How to Burn Calories by Walking Up Stairs

On the most fundamental level, weight loss is tied to a simple formula: to lose weight, you must burn more calories than you consume. To lose 1 lb. of fat, you must burn 3,500 calories in addition to your normal day-to-day activities. For many people, walking is the most convenient (and cost-effective) form of exercise. To add further resistance and burn more calories, add stair-climbing to your daily routine. By eschewing elevators and escalators, you can continue to burn calories even on the way back from lunch.

Instructions

    • 1

      Implement a daily routine, and stick to it. Whether this means taking the stairs on your way to and from lunch or completing a more intensive evening workout, you should strive to adhere to this routine. It may be useful to keep an activity journal, where you can track your daily workouts. Other tools, such as a heart monitor, can help you keep track of how many calories you've burned through exercise--a 150-pound person can burn 274 calories simply by walking 30 minutes.

    • 2

      Increase the intensity of your workouts by maintaining a brisk pace as you head up the stairs. Simply put, the greater the intensity, the more calories you will burn. In theory, you should maintain this pace throughout your workout, although it may be physically impossible, particularly over a longer period of time, so your intensity will likely fluctuate. Instead, set performance goals like always completing your workout within a set time.

    • 3

      Focus on climbing, rather than descending. Researchers in Singapore found that more calories are burned while walking up a flight of stairs as opposed to going down. They likened the intensity of stair-climbing to that of jogging, while going down can be likened to walking at a brisk pace.