Three daily bouts of vigorous stair climbing up a 3-flight stairwell (60 steps), with 1–4 hours of recovery between bouts, performed 3 days per week.
Exercise Snacks
Stair-Climbing Exercise Snacks and Fitness
A randomized trial tested brief, vigorous stair-climbing bouts in sedentary young adults. After six weeks, the stair-climbing group had higher peak oxygen uptake than a nontraining control group.
Study overview
- Study title
- Do stair climbing exercise "snacks" improve cardiorespiratory fitness?
- Study authors
- E Madison Jenkins, Leah N Nairn, Lauren E Skelly, Jonathan P Little, Martin J Gibala
- Population
- Sedentary young adults
- Sample size
- 24
- Duration
- 6 weeks
- Comparator
- Nontraining control group
- Outcomes
- Peak oxygen uptake, Cardiorespiratory fitness
Intervention
Main findings
Peak oxygen uptake was higher after the intervention in participants assigned to stair climbing than in the control group (P = 0.003), although the absolute increase was modest.
What this may mean in practice
Snacksmate's reading of the evidence — not a quotation from the original paper.
In sedentary young adults, six weeks of brief, vigorous stair-climbing sessions improved peak oxygen uptake compared with a nontraining control, although the gain was modest.
Limitations
The authors noted that the absolute increase in peak oxygen uptake was modest.
Original study
What can you take from this?
The notes above are Snacksmate’s reading of this study, not personal advice.