar.
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In 17 healthy men aged about 64, 12 flights on a stair machine (about 3 minutes) gave the highest heart rate (151) and systolic blood pressure (271 mmHg) of all the tasks tested, higher than a one-arm press at 70% of maximum. That's why a warm-up and a gradual build-up matter, and why people with heart conditions should check first.
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The lower part of the gluteus maximus is the main hip extensor going up stairs, a faster cadence raised its activity, and walking up a steep slope raised it by 345% against level walking. But muscle activity isn't growth, and we found no study measuring glute growth on a stair machine. In 15 older adults, adding stair climbing to 17 weeks of walking didn't add thigh muscle: "an added stair-climbing exercise may not provide additional training effects". For bigger glutes, our glute guide uses strength training such as hip thrusts and squats.
In 46 adults aged about 71, 12 weeks of stair climbing raised leg power by 13.7%, against 19.5% with machine weights, not a significant difference. In 39 healthy seniors, 8 weeks of stair climbing didn't raise maximal strength but improved fitness and balance.
Skipping a step used about 70 to 90 more calories an hour and more ankle and knee work in 12 people. On a public stairway, it cost more per minute (9.2 against 8.5 calories) but less per flight, because it was quicker. On a moving step mill, try it only once you're steady, at a slow speed, with your hands near the rails (our suggestion).
Stepping backwards on a stepper raised heart rate a little, but the authors called the differences "not practically meaningful". Don't climb backwards on a moving step mill (our suggestion).
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In 5 people with instrumented knee implants, the peak force through the knee was 316% of body weight going up stairs, 346% going down and 261% walking on the flat; cycling at an easy 60 watts was about 119%. Behind the kneecap, the force averaged 3.2 body weights going up, 2.8 coming down and 0.9 walking, across studies. A stair machine takes away the walk down, but the kneecap still works hard on the way up; a bike is gentler.
People with pain around the kneecap kept the stress behind it at normal levels by climbing more slowly (10 people with pain, 10 without), and a slight forward lean lowered it in healthy women. With kneecap pain, keep the speed low, sessions short and pain to about 5 out of 10, settled by the next morning, as our knee pain on stairs guide says.
In 398,939 UK Biobank adults, climbing more than 150 steps a day went with a 13% higher rate of knee osteoarthritis diagnoses, an observational link from self-reports. A review of work that loads the knee couldn't work out a dose-response for climbing. In people with or at risk of knee osteoarthritis, climbing 7 or more flights a week went with lower mortality. NICE recommends exercise, including strengthening and aerobic fitness, for osteoarthritis. Stairs haven't been shown to harm healthy knees.
In 4 people with instrumented hip implants, the force through the hip was 251% of body weight going up stairs and 260% going down, against 238% walking: a little more than walking, as at the knee. With hip pain on stairs, see our hip pain on stairs guide, and use the bike or cross-trainer while it settles (our suggestion).
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Climb briskly and walk down slowly, holding the rail: 6 to 8 climbs of 30 to 60 seconds make a session (our hill and stair conditioning workout), or a few short climbs spread through the day, as the stair trials did. Walking up the stairs counts as vigorous activity.
Going down is the riskier half: it loads the knee most and it's where falls happen, as our stair climbing move page says. Take it unhurried, with the rail. If going down already hurts your knees, get it checked rather than pushing through daily repeats.
For the fit: three 20-second all-out climbs, 3 days a week, raised fitness 12% in 6 weeks in sedentary women. Our HIIT guide covers intervals.
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Your watch or phone may count step-mill steps, but devices differ, and pedal steppers often aren't counted well (our observation). The minutes count towards your weekly activity either way; our steps guide covers step counts.
It makes the climb easier than the display says. Slow down and rest your hands lightly.
Stand tall with a slight lean from your hips.
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Place your whole foot on each step, as our move pages say.
Take deep, steady steps; step rate didn't change the work at a fixed setting.
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Keep them soft at the top of each step.
Look ahead; glance down only when you need to.
Begin at the slowest speed: the first minutes are your warm-up.
Wait for them to stop, then step down one foot at a time, holding the rails.
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The display can be wrong either way. Go by your breathing.
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The step mill and the stepper at their move pages' dose, 10 to 20 minutes to start, building towards 30 (editorial there); real stairs at 6 to 8 climbs of 30 to 60 seconds, walking down slowly (our hill and stair conditioning workout).
Brisk walking for 30 minutes on the flat, then incline walking at 3 to 5% for 10 to 15 minutes (our incline walking guide), then a flight or two of real stairs, 2 to 4 climbs, before the machines (editorial order, from the move pages' prerequisite: walking up two or three flights without stopping).
On 2 days a week: step-ups, 3 sets of 8 to 12 each leg (our step-up workout); goblet squats, 3 sets of 8 to 12 (our full-body gym workout); hip thrusts, 3 sets of 6 to 10, for glute growth (our glute workout); single-leg calf raises from a step, 2 sets of 10 to 15 each leg (our step-up workout). After climbing, the calf, quad and hip flexor stretches for 30 seconds each side, for comfort.
3D demoStep-upBeginner · A step
3D demoDumbbell goblet squatIntermediate · A dumbbell
3D demoBarbell hip thrustIntermediate · A barbell + A bench or box
3D demoSingle-leg calf raise from a stepIntermediate · A step + A wall
3D demoPatrick step-downIntermediate · A step
3D demoWall calf stretch (gastrocnemius)Beginner · A wall
3D demoStanding quad stretchBeginner · A wall
3D demoHalf-kneeling hip flexor stretchBeginner · No equipmentThe stair climber workout builds from short rounds to 30 minutes and intervals on the step mill or stepper; the cardio machines tour tries the stepper beside the other machines; the hill and stair session uses real stairs.
A 30-minute stair machine session in three levels: short climbs with easy breaks, a steady climb, then optional 1-minute brisk intervals.
30 minBeginner4 movesCardio machine, A wallA first tour of the gym's cardio machines: a few minutes each on the bike, treadmill, cross-trainer and rower, set up safely, at a talk-but-not-sing pace.
40 minBeginner7 movesCardio machine, A wallStair or hill climbs with the walk down as recovery, then a loaded walk with your rucksack, building towards the hills, pack and days of your trip.
40 minBeginner5 movesA step, Something with weightA 50-minute walk with hills, outdoors or on a treadmill slope: brisk on the flat, slower on the climbs, building from gentle slopes to about 6%.
50 minBeginner5 movesCardio machine, A stepA 25-minute interval session on a bike or rower: one-minute hard efforts with two minutes easy, building from 4 to 8 rounds.
25 minIntermediate1 movesCardio machineA steady 30 to 45 minute cardio session at talk-but-not-sing pace: walk, cycle, row or cross-train, counting toward weekly activity guidelines.
40 minBeginner3 movesCardio machine, A wallUse the stair machine for these plans' cardio or interval days, at the same effort.
A first gym plan for beginners: 3 days a week, starting on the machines, adding free weights and cardio, with what changes by week 12 and what comes next.
3 training days50 minBeginner7 days a weekA full week that mixes intensities: three strength days, two cardio days, a mobility day and an easy day, never seven hard days.
3 training days45 minBeginner6 days a weekA free 8-week walking plan for beginners: build to 150 minutes of brisk walking a week, with intervals, hills and two short strength sessions.
6 training days40 minBeginner5 days a weekA 12-week workout plan for weight loss: three strength days, two cardio days and daily steps, building to 200 minutes a week, with honest results.
3 training days45 minBeginnerStair climbing is vigorous. As our incline walking guide says, check with your GP first if you have a heart, kidney or metabolic condition, or get chest pain, dizziness or breathlessness when active. If your blood pressure is high and not yet controlled, keep to moderate effort until it is. On a beta blocker, go by the talk test rather than your heart rate.
Keep the speed low and sessions short, keep to the pain rule, and swap to a bike if it flares. Exercise is part of the treatment for knee osteoarthritis.
A missed step on a moving staircase can trip you, as our step mill page says. Hold the rails, keep the speed where your feet stay sure, and know where the stop button is. If your balance is poor or your seizures aren't controlled, a stepper, a bike or real stairs with a rail may suit you better (our suggestion).
If you already use a stair machine, you can usually carry on at a comfortable effort; the NHS says it's not recommended to start a new vigorous activity in pregnancy. As your bump grows, your balance changes, so hold the rails lightly and step carefully (our suggestion).
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Stair training built leg power in older adults. Start at the slowest speed, hold the rails to get on and off, and build up gradually.
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If you get chest pain or pressure, feel faint or dizzy, are unusually breathless, or your heart races or beats irregularly during exercise, as our plans advise. The American Heart Association says these need immediate medical evaluation.
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For chest pain that feels tight, heavy or squeezing, or spreads to your arms, neck, jaw or back; a sudden, extremely painful headache, especially while straining; someone who faints while exercising; or palpitations that don't go away, or come with chest pain, breathlessness or feeling faint. Don't drive yourself to A&E.
Also call 999 for pain and swelling in one leg with breathlessness or chest pain: it can be a blood clot that has reached the lungs.
Ask for an urgent GP appointment or get help from NHS 111 for a headache that's triggered or made worse by coughing, sneezing, bending down or exercising.
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Slow down for the last few minutes and hold the rails to step off. See a GP after any faint, and if you keep feeling light-headed after slowing gradually, or dizziness keeps coming back.
Get advice from NHS 111 now: you cannot move the knee or put any weight on it, or it is very painful, badly swollen or has changed shape; or the knee locks, gives way or clicks painfully. Painless clicking is normal.
See a GP or physiotherapist if knee pain hasn't improved within a few weeks, or if your knee gives way on the stairs, as our knee pain on stairs guide says.
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Same day (NHS 111): throbbing pain and swelling in one calf or thigh, with warm, red or darker skin around it, which can be a blood clot in a leg vein; or a snap or pop at the back of the heel, then trouble walking or standing on tiptoe.
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Call 999 or go to A&E: loss of feeling or numbness around the genitals or bottom, new trouble peeing or controlling your bladder or bowels, changes in genital sensation during sex or problems with erections or orgasm, or pain, tingling, weakness or numbness in both legs. These are signs of cauda equina syndrome, which needs treating in hospital urgently. Don't drive yourself.
Call 999 or go to A&E: back pain with chest pain, or back pain that started after a serious accident, such as a car crash.
See a GP if pain spreading down a leg hasn't improved after a few weeks of home treatment, is getting worse or stops your normal activities. Sciatica on both sides, or weakness or numbness in both legs that's severe or getting worse, is a 999 call or a trip to A&E.
Aim for discomfort you'd call mild to moderate, no more than about 5 out of 10. It should settle within an hour or so, and your back should be no worse the next morning, as our back pain guides say. Pain, pins and needles or numbness spreading down a leg are the exception: stop, and see our sciatica guide.
See a GP if you think you have a hernia, a bulge or lump that may get bigger when you strain and smaller when you lie down. Get help from NHS 111 if you have a hernia and pain in or around it, a bloated tummy, you feel or are sick, you're vomiting blood or your vomit looks like coffee grounds, you're constipated, you have a high temperature or feel hot, cold or shivery, or you've suddenly become confused. Call 999 or go to A&E for a femoral hernia (a small lump at the top of your thigh, in your groin) with very bad tummy pain, sickness, being unable to fart or poo, a high temperature or sudden confusion.
Speak to your GP first if you haven't exercised for some time or have medical conditions or concerns, as the NHS advises. Get advice before hard or straining work if your blood pressure is uncontrolled (140/90 or higher at a clinic, or 135/85 at home), or you have heart disease or chest pain when you're active, a pacemaker or defibrillator, diabetic eye disease, glaucoma, a hernia, recent eye or tummy surgery, or you're pregnant, as our breathing guide lists.
Muscle soreness for a day or two after a new or harder session is common and fades. Sharp pain, or pain that builds during a set or lingers into the next day, isn't: swap to an easier version, and see a clinician if it persists, as our plans advise. The NHS says to stop exercising straight away if you feel any pain or become unwell, and to get help from 111 if symptoms worry you or don't go away.
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Climbing works your glutes, more with a faster pace or a slight forward lean, but we found no study showing a stair machine grows them, and adding stairs to walking didn't add thigh muscle in older adults. Glutes grow with hard, progressive strength sets.
Going up stairs loads the knee about 3 times your body weight, an ordinary daily load, and a stair machine removes the walk down. One large observational study linked very frequent stair climbing with slightly more knee osteoarthritis, while in people with knee osteoarthritis more stair climbing went with lower mortality, and NICE recommends exercise for it.
At the same felt effort, the treadmill used more energy in two lab studies, though the stair machine pushed heart rate higher. Over a session, the one you work harder at and keep doing burns more.
Supporting yourself lowered oxygen use and heart rate, even with a light, continuous touch, and the maker's manual says so too.
Displays were about 20% too high on one stepper, too low on another and too low on a step mill.
No exercise takes fat off one place, and exercise alone takes weight off slowly. Stair climbing helps through the energy it uses, like any cardio.
Hold the rails, step onto the stairs and start at the slowest speed. Climb with your whole foot on each step, standing tall with your hands resting lightly on the rails, and raise the speed until you can talk but not sing. Slow down for the last few minutes and let the stairs stop before you step off, one foot at a time.
StairMaster is a brand name that most people now use for the revolving staircase, or step mill, where you climb real steps that turn under you. A stepper has two pedals you push down in turn. Both are climbing without the walk down; on the step mill each step is a full climb.
Start with 10 to 20 minutes, or 3 rounds of 3 to 5 minutes with a slow minute between, and build towards 30 minutes over a few weeks. Most people climbing steadily are working vigorously, and 75 vigorous minutes a week give similar benefits to 150 moderate ones.
The slowest setting to start; one maker suggests 24 steps a minute for a first session. Go up a step at a time until you can still talk in sentences. Levels differ between machines, so go by your breathing and write down what works.
Lightly, for balance. Supporting yourself on the rails lowered oxygen use and heart rate in studies, even with a light, steady touch, so you'd be doing an easier workout than the display says. If you need to lean to keep up, slow down, and hold firmly to get on and off.
For a 70 kg person, about 325 calories in 30 minutes at a steady, vigorous pace, and more for heavier people. That's our arithmetic from a single average value; the machine's display is also an estimate and has been wrong by about 20% either way.
Not better, different. At the same felt effort, the treadmill used a little more energy in lab studies, while stair machines push your heart rate higher and work your thighs and glutes in a climbing pattern. Pick the one you'll keep doing.
It works them, especially if you take whole steps and lean slightly forward from your hips, but we found no study showing a stair machine grows them. For bigger glutes, strength training such as hip thrusts and squats is what the trials used.
Not for most people. Going up stairs puts about 3 times your body weight through the knee, and a stair machine removes the walk down, which loads it most. With pain around the kneecap, slow down, shorten the session and keep pain to about 5 out of 10, settled by the next morning; a bike is gentler.
It uses a lot of energy for the time, like any vigorous cardio, but exercise alone takes weight off slowly: about 2.8 kg at 150 minutes a week on average in trials. It won't take fat off your stomach or thighs in particular.
Easy sessions most days are usually fine once you've built up and your knees and calves feel good; that's our suggestion rather than a tested rule. Keep hard intervals to once or twice a week with easier days between.
Short bouts raised aerobic fitness by about 7 to 17% in 6 to 8 weeks in small trials of inactive adults, and people who climb more stairs have lower rates of heart disease, a link rather than proof. With a heart condition, check with your GP before vigorous climbing.
Exercise education, not a personal prescription, and clinical review of these guides is pending. Check with a GP before starting hard training if you have a heart condition, chest pain, dizziness or breathlessness when active, and stop for sharp or increasing pain. Health disclaimer.
