Why should you take the stairs?

A quick message about taking the stairs.

So in classic trainer fashion, when I went to Curtin to study, the exercise science students had 1 rule different from any other cohort. We had to take the stairs whenever the option presented itself. No ramps, no elevators. Rest assured we would be punished with burpees or some other physical punishment if we got caught.

At a glance, this may have been seen as just a fun game or some gentle bullying. But the reason it was so heavily enforced was actually to reinforce a message. So much of our lives nowadays have been made easier. The ability to drive to work, take the elevator or travelator etc. And as humans, we are inherently lazy and often always search for the easiest way to do things. This means we end up objectively choosing to reduce our physical activity almost everyday.

That’s why we were asked to always see exercise as an opportunity, in this case very literally taking the stairs. But the idea was to look beyond that, and add in exercise to your day where you can. Going for a walk on your lunch break, parking further away at the shops, riding your bike to work. Alot of these things may seem small, but they add up. If we are trying to lose or maintain weight, making small changes like this can help alot. Most of us are in the gym for less than an hour a day, leaving 23 other hours where we can still improve.

Anyway hope this was some food for thought for some of you!

Coach Leon