Climbing stairs ‘just as good for heart as gym’
CLIMBING stairs can be as good for your heart as a gym workout, especially for mature women, a study reveals.
Post-menopausal women benefit the most from the exercise that can both lower blood pressure and build up vital leg strength.
In a controlled study, scientists asked women to climb 192 steps, two to five times a day.
The research was carried out by the North American Menopause Society and published in the journal Menopause.
The study demonstrated that climbing stairs has benefits for post-menopausal women with oestrogen deficiencies who are more susceptible to circulation and muscle problems.
While keeping fit can lower blood pressure, the study found that many older women found “real and perceived barriers” to exercise.
These included a lack of time, money, nearby fitness facilities, poor weather and embarrassment.
And high-intensity resistance training such as weights, while beneficial in reducing age-related loss of muscle strength, was shown to potentially increase blood pressure in middle-aged women with pre-hypertension or hypertension.
These negative effects can be minimised by combining aerobic and resistance training, with stair-climbing found to offer the benefits of both.
It was seen to improve blood pressure and leg muscle strength in post-menopausal women, without them having to leave the house or pay a fee.
Dr JoAnn Pinkerton, NAMS executive director, said: “This study demonstrates how simple lifestyle interventions such as stair-climbing can be effective.
“They can prevent or reduce the negative effects of menopause and age on the vascular system and also on the leg muscles of post-menopausal women with hypertension.”