Running Up Bleachers vs. Steppers

Imagine running up the bleacher steps at your local school and then imagine performing your workout on a stepper. The first difference you might see is the location. You may imagine yourself outdoors for bleacher runs and indoors for the stepper. You probably imagine yourself breathing deep and concentrating on your intense exercise session. In reality, both workouts are demanding and have differences that extend beyond the location.

  1. Pace Setter

    • You control the pace during your bleacher runs. If you are feeling strong, you can sprint up the flight of stairs and quickly descend for your next run. If you need to slow down in the middle of the flight, you can easily adjust your pace. In comparison, you are able to control the pace of your workout on a stepper but have to manually press a button to set the pedal speed. The stepper keeps the pedals moving at a constant speed until you press a button to increase or decrease the pace or until you let the pedals sink to the floor to stop the exercise.

    Comments and Concerns

    • The stepper-machine workout and bleacher runs are aerobic, endurance-building, calorie-burning activities. Both are lower-body strengthening exercises as you rely on your legs and glutes to perform the movements. As you walk down the steps, your quadriceps lengthen as they contract to support your movements, which is opposite of the shortening they do on the way up. The glutes do very little on the way down, but contract dramatically on the way up. The stepper has handrails for balance support, whereas bleachers do not. An obvious comparison is that electricity is required to use the stepper, so if considering purchasing one for at-home use, check the required voltage for the machine.

    Type of Training

    • You set the pace on the stair stepper, place your feet on the pedals and move your feet up and down at a continuous rhythm for the duration of your workout. This is known as steady-state aerobic training. The intensity, speed and type of exercise do not change. In comparison, you can change the intensity of your bleacher runs by ascending the steps two at a time. The exercise also changes slightly when you descend the steps or travel across the bleachers to the next flight of stairs.

    Take Care

    • As you ascend the bleacher steps, you are placing three to four times the amount of body weight onto your legs. While this is beneficial for building muscular strength, it creates the potential for knee injuries. In opposition, since the steps on a stepper move down as you simulate stepping up, the force on your knees is lessened. Descending the stairs places two to four times the amount of stress on your knees as well, which is something you do not have to consider when using a stepper. The hand rails are the obstacles to overcome on the machine. As you fatigue, you may find yourself leaning forward and supporting your weight on the hand rails. This can stress your hands, shoulders and back.