Recently the gym that I have been going to acquired a stair climber machine. Have you ever seen these ‘intimidating’ looking machines hiding out in some distant corner of the gym? They are the tallest piece of gym equipment and they look like a mini escalator. But there is nothing “mini” about how these things work.
Since joining the gym late last year, I have had the opportunity to take my workouts to levels I had only dreamt of. I used the elliptical machines, the bikes, the treadmills, the circuits, you name it, I have used it. Then, about a month ago, as I was walking out of the gym, I noticed a new piece of equipment, the STEPR+ Stair Master. I joked with the staff that that was not going to be anything I was ever going to try. But 2 days later, I did.
At first, I was not sure what to think about it. After all, you are just climbing stairs over and over and over again. How hard can that be, right? Wow, was I wrong! The first few minutes, I noticed that my heart rate began to climb slowly but steadily, even at a lower level. The longer that I worked, the more challenged my legs, butt, lungs, and heart were becoming. Then I started playing with the levels. HOLY COW! I started dripping sweat immediately.
Oh boy, let me tell you this is the best piece of cardio equipment ever invented! Seriously, it gives you an amazing workout in a very little amount of time. I was able to spend half the time on that machine and burn more calories than I ever could on the treadmill or elliptical. For example, (according to my Polar HR monitor) the 36 minutes I worked on the stair climber burned 468 calories! Not bad for a first time “stepper.”
As the weeks have gone on, I have played around with the various settings and levels and have designed a great stair climber interval workout. Here is a sample of one of my favorite routines. This workout can also be used for other step mills and stair climbers with a little fine tuning to the “levels.” I have many more that are more or less challenging and would be glad to help you if you have any questions!
*This post was originally published on April 18, 2014
