I’ve been weight training for a couple of years now, alongside attending regular fitness classes, but I’ve always skipped cardio sessions because I find them boring.
I know that aerobic exercise should be a part of any well-rounded fitness regime, so I decided to find something short and sweet to add to my training sessions.
Enter the stairclimber. This machine looks deceptively simple—it mimics the action of climbing stairs—but it provides a glute-burning workout that also gets your heart pumping.
I found a 10-minute routine on the Technogym stairclimber at my gym, which includes 30-60 seconds of walking, 30 seconds of lunges, 30 seconds of side-step hip abductions and 30 seconds of hip extensions, all performed on the machine.
At the end of the session, you’ve climbed roughly 26 flights of stairs. Not bad for 10 minutes!
I decided to try it once a week for a month to see if it would have a noticeable impact on my fitness levels—here are the three things that I noticed.
1. My glutes got stronger
I already practice moves like goblet squats, kettlebell swings and lunges, so my glutes are fairly strong.
However, thanks to this 10-minute weekly stairclimber routine, they’re now even stronger.
“Stairclimbers are excellent machines for challenging your body,” says Tami Smith, certified personal trainer and macro coach and owner of Fit Healthy Macros.
“Your glutes will engage as you step upwards, powering your body throughout the motion.”
2. My balance improved
Using a stair machine demands balance. Simply swigging from your water bottle while keeping up the right pace is a real art.
“There will always be a brief moment between steps where you are on a single leg, which requires you to engage your core to keep your body upright,” says Smith.
“This continued core engagement requires balance, and the more you practice it, the better you become.”
After trying the stairclimber for a month, I now feel more confident doing other single-leg exercises like Bulgarian lunges. Result!
3. The routine got easier
The first time I finished my stairclimber workout, I was very happy that it was over.
But after doing it for a month, I’m less out of breath and a lot less sweaty at the end of the 10-minute session.
I live in a ground-floor flat, so I rarely use stairs in my day-to-day life.
Using the stairclimber for 10 minutes a week has improved my functional fitness and boosted my stamina for other exercises.
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