The average person burns 60-100 calories every 15 minutes of climbing the stairs at a slow pace, and 50-90 calories every 15 minutes descending the stairs. The number of calories burned on the stairs depends on your weight, speed on the stairs, and load you’re carrying. Use our calculator below for a better estimate. Calories burned per minute = (MET x body weight in Kg x 3.5) ÷ 200 “MET” is a measurement of the energy cost of physical activity for a period of time. You can find an activity’s MET on the chart above. A task with a MET of 1 is roughly equal to a person’s energy expenditure from sitting still at room temperature not actively digesting food. A task with a MET of 2 uses twice as much energy as a task with a MET of 1. A task with a MET of 10 uses 10 times as much energy as
a task with a MET of 1. MET values “do not estimate the energy cost of physical activity in individuals in ways that account for differences in body mass, adiposity, age, sex, efficiency of movement, geographic and environmental conditions in which the activities are performed. Thus, individual differences in energy expenditure for the same activity can be large and the true energy cost for an individual may or may not be close to the stated mean MET level as presented in the Compendium.”
(as quoted from the main page of the Compendium of Physical Activities). A person weighs 180 pounds (81.65kg) and does stair climbing at a fast pace (a task that has a MET value of 8.8) for 1 hour (60 minutes). Calories Burned from stair climbing at a fast pace (per minute) = (8.8 x 81.65 x 3.5) ÷ 200 = 12.57 Calories Burned from stair climbing at a fast pace (for 60 minutes) = 12.57 x 60 = 754 Sources and External Resources
How much does it help to take the stairs rather than ride the escalator or elevator? Can a few more flights of stairs each day make a difference for fitness and obesity? OverviewHere are some facts on how many calories a 160-pound person burns taking the stairs:
If you're doing a stair workout, you can use a calories-burned-while-exercising calculator to estimate your burn. Stair climbing challenges more muscles than walking on level ground or standing. You use your gluteus maximus and hamstrings to climb stairs. These muscles extend the hip. To tone your butt, take the stairs. Some fitness trackers count stairs or floors climbed and will reward you with badges and trophies for stair climbing. Drawbacks of Eliminating StairsWith an aging population, single-story homes and homes with the master bedroom on the main level are becoming more desirable. People want to eliminate stairs from their lives. If you have knee or hip osteoarthritis, you probably avoid stairs. Unless you have existing joint problems, it is good to challenge your muscles and joints each day. Living in a two-story house is a built-in fitness program. A task such as carrying groceries up a flight of stairs burns more than twice the calories as carrying them on level ground. But if you have any joint problems you may want to avoid carrying loads up and down stairs. It's great to have the laundry room on the same level as the bedrooms, and the kitchen on the same level as the entry. You can still get the benefit of stairs when you aren't carrying extra weight up and down. How to Encourage Taking the StairsSeveral studies have looked at the best way to encourage people to take the stairs instead of the escalator or elevator at shopping malls and in workplaces. Messages on the stair risers were one tactic found to be effective. In general, having the message at the point where people would make the decision to take the stairs vs. elevator or escalator is effective. Making Stairs FriendlyStairs need to be conveniently located, not hidden away and poorly marked. Do they feel like a lonely, scary place, or a safe, well-lit, frequently-used environment? Architects, designers and building management all have a role in making stairwells more walker-friendly in office buildings, schools, hospitals, and government buildings. This is the consideration of active design. Once in the stairwell, it may be poorly cleaned, with little climate control. It's no wonder people just wait for the elevator. Small Steps Add UpTaking the stairs is merely one small step. You need to add other small changes to be more active and eat a better diet in order to stay fit and healthy. The biggest step can be achieving the recommended exercise levels for healthy persons—30 minutes a day of moderate exercise, such as brisk walking, five days a week, plus strength exercise two days a week Adding Stairs to Your WorkoutsAdding stairs to your walking workout is a great way to add intervals of more-intense exercise. Stair climbing will raise your heart rate and will tone your butt and the backs of your thighs. These are good additions to a workout. Verywell Fit uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read our editorial process to learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.
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By Wendy
Bumgardner Thanks for your feedback! How many calories does 15 minutes of stairs burn?The average person burns 60-100 calories every 15 minutes of climbing the stairs at a slow pace, and 50-90 calories every 15 minutes descending the stairs. The number of calories burned on the stairs depends on your weight, speed on the stairs, and load you're carrying.
How many calories does climbing stairs for 10 minutes burn?If you plan on going the stair-climbing machine route, Harvard Health Publishing says that a 125-pound person can burn 60 calories in 10 minutes on a stair-climbing machine. A 155-pound person can burn approximately 74 calories, and a 185-pound person can burn about 88 calories in 10 minutes.
How many stairs does it take to burn 500 calories?If an average flight of stairs has about 20 steps, you burn 15 calories climbing up, and 5 calories climbing down. Therefore, in order to burn 500 calories in a day, you need to climb 33.33 flights of stairs or come down 100 flights.
How many calories does 30 minutes of stairs burn?When you climb a flight of stairs, you will burn around two to five calories. On average, if you cover seven flights of stairs, the number of calories you lose is 83. If you climb stairs for 30 minutes, you should burn about 235 calories.
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