How many stairs can you climb in 20 seconds? I think that's a ridiculous idea. Even 1 minute might make sense but 20 seconds?
7
The core idea here - to me - is that we should welcome small opportunities to add exercise to our days. It's good for our heads, it's good for our muscles and bones. And If this habit becomes ingrained, it will be easier, when we can, to add longer bouts of exercise. It is the opposite of avoiding exercise.
19
Three flights of stairs in 20 seconds? Even living in walk ups in NYC, DC, and Madrid for a several years, I can't imagine doing 3 flights in 20 seconds.
Maybe decades ago I was fitter than I remember !
7
Why is every NYT article on fitness seemingly directed at those whose goal is to exercise as little as possible and find exercise to be a burden? Some us enjoy physical activity and look for experiences that require higher levels of conditioning. We read the NYT too.
4
@Peter there are plenty of articles for the more fit people. for instance, I read and follow the NYT Running newsletter, which is decidedly not for those "whose goal is to exercise as little as possible." Maybe expand your reading and focus less on what you don't like. As for me, any article that encourages people to move more should be applauded, not snarked on.
28
I’m so glad to see so many people who also take exercise breaks at work. People aren’t designed to sit all day. Taking the stairs, using hand weights, doing squats, whatever it is all adds up to feeling much better, which helps productivity and working relationships. This needs to be the new norm. I applaud all us pioneers.
11
I lost my way for a while during my 40’s, then saw a picture of myself at 48 and refused to turn 50 looking how I did.
I’m turning 52 in 10 days; at the gym six days a week, eat 95% of all meals at home, back to waist 32 slim fit jeans for nearly five years. There is no going back!
Keeping a leaner body has improved my Gout. A stronger body core has mitigated a lower back issue.
I sleep better, and heck, look healthier than ever!
Yes People, get out there and do something positively healthy for yourself every day.
Stop smoking - cut back the booze - eat better - drink more water.
Being healthy is the coolest thing we can do!
46
@Adrian Totally agree. 18 months ago I committed to at least 30 min a day of mindful exercise. Waking,hiking,cycling. I have never looked back and feel great.
13
This "20-Second Exercise" could be considered a healthier stairwell "Snackwell".
Or not . . .
6
If your baseline is nothing, then every bit helps.
13
I have a little stepper that fits under my desk. I pull it out a few times a day. I have the time on my phone for two minutes. Voila, instant mini-gym!
8
@Jill I have one too. Great when outside weather is bad too.
2
Thanks for this. I am 68 and currently rent a three level condo. I am trying to decide whether to purchase it or not as I do really love it and am afraid my lease someday won't be renewed. Some family and friends are saying I shouldn't buy it because I should plan for my old age (whenever that is) and not buy something that isn't one-floor living. It also has no garage and a walkway with steps down from the parking lot. Monday in minus 15 degree weather I had to clear off my car so the plows could finish their work. It was hard icy work and exhilarating! I often set my kitchen alarm for one hour throughout the day, as I work (sitting at this computer) on the top level, and force myself to get up move. I also often (like right now) set a meditation timer to go off every 15 minutes for 3 hours, and at each bell do one plank or yoga pose. Of course I also walk, swim, treadmill at gym at least 3-4 times a week. I'm not going to let the stairs get in the way of my decision to purchase or not.
17
We are always looking for the quick fix. Ok. But....
The human body starts its decline around 40, we learned that in medial school pretty quickly. However, with steady, consistent and non traumatic activity we can maximize our time on this planet. 20 second stairs? Why not.... but don’t stop moving (as best you can), do things that make you happy and spend some time with others. Remember the tortoise.
9
I used to climb stairs for a workout in the hospital when I was a resident on call at Mass General. Then one day I forgot my ID and was locked out of the floors due to the security system. This was pre-cell phones and I remember yelling, banging and gesticulating wildly till one of the nurses let me back in. Really got my heart rate up.
21
More simply said: anything is better than nothing. My everything motto.
9
I'm 80 and do two one hour YMCA sessions a week. But this sounds like fit has the potential for further development.
The stair climbing is easy for me — I don’t have a bathroom on the first floor. Haa!
But doing those toe lifts while waiting in the supermarket line (or at the kitchen sink) works, too. Or, doing those neck exercises while waiting at a traffic light…. (Multiple squats before settling down on a toilet might work — seriously/SMILE! )
Can other simple, supplemental, everyday exercises for the “in-between” times be suggested?
17
I find it hard to believe that someone can not find 10 minutes a day for an exercise session. Exactly what is more important than your health....watching TV?
11
My husband and I live on the third floor of an old building with tall ceilings that does not have an elevator. We are in our 60’s and so are many of our friends. We can’t electronically open our front door so we get the full reaction of our visitors to climbing up to our apartment. The range of reactions is vast. Our athletic friends bounce up the stairs ahead of us and our sedentary friends suffer every step and stop often to rest. My conclusion from this unscientific experiment is that while a very sedentary person might benefit from 20 second bouts of stair climbing it has little impact on the fitness of an active one.
3
This article is misleading. The authors cannot conclude that rapidly climbing up a set of stairs (60 steps) several times during a day will effect any of the changes shown in the study. The problem with the study is that the “...researchers directed [participants] to warm up with a few jumping jacks, squats and lunges”. In all likelihood it was the jumping jacks, squats, and lunges that effected the changes in fitness. This is not a trivial point as the article implies the authors where looking to evaluate a strategy that could be easily done without needing to change clothing. Clearly, everyone should be able to walk up a set of stairs in whatever clothing they wear to work. That said, women should not be doing jumping jacks, squats, or lunges in high heals, and it’s unlikely they would want to if they were wearing a dress. Men’s dress shoes and business suits are also less than idea for these activities. Further, lunges are too difficult for individuals with any type of knee injuries, or who just have week knees or knees that don’t track well.
This is not to say individuals would not benefit from climbing stairs several times a day. However doing a study that inflates the effect by having individuals do a short mini workout before climbing the stairs, and then having the NYT cover the study, is not helpful.
12
It seems to me the body is a finely tuned biological machine. Natures gift to all of us, one we are given at birth. Once fit it doesn't take much to keep it there; just a bit of routine "reminder," a poke of regular action (if you will) and it will keep itself ready and alert for your need to use it. The reminder is alluded to by this article.
So just keep using that body of yours on a regular basis else it will think you don't need it, and so begin to deteriorate and go away. As I have aged I have come to recognize the signs of sedentary decline in my similarly aged friends and acquaintances. I choose to remain cognizant of the need to keep using my body and resist the allure of the decline.
My advice? Live your life unencumbered by a chair and sedentary behavior. Keep mobile and as limber for as long as you can. The rest will take care of itself for however long you are blessed to continue.
Just some thoughts worth about that much.
John~
American Net'Zen
8
At 64, the knees aren't what they used to be. This past year I've been walking up 5 flights of stairs on the hour every hour from morning 'til bedtime every third day (take the elevator down). I lift light weights until exhaustion every half-hour on one of the off days. The other off day I spend working in a hot bath with a desk I set up. After a year, I"m not working on going up two steps at a time and for some reason, my arms are now larger than they were when I was a teen gymnast. What helped was an alarm on my computer reminding me it's time to do whatever. Before the alarm, I was losing concentration anticipating when the next bout of exercise would be.
6
It's so encouraging to hear that a short amount of time spent active - regularly - can be good for the health. For those who don't have access to stairs, or who whom it is too painful on the knees, I suggest an alternative one can do anywhere at home....
From standing, descend as low as you can into a squat. As you ascend use the right leg only to push back up into a standing position and once standing then continue to raise the left knee up to the chest as high as it will go. Lower the left leg to the ground and begin the next squat, this time as you rise stand only on the left foot and raise the right knee to the chest when back in a standing position, Alternating legs 10 times yields a set of 20. It's a workout and a half and requires balance without the hazards of stair climbing. Good health!
4
Maybe the true value of this approach is to jump start people into doing something - then they start feeling better, and do more. Being sedentary feeds on itself. If this gets people out of that syndrome, they might discover they like exercise and how it makes them feel. Much easier to work out if you can feel the benefits first hand, rather than defining it as chore that is being imposed on you.
6
When I worked in downtown Columbus on my lunch break I walked a few blocks to the YWCA and ran up and down the 9 flights of stairs three times. A little spooky, since no-one else ever seemed to use use the stairs. Now I live in a second-floor walkup and do 25 times up and down if it's too icy to walk outside -- I could do 40 times but it's too hard on the old knees.
16
I am a healthy 74-year-old woman and when my husband and I moved from a split-level home to the fifth floor of an apartment building a few years ago, I made sure that the stair well was clean and bright so that I would want to use it as my main exercise. Ever since then, almost every day I go down and up these stairs at least twice (twice in each direction). It has greatly strengthened my legs - which improved my balance a lot, by the way - and it lowered by blood pressure and heart rate. I recommend it.
48
@erasma I am older than you but I do the same thing from my sixth floor condo, i.e., walk up and down the stairs whenever I can, usually about 3-4 times a day. I seldom use the elevator so, consequently, don't know that many people in my building. Keep it up! It's good for us.
9
I, too (age 66), live on the fifth floor and use the stairs almost exclusively, carrying groceries and whatever else I need to transport. Laundry day means four trips down to the basement. On days my knee is a bit gimpy, going down the stairs is an issue, but not going up.
9
Oh... i started reading this article with the hope that snacks will improve my fitness. What a difference one word makes.
57
My pooch and I know this! That is why when winter weather makes it miserable for outdoor walks, the doggy toys get tossed up to second floor, Then up he races, and back down to return the “ fetch”.
And we repeat, and repeat.
9
Had the same thought...but he managed ‘til 93 and I’ll sign up for that. Grab a handrail or a buddy...and hope for the best. If still NG head to the bar for a bourbon and branch (and Uber home)
1
I used to work in a 12 story building. One of the secretaries used to walk up and down the stairs every day a number of times, every time she needed to deliver something or talk to somebody. She never used the elevator and she tried to deliver messages in person. I don't think that she did any official "exercise " or ever went to the gym. But her legs looked like she was a dancer at the Folies Bergères. I used to call the stairs her "free gym". She inspired me to start using the stairs, too. My office was on the 10th floor, and I can affirm that there was definitely a cardio element to it, especially if you pushed yourself a bit!
36
Have these investigators tested the air quality of the office building stairways where someone would be exercising? That air can be pretty stale.
It has become rather tiresome to hear yet another version of "What is the absolute minimum amount of physical activity I can get away with?". Humans are designed for movement. Taking the stairs for twenty seconds is woefully inadequate, both for our physical and mental health.
There are far more useful ideas to pursue in the Well section. For instance, the standard forty-hour (often more in practice) workweek is rooted in a previous time. We should be working to restructure our economy and culture so that twenty hours of paid work provides a decent living.
19
@childofsol Okay, and I agree that it would be nice to change how society operates in this regard, but for the moment do you really not think it useful to ask (and answer) questions about how people can increase their wellness *right now*?
Signed,
An exercise scientist
22
@Regine, of course, do what we can to help people now. But ChildOfSol is ultimately right---Americans work way too much and too long at unhealthy desk jobs that are causing all sorts of health problems.
While I was working I made it a point to go out every day at lunchtime and take a long, brisk walk. It was always for a longer time than my lunch break allowed, and I felt not a whit of guilt about it. Retired now, I feel that my gym membership is a necessity. This should be covered by Medicare, in my opinion. That's the problem with most of American health care---too focused on treatment, and not enough on prevention.
8
@Regine
Yes should focus on how people can increase their wellness in the here and now. I suspect that the increased promotion of extremely brief periods of exercise does more harm than good in that regard. If you're focused on the bare minimum, you've already lost the battle because you're investing in a quick, least-painful "solution" rather than changing your fundamental outlook. Analogous to dieting rather than adopting a lifelong healthy eating pattern.
I appreciate Ms. Reynold's articles and have mixed feelings about criticizing what she wrote, particularly when the default mode around here seems to be knee-jerk criticism. But, this is one article of many similar prescriptions within the past few years, so I see it as part of an unhealthful trend.
Let's not aim low; let's aim high. Because it is all too easy for the sedentary individual to rationalize and justify their inactivity, what is needed is a message of continual physical movement throughout the day, every day. Yes, take the stairs, and no don't time yourself because, you know, 20 seconds. Take the stairs, all the stairs. Walk around when talking on the phone. Demand a treadmill at the office so you can walk during work. Bicycle to work. Take the subway, with its stairs. Walk to the grocery store. Park in a parking garage and walk the rest of the way, whether it's to work, to school or to the bank. Better yet, if your city is like most and has public transit, park your car permanently.
i live on a 4th floor walkup, walk to the train each morning, from the train each evening, and skip the elevator between flights in my office. i know i should do more, but am really glad this article says the little i do is helpful.
25
This article suggests that if you run full speed up the stairs you could see a miniscule 5 percent improvement over someone who is sedentary. It's not enough for health.
@bronxbee
You are doing this every day, and probably multiple times a day on the stairs, so it may be worth even more than you think. Better than the folks who go to a gym twice a week, park their car as close as possible, and always use the elevator.
2
All I could think of while reading this were these words from Russell Baker’s obituary: “...The cause was complications of a fall...”
6
At this rate, getting up, and sitting down again, will be considered a workout exercise. For some people, it is. For the vast majority of people 20 second workouts are too lazy. Strive for more.
10
So are we eventually going to get it down to exercising one second a day? A week? A month?
3
Hopefully. For example, Trump only exercises his happier and Twitter finger
4
@Thomas - Don't they have machines that exercise your muscles for you with electrical impulses? That's my ideal.
3
That’s not really true. He regularly exercises poor judgement, for instance, and jumps to conclusions several times a day.
10
Anything beats nothing, is that it? I mean, would it make you less fit?
4
It is all a state of mind, that keeping the human body moving is the best medicine. All this nonsense about " no pain no gain" is tripe. Five - six days a week of good cardio (walking) does wonders for both the body and mind. This means that if you knees hurt walk of a flight of stairs, if your hips hurt keeping walking , they will loosen up.
Once you get in the frame of mind that you will not die of a heart attack you will begin to incorporate exercise into your daily routine.
13
@General Noregia - Correcct. "Keep Moving." That's what it's all about.
3
Good idea, although how many times have you seen someone circle a parking lot several times or sit there idling waiting for a close parking spot to avoid walking an extra 30 seconds.
10
@Pat Pat thanks for bringing that up. Parking at the other end of the parking lot and walking the extra steps to wherever you are going can make a big difference. Combine that with intermittent staircliming throughout the day and stretching, and you have a mini exercise program.
But you have to do it faithfully every day.
1
Ah! The point being any exercise helps fitness!
7
Huh, who would have thought that our ancestors didn't need Equinox, Nike shoes and Lululemon pants to be healthy?
Our forebearers weren't nearly as healthy or long lived, but not this wasn't due to obesity and caloric intake and sedentism. Probably had more to do with soap and access to medical care.
Move throughout the day like they did.
3
"exercise scientists at McMaster University in Hamilton, Ontario, who have been noodling in their labs for years"
Ramen?
6
Stairs are wonderful, and I wish I had them in my house. However, we go on a lot of cruises and our standard routine on ship is we always take the stairs and never the elevator. We also get a cabin on the opposite end of the ship from our preferred activities so that we have to walk the entire length of the ship after arriving on the correct deck via the stairs. This routine allows us to enjoy the cruise without gaining weight. The downside is that my husband must wear knee braces every day because his knees are held together with steel pins and the doctor says he is too young for a knee replacement. I wear orthopedic tennis shoes or special sandals and have long ago abandoned “fashionable” shoes. If I had to work in a traditional office, I don’t know what I’d do shoe-wise. Going up and down stairs in the sort of shoes I wore to work in my youth is a non-starter. Notice the photo in this article - a MAN using stairs wearing flat, sturdy, lace-up oxfords.
8
My wife and I used to work on the third floor, and we’d always use the stairs rather than the elevator, taking them 2 steps at a time, as fast as we could. We did this several times a day, thinking every little bit of exercise helped. It’s nice having our intuition confirmed by science. Taking the steps two at a time, it only took us about 10 seconds to reach the third floor, but we probably did it a minimum of 5 or 6 times a day.
6
Something is better than nothing. But not all somethings are just as good. There are few things in life more important that your health. Make it a priority. A few minutes of exercise a day isn't going to make you fit and in good health. It isn't going to get your metabolism to where it should be. Stop fooling yourself. A minimum of 30-45 minutes of exercise a day really is not that much to ask of yourself. Do so and your mind and your body will that you many times over when you are old. It We were not meant to be primarily sedentary creatures. We were built to move. If we didn't have office jobs this wouldn't even be an issue for most of us. But as many of us do, we need to make time to get some real exercise. Your quality and length of life depends on it.
8
This illustrates how even the small things can make a difference. Which means I will never have an excuse to get my body moving. I love how this study focused on how quickly an individual could get up the stair, which incorporates endurance. I may be young but I definitely need to work on my endurance and this a great way to start ! Great article and other forms of variety in the study could have been helpful maybe targeting different age ranges such as 40s and up.
9
"But that workout still required about 10 minutes or so of uninterrupted time, which, though truncated, might be difficult for some people to tuck into a workday." Wow ! Is it really possible that anyone would be that busy? 10 minutes out of the whole day?
5
@Rajesh Nair
Actualy, when I was working at an emergency driven job , with long days, not only did the work sometimes preclude taking any real breaks but for women who also had children, no, they did not have 10 minutes to themselves all day long. except, maybe ,when they fell into bed for a few hours.
I notice that the study involved going *up* stairs, not going down. I'd love to see a study that collects data on falls, while climbing stairs. My guess is that descending stairs is much more dangerous.
Maybe sticky shoe soles should be part of office-wear?
Also, is there any hope for those of us who live in 2-story houses?
2
@PNK
There is no gain in walking down stairs, which can hurt your knees.
For two-story houses, use a weight vest.
1
@enginist
If you think there is no gain from going down, you have never been hiking or skiing. Just like those activities, going down stairs works your quads, ankles, and feet. And good form NOT avoidance is what is good for your knees.
9
Just make sure to always lightly hold the railing as you go down. This is what I do. My knee is wonky and that way I don't have to worry about falls.
5
I think this is true! I moved to Riverdale from Manhattan four years ago. Lots of stairs and hills seem to be keeping me more fit than when I lived in Manhattan.
5
My 80-something year old neighbor in our apartment building does this. He gets off the elevator on a floor several stories below his and climbs the rest. The first time I saw him "pressing the wrong button" I thought he had dementia and couldn't remember where he lived. But he set me straight and inspired me!
101
@vhuf That is heartwarming: 1) your neighborliness and sense of community to help the man, and 2) he inspired you to adopt a new wellness habit.
20
I'll bet the warm up squats and lunges alone could account for the 5% improvement in conditioning. However, regardless of the results, with a sample size that small nothing is conclusive.
6
@Ed
Yes, squats, lunges and jumping jacks are great exercise.
4
I like to climb stairs. I like living in a triplex with high ceilings. Yesterday I took the Q to Lexington/63. I took the stairs all the way up and down. Of course, I was the only one doing this.
A classmate, at age 68, sold his house (he lives in the suburbs) and moved to a ranch house. He said he and his wife were planning ahead. I disagree. Pretty soon he and his wife will lose their ability to climb stairs.
39
We New Yorkers call these quick bouts of stair climbing “taking the subway.”
106
I’m waiting till it gets under 5 seconds.
44
@Peter Silverman
Yup, time for them to study the exercise effects of being confronted by a lion several times a day.
11
It seems like just getting around New York as a pedestrian is one exercise snack after the other. Going up and down the subway stairs, running for a bus, and rushing past those dawdling tourists is a good workout.
48
@msd
Yes, indeed. That is why the people in NYC are just about the thinnest in the country. Walk everywhere and lots of stairs. There are plenty of stories about people who move to the suburbs and gain 20 pounds in the first year.
16
@sjs actually the people in NYC are not the thinnest in the country. According to research, out of 100 cities (100 being thinnest and 1 being the fattest), NYC ranks at 64 from the thinnest. The top five areas are #1: Portland Oregon Area #2 Honolulu, #3 Salt Lake City #4 Seattle/Tacoma #5 Colorado SPrings.
8
Source? How on earth would comprehensive data to support these rankings be collected?
3
I feel like this is designed to make sedentary people feel better about their lack of physical activity. "There you go, I climbed a flight of stairs, where's my chips." Similar to the studies that say booze can be healthy, " Hey drink up, wine is healthy!"
If you can't find a way to devote a few hours a week to exercise and physical activity, you've got your priorities upside down. No one is that busy.
24
@KeithK I'll be honest, I could easily be one of those college students that took part in the study. I am a healthy PhD student who is largely sedentary with the exception of walking/occasionally jogging to a bus or between buildings. While I do work 12-16 hour days in one of several labs, you're right that I could make time to work out for 30 minutes somewhere in that day. The simple fact is that I don't want to. When I finish my prolonged hours sitting or standing in front of a fume hood and my back feels like I've been hit by a bus, the only thing I want to do is go home, take a quick shower, stretch with a little bit of light yoga, and fall asleep.
Exercise isn't fun to me. I find it painful due to asthma, it takes away from time I feel like I need to spend either winding down or focusing on something else (depending on the time of day), once I put makeup on for the day I don't want to get all sweaty...I just generally have 9 million other excuses for why I "can't" fit it in. Knowing that this kind of very short interval training may offer benefits without the commitment to a prolonged session is enough to convince me to try. I did sixty stairs right before sitting back down and typing this comment, and I'm going to try to keep it up three times a day until spring break and see how I feel.
105
@Georgina I appreciate that it could be a good place to start, and am glad that you are. I just don't see that the benefits will be anywhere near what more sustained periods of activity will yield. That said, if it's a start and turns into 120 stairs 3x and then 240 stairs 3x , et al, it will be a good goal.
4
@KeithK
I’ve always been an exerciser, beginning in my early
youth, with tennis, biking, running around the neighborhood.
I competed in road races until age 27, when I switched
to mostly cycling, because of ongoing running injuries.
When I started working fulltime in an office at age 24,
I made sure to walk down, then up the 3 floors, to
the men’s room, about ten times per day. (usually just
for the exercise, not becauseI had to use the men’s room).
Most days I walked up the stairs of the 20 story building
next to my office, often taking the elevator down, at least
once, sometime twice a day, sometimes with light weights
in my pack (the Green Building, on the MIT campus).
I’ve probably more of an ambitious exerciser than most,
and still am, at age 72.
I still walk up about 12 flights of stairs a day, usually
throughout the day, as well as cycling around Cambridge/Boston, about 12 miles a day...
I never take an elevator, unless the floor is maybe five
flights or more up...
I love stair work....
18
This is certainly great news for those of us leading a sedentary lifestyle and an inspiration to keep using the stairs. Thank you, Gretchen.
18
You gloss over the part in the study about the warm-up jumping jacks and lunges. I have a pair of light hand weights at my desk and I'm not embarrassed to use them, and I take stair breaks. Our office is casual, but I'd look pretty deranged if I started doing jumping jacks and lunges in the break room.
28
How far was the walk to the physiology building three times a day? Seems like that’s part of the treatment too.
23
Mmm--exercise snacks! Make sure to let us know when elevator riding becomes a fitness regimen.
16
@caught on film
The article is addressing those who mostly don’t
exercise.
What she is recommended is a good start...
7
@bruce But I have a feeling that the most common "use" of this article will be to allow people to convince themselves that they're doing enough for their health by doing what is not nearly sufficient.