Stairway to fitness heaven...

CLIMBING stairs can help the heart as much as going to the gym, scientists found.

The team set out to find a way to keep people from having a second heart attack.

Volunteers who’d had a cardiac procedure were assigned either to traditional moderateintensity exercise or vigorous stair climbing.

They did three rounds of six flights of 12 stairs, separated by recovery periods of walking, with participants selecting their own pace.

Individuals who did traditional exercise and those who climbed stairs both increased their cardiorespiratory fitness after four weeks.

Professor Stuart Phillips, from McMaster University in Hamilton, Canada, said: “Even in just a short period there were beneficial adaptations in muscles after a cardiac procedure.”

The study has been published in the journal Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise.