Forget coffee as a pick-me-up ...just climb the stairs instead

IF you start falling asleep at your desk, don’t make a cup of coffee – take to the stairs instead.

Ten minutes of walking up and down is more likely to energise you than a jolt of caffeine, a study found.

The exercise was more stimulating than 50milligrams of caffeine, the equivalent of half a cup of coffee or a can of fizzy drink, the researchers said.

During the study participants either swallowed capsules containing caffeine or a placebo, or spent ten minutes walking up and down 30 floors at a low-intensity pace.

The research aimed to simulate a typical office in which workers spend hours sitting in front of computers and don’t have time for a long period of exercise in the day.

Professor Patrick O’Connor, from the department of kinesiology at the University of Georgia in the US, said: ‘We found, in both the caffeine and the placebo conditions, that there was not much change in how they felt.

‘But with exercise they did feel more energetic and vigorous.

‘It was a temporary feeling, felt immediately after the exercise, but with the 50milligrams of caffeine, we didn’t get as big an effect. Office workers can go outside and walk but weather can be less than ideal.

‘It has never rained on me while walking the stairs.’

He added: ‘A lot of people working in office buildings have access to stairs, so it’s an option to keep some fitness while taking a short break from work.’ The study participants were female college students who described themselves as chronically sleep deprived – getting less than six and a half hours per night.

Professor O’Connor wanted to compare an exercise that could be achieved by those who do not have enough time to change into workout clothes, take a shower then change back into work outfits.

To measure the effects of caffeine versus exercise, each group took verbal and computer tests to gauge how they felt and how they performed certain cognitive tasks.

Neither caffeine nor exercise largely improved attention or memory but stair walking was associated with an increase in motivation to do work, the study published in the journal Physiology & Behaviour found.

Professor O’Connor said there was still more research to be done on the specific benefits of exercising on the stairs, especially for just ten minutes.

But even a brief bout of the exercise can improve energy while keeping you mentally sharp. He said: ‘You may not have time to go for a swim but you might have ten minutes to walk up and down the stairs.’