Why Stair Climbing Is One of the Simplest Ways to Support Healthy Ageing

Caroline Churchill
3 days ago
6 min read

We tend to think of stairs as a way of getting from one floor to another.

But stairs are also a surprisingly effective form of everyday exercise.

They challenge your heart and lungs, make your legs work against your bodyweight, and give you opportunities to practise balance, coordination and control.

And unlike a workout that requires you to find 45 minutes in your diary, stairs are already built into everyday life.

What are the benefits of stair climbing?

Stair climbing can provide several different physical challenges at once.

1. Stair climbing challenges your cardiovascular fitness

Walking is a great form of cardiovascular exercise, but climbing stairs increases the intensity because you're repeatedly lifting your bodyweight upwards.

That's why your breathing and heart rate can increase surprisingly quickly, even after a relatively short flight of stairs.

Research has also shown that brief bouts of intense stair climbing can improve cardiorespiratory fitness. In a 2017 study, three 20-second bouts of intense stair climbing performed three times a week for six weeks improved VO₂peak by 12% in one group of sedentary young women.

It's important to put that study into context: it was a small study involving young women and used very intense exercise. It doesn't mean everyone needs to sprint up the stairs.

But it does demonstrate an interesting point:

You don't necessarily need a long workout to challenge your cardiovascular system.

2. Stairs help build leg strength

Every time you climb a step, your legs have to produce enough force to raise your bodyweight.

That means your quads, glutes and calf muscles all have to contribute.

And this matters as we age.

Maintaining lower-body strength isn't just about being able to lift weights in the gym. It's about being able to get up from a chair, climb a flight of stairs, walk uphill, get up from the floor and continue doing the activities you enjoy.

If being independent is important to you – don’t skip the stairs. Stairs provide one way of regularly challenging those muscles in everyday life.

3. Going downstairs trains control as well as strength

We often focus on going up.

But coming down matters too.

Walking downstairs requires your muscles to control your body as you lower yourself onto each step. This is known as eccentric muscle action.

It also requires balance, coordination and confidence.

So if you want to make stairs part of your healthy-ageing toolkit, don't overlook the journey back down.

4. Stairs can challenge your balance

If you feel safe doing so, gradually reducing your reliance on the handrail can add another challenge.

You're asking your body to control itself without relying as heavily on external support.

But there's an important distinction here: not using the handrail isn't the goal. Being able to use it when you need it is a useful safety strategy.

If you currently feel unsteady on stairs, keep using the handrail and work on your strength and balance separately.

5. Stairs are a form of everyday physical activity

This is perhaps the thing I like most about stairs.

They don't require a gym.

They don't require special equipment.

They don't even require you to schedule a workout.

You can simply choose them when they're available.

And emerging research suggests that these kinds of everyday movement choices may be important for health.

A 2026 systematic review and meta-analysis included nine studies involving 480,479 people. Compared with little or no stair climbing, stair climbing was associated with a 24% lower risk of all-cause mortality and a 39% lower risk of cardiovascular mortality.

Those are interesting findings, but they need to be interpreted carefully.

The results show an association, not proof that stair climbing itself causes people to live longer. People who regularly take the stairs may also be more physically active or healthier in other ways.

So I can’t tell you that climbing stairs will make you live longer. But what the research does reinforce is the value of regular physical activity, including the movement we accumulate during normal daily life.

Could stair climbing be an 'exercise snack'?

There's also growing interest in the idea of exercise snacks: short bursts of activity spread throughout the day rather than one longer workout.

One small 2024 study looked at stair-climbing exercise snacks in a workplace setting. Participants completed three separate bouts of climbing around 53–60 stairs during the day. The researchers were particularly interested in whether this approach was practical and acceptable for people who were otherwise spending long periods sedentary.

It's a small study, so it doesn't prove that everyone should start doing stair intervals.

But the concept is useful.

Because sometimes the barrier to exercise isn't that we don't know it's good for us.

It's that we think it has to take a lot of time.

It doesn't always.

How to start stair climbing if you're currently a stair-avoider

If you normally reach for the [lift] button, don't suddenly decide that you're going to run up six flights of stairs.

Start small, build the habit.

Try this:

Week 1–2: Take the stairs once a day at a comfortable pace.

Make it easier: Start with one floor and take the lift for the rest if necessary.

Once that feels comfortable: Add another flight.

Then: Take the stairs more frequently or gradually increase your pace.

There's no need to rush the progression.

It might take weeks or months before you're ready to make the stairs a harder cardiovascular challenge.

That's fine. The goal is to build capacity, not prove something.

What if stairs are difficult?

If stairs currently leave you feeling very breathless, make your knees uncomfortable or make you feel unsteady, that's useful information.

It doesn't mean you should avoid them forever.

It may mean you have some physical capacities worth working on.

For example, exercises such as squats, split squats, step-ups and lunges can help develop lower-body strength.

Balance exercises can help you become more confident on your feet.

And gradually increasing your general activity can help build cardiovascular fitness.

If you have significant heart, lung or joint problems, or you're unsure whether increasing your exercise intensity is appropriate for you, speak to your healthcare professional first.

Want to feel stronger and more confident in everyday life?

That's what I help active adults over 40 work on through Coach Caroline - Find out more

You don't have to turn every staircase into a workout

This is the bit I really want to emphasise.

I don't take the stairs because I believe every spare moment needs to become exercise.

I take them because they're already there.

Every flight is an opportunity to practise something my future self will hopefully still be able to do:

lift my bodyweight, climb, balance, control my legs and get where I'm going.

That's what healthy ageing is about for me.

Not simply adding years to your life.

But building and maintaining the physical capacity to keep doing the things you enjoy.

So next time you have the choice... Step it up.

Want to feel stronger and more confident in everyday life?

Maybe reading this has made you think:

“Actually, stairs are getting harder than they used to be.”

Or perhaps it's not the stairs specifically.

Maybe you're finding hills harder, getting up from the floor less easily, struggling to keep up on long walks, or simply noticing that you're not quite as strong or confident in your body as you'd like to be.

You don't have to wait until something becomes a real problem before you start working on it.

That's where Coach Caroline comes in.

I work with active adults over 40 to build the strength, mobility, balance and confidence they need to keep doing the things they enjoy - now and for years to come.

We look at where you are now, what you want to be able to do, and what you need to work on to get there and build a programme specifically for you, it evolves with you as you progress.

If you'd like some help figuring out where to start, get in touch.

Find out more about Coach Caroline or Arrange a Free Call References

S Paddock, R Veerni, U Bhalraam, J Meng, E Dawson-Plincke, V Vassiliou, V Tsampasian, Evaluating the cardiovascular benefits of stair climbing: a systematic review and meta-analysis, European Journal of Preventive Cardiology, Volume 31, Issue Supplement_1, June 2024, zwae175.405, https://doi.org/10.1093/eurjpc/zwae175.405

Sanchez-Lastra MA, Ding D, Dalene KE, Del Pozo Cruz B, Ekelund U, Tarp J. Stair climbing and mortality: a prospective cohort study from the UK Biobank. J Cachexia Sarcopenia Muscle. 2021 Apr;12(2):298-307. doi: 10.1002/jcsm.12679. Epub 2021 Feb 4. PMID: 33543604; PMCID: PMC8061405. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC8061405/

Allison MK, Baglole JH, Martin BJ, Macinnis MJ, Gurd BJ, Gibala MJ. Brief Intense Stair Climbing Improves Cardiorespiratory Fitness. Med Sci Sports Exerc. 2017 Feb;49(2):298-307. doi: 10.1249/MSS.0000000000001188. Erratum in: Med Sci Sports Exerc. 2017 Mar;49(3):626. doi: 10.1249/MSS.0000000000001219. PMID: 28009784. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/28009784/

Boreham CA, Wallace WF, Nevill A. Training effects of accumulated daily stair-climbing exercise in previously sedentary young women. Prev Med. 2000 Apr;30(4):277-81. doi: 10.1006/pmed.2000.0634. PMID: 10731455.

Matthew J. Stork, Alexis Marcotte-Chénard, Mary E. Jung, and Jonathan P. Little. 2024. Exercise in the workplace: examining the receptivity of practical and time-efficient stair-climbing “exercise snacks”. Applied Physiology, Nutrition, and Metabolism. 49(1): 30-40. https://doi.org/10.1139/apnm-2023-0128

Paddock S, et al. Evaluating the Impact of Stair Climbing on Cardiovascular Risk Reduction: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis. Am J Cardiovasc Drugs. 2026. doi: 10.1007/s40256-026-00811-x