A StairMaster is an ideal way to burn high calories and help build strength. The main focus of this cardio equipment is on the lower body and the core muscles. This intense workout allows several muscle groups in the body to engage together by mimicking stair climbing.
Ideal for people of all fitness levels, StairMaster allows people to engage in high-intensity workouts with low impact. In this article, let’s discuss more about the benefits of a StairMaster workout.
What Is A StairMaster?
The StairMaster is an exercise machine that mimics the act of climbing stairs. It is mainly used for cardiovascular fitness and strength-building goals. The major targets of a StairMaster are the quads, glutes, hamstrings, and calves.
The StairMaster consists of rotating steps and a handle that allows you to climb up continuously. Similar to a treadmill, the speed of the StairMaster is also adjustable. Additionally, it essentializes the use of the core muscles and the hip flexors to maintain balance and stability, which strengthens the abs.
Benefits Of A StairMaster
1. Cardio Benefits
More than being an excellent workout for the lower body, StairMaster helps to attain several cardiovascular benefits.
◾ Calorie Burn
It is an effective way to lose weight or maintain your current weight. StairMaster helps you burn hundreds of calories, depending on your weight and intensity. Generally, half an hour of stair-climbing will help you burn 180–260 calories.
A faster climb helps to torch more calories in less time. Additionally, a person with more weight tends to burn more calories when compared to a person with less weight doing the same workout for the same duration of time.
Calorie-burning calculators that analyze the amount of calories burned during a workout session are added to most of the StairMaster machines.
◾ Improves Cardiovascular Health
Your cardiovascular health can be improved by incorporating regular stair-climbing into your workout regimen. This is attained due to the ability of StairMaster to improve the efficiency of your lungs.
The VO2 max, which indicates the duration of your ability to exercise before tiring, can be increased with the use of a StairMaster machine. This increases the oxygen supply to the muscles, resulting in a longer workout period without fatigue.
Greater pumping on the StairMaster also improves your heart health. Similar to other cardio exercises, increasing your heart rate helps you experience positive health benefits. This helps in the pumping of oxygen-rich blood to the muscles.
2. Strength Benefits
Apart from the cardio benefits, StairMast offers several strength benefits as well.
◾ Strengthens Calves And Glutes
Glutes, a group of three buttocks muscles that help move and support your hips, are engaged while climbing the stairs. Calves, the two muscles at the back of your lower legs, are also used while climbing the stairs, as they help push yourself up against gravity.
These two muscles that are essential while climbing the stairs are strengthened and toned with the help of StairMaster, reducing the risks of injuries during running or walking on uneven surfaces.
◾ Strengthens Hamstrings And Quadriceps
Quads, the four muscles in the front of your thighs and hamstrings, and the three muscles in the back that work along with the quads play a major role in` stair-climbing. While the quads extend the knees, the hamstrings bend them. Therefore, these muscles are put into a huge range of motion while stair-climbing.
Consistent stair climbing will, therefore, improve the strength of your quads and hamstrings. It will also help you increase the speed and power of your running or mountain climbing.
◾ Improves Bone Strength
As stair-climbing is a weight-bearing exercise, it stresses your bones, stimulates new bone growth, and increases your bone density. Therefore, consistent stair-climbing reduces the risks of osteoporosis and bone fractures.
3. Other Benefits
◾ Fat Loss
You need to burn more calories than you take in to lose weight. As StairMaster is good at burning calories, using it daily helps to create a calorie deficit, resulting in weight loss.
◾ Tone The Muscles
As it is a complete lower body workout, consistent use of StairMaster helps to tone your lower body muscles and help to develop a heart-shaped buttock.
◾ Easy On Joints
Stairmaster is a low-intensity workout that can be completed without pain. With increased soreness, Stairmaster helps you achieve cardio benefits. It also helps you prevent knee pain. Being able to walk unilaterally on the Stairmaster can also help avoid muscular imbalances and potentially save you from future injury issues.
Conclusion
The Stairmaster is an intense stair-climbing workout that enhances heart health, tones muscles, strengthens the lower body, and burns calories. It gained popularity as an effective workout to sweat and burn calories.
If you’re looking for a low-impact aerobic exercise that also incorporates resistance training, Stairmaster is a perfect choice. Of course, stair-climbing will not be everyone’s cup of tea. There are several alternatives for such people. However, this article has discussed Stairmaster and its benefits for your body.
References
- NIH (n.d) Effects of Exercise to Improve Cardiovascular Health Available Online at: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6557987/
- Northeast Texas Community College (2018) Hamstring Exercises Available Online at: https://www.ntcc.edu/athletics/live-athlete/exercises/hamstring-exercises
