Outside is raining and you have no will to leave the house to hit the gym to go for run still feel like burning some calories? Than we are in the same boat! I am currently for a business trip at Stockholm, outside is raining and still would like to do my cardio training but it is not possible as my hotel does not have a gym.. But what it does have is a space in my room and stairs – 5 floors of them therefore I will use them instead.
The best thing I have come up during my trips is a HIIT* (High Intensity Interval Training) training on those cardio days. Not only because it saves time, space and needs no equipment but also because it burns more fat and faster than regular jogging.
HIIT exercise using stairs
Real easy one is jogging up the stairs, so you would need a set of approximate 50 stairs . Do 5 rounds at a time.
Set 1 – Sprint up the stairs as fast as you can and jog back down and without any rest sprint up again.
Set 2- Rest 90 seconds
Set 3 – Repeat another 4 rounds
Set 4 – Rest 2 minutes
Set 5 – Sprint up 25 steps and walk down. Do not rest at the bottom but sprint back up. Repeat for 6 rounds.
Set 6 – Rest 2 minutes
Set 7 – Sprint up 50 stairs, walk back down and without any rest sprint back up. Repeat for 5 rounds.
Set 8 – Go for a 5 minute cool down slow jog (can do also on the spot) .
THIS is will set your legs on fire so be careful. If a newbie at this than would suggest to start with fewer steps or decrease on the rounds and than increase after 2-3 weeks. Or alternative version would be running up the stairs and jogging down in your block of flats ( like 5 floors for 3-5 rounds).
This is actually pretty effective if done 2-3 times per week and does not need much to execute it and can be done whatever part of the world you are – inside our outside .
Just so you know – 8 minutes running up the stairs for average women (60kg) burns 100kcal. For more precise results get some sports tracker and put your own data. (I did a small experiment another day – I check with my Endomondo Sports Tracker application how much calories I burn if I take 5 floors of stairs at my work building – it is 27kcal. so worth thinking taking those stairs instead of elevator every time.
Nike Stair Running Inspiration
Another workout you can include in your workout routine “using stairs” that are really effective for your legs as well and goes like this:
Set 1 – Run every step
Set 2 – Run every 2nd step
Set 3 – Squat Jump every step
Set 4 – Squat Jump every 2nd step
Set 5 – Hop every step (right foot)
Set 6 – Hop every step (left foot)
Run down after each set and repeat for 3 times.
Even if you don’t do exercises, trust me – try to do this both routines couple of times per week and you will start seeing results in no time.
Have Fun shredding that fat!
*HIIT is any workout that alternates between intense bursts of activity and fixed periods of less-intense activity or even complete rest. For example, a good starter workout is running as fast as you can for 1 minute and then walking for 2 minutes. Repeat that 3-minute interval five times for a 15-minutes.
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