I Will Take the Stairs
I decided that my new fitness adventure would be taking the stairs when ever I could to increase activity and burn more calories. With the colder months coming, I feared I may fall into my usual rut of not wanting to do any exercise. After gaining 8 lbs last year, between October and March, I refused to fall into that rut again. So, I decided what a great idea it would be to spice up my exercise routine by running up and down the 15 flights of stairs in my condo instead of being on the elliptical. Oh boy, was I in for the shock of my life.
What began as a heart pumping and good cardio moment, turned into a gasping, chest-burning, and breathless fight between me and concrete stairs. With Beyonce pumping in my ears from my I-POD, I just knew we were going to “get bodied!” By floor 9, I was reaching for the bannister with one hand and leaning on my knee with other. My heart felt like it was jumping out of my chest like in an old cartoon when a male character would see a hot woman walk by. Oh the burning! I glanced at my pink heart monitor and it read 183 or 186. I am not really sure becasue I was blinded by the fuzziness in my eyes from the pain. All I kept thinking was, “Lord please don’t let me pass out in the stairwell. Who will find me?” Well, after regaining a few breaths, I actually kept going to the 14th floor. Just at a slower pace. I refused to give up and re-grouped by coming down the stairs slowly. Believe it or not, I went back up those 15 flights of stairs and just convinced myself at each floor that I could make it to the next. Yeah me! In 11 minutes I actually had burned 150 calories.
Granted, today my thighs felt like someone was literally pulling them through a grinder. They hurt so bad that to walk was a painful feat. I limped as I walked down the hallway in my office. I whinced every time I walked down one step, two steps was excrutiating! But, surprisingly, going up steps wasn’t as bad. And I know tomorrow will be better especially since I can actually cross my legs now! It hurt like hell, but the excercises that usually give you great results, generally do.
Now, I consider myself to be in good shape. On average I do 3 days of cardio for 45 minutes and two days of strength training. But this showed me that I need to change something about my routine. I encourage you to switch up your exercise routine and try something different even if you know it will be a challenge. Running the stairs was definitely a challenge for me and when it no longer is, I will move on to something else. When we do the same exercises or use the same machine, our bodies become accustomed to this regimen and there is little change. We become stagnant. It’s almost as if your body is losing its momentum. So you have to spice it up. If you are not ready to run up and down stairs, try incorporating stairs into your daily routine by skipping the elevator or walking up the escalator instead of riding. You would be surprised how something as simple as this, can tone your core and lower body. (This is a great exercise for us pear shaped women). It also costs less than a gym membership. . . it’s free! Stairs are everywhere!
Want to know how many calories you burn from doing simple things like cooking, walking stairs, and talking on the phone? Check out this calorie burned estimator. If you want to know how many calories you have burned from just taking the stairs, try the Stairway to Health calculator.
Happy Trekking!
