Skip to main content
PMC home page
British Journal of Sports Medicine logoLink to British Journal of Sports Medicine
. 2005 Sep;39(9):590–593. doi: 10.1136/bjsm.2002.001131

Training effects of short bouts of stair climbing on cardiorespiratory fitness, blood lipids, and homocysteine in sedentary young women

C Boreham 1, R Kennedy 1, M Murphy 1, M Tully 1, W Wallace 1, I Young 1
PMCID: PMC1725304  PMID: 16118293

Abstract

Objectives: To study the training effects of eight weeks of stair climbing on VO2MAX, blood lipids, and homocysteine in sedentary, but otherwise healthy young women.

Methods: Fifteen women (mean (SD) age 18.8 (0.7) years) were randomly assigned to control (n = 7) or stair climbing (n = 8) groups. Stair climbing was progressively increased from one ascent a day in week 1 to five ascents a day in weeks 7 and 8. Training took place five days a week on a public access staircase (199 steps), at a stepping rate of 90 steps a minute. Each ascent took about two minutes to complete. Subjects agreed not to change their diet or lifestyle over the experimental period.

Results: Relative to controls, the stair climbing group displayed a 17.1% increase in VO2MAX and a 7.7% reduction in low density lipoprotein cholesterol (p<0.05) over the training period. No change occurred in total cholesterol, high density lipoprotein cholesterol, triglycerides, or homocysteine.

Conclusions: The study confirms that accumulating short bouts of stair climbing activity throughout the day can favourably alter important cardiovascular risk factors in previously sedentary young women. Such exercise may be easily incorporated into the working day and therefore should be promoted by public health guidelines.

Full Text

The Full Text of this article is available as a PDF (69.3 KB).

Selected References

These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.

  1. Astrand P. O. Quantification of exercise capability and evaluation of physical capacity in man. Prog Cardiovasc Dis. 1976 Jul-Aug;19(1):51–67. doi: 10.1016/0033-0620(76)90008-6. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  2. Blair S. N., Kampert J. B., Kohl H. W., 3rd, Barlow C. E., Macera C. A., Paffenbarger R. S., Jr, Gibbons L. W. Influences of cardiorespiratory fitness and other precursors on cardiovascular disease and all-cause mortality in men and women. JAMA. 1996 Jul 17;276(3):205–210. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  3. Blair S. N., Kohl H. W., 3rd, Barlow C. E., Paffenbarger R. S., Jr, Gibbons L. W., Macera C. A. Changes in physical fitness and all-cause mortality. A prospective study of healthy and unhealthy men. JAMA. 1995 Apr 12;273(14):1093–1098. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  4. Boreham C. A., Wallace W. F., Nevill A. Training effects of accumulated daily stair-climbing exercise in previously sedentary young women. Prev Med. 2000 Apr;30(4):277–281. doi: 10.1006/pmed.2000.0634. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  5. Bouchard C., Lesage R., Lortie G., Simoneau J. A., Hamel P., Boulay M. R., Pérusse L., Thériault G., Leblanc C. Aerobic performance in brothers, dizygotic and monozygotic twins. Med Sci Sports Exerc. 1986 Dec;18(6):639–646. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  6. Bray G. A. Definition, measurement, and classification of the syndromes of obesity. Int J Obes. 1978;2(2):99–112. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  7. Crouse S. F., O'Brien B. C., Grandjean P. W., Lowe R. C., Rohack J. J., Green J. S. Effects of training and a single session of exercise on lipids and apolipoproteins in hypercholesterolemic men. J Appl Physiol (1985) 1997 Dec;83(6):2019–2028. doi: 10.1152/jappl.1997.83.6.2019. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  8. De Crée C., Malinow M. R., van Kranenburg G. P., Geurten P. G., Longford N. T., Keizer H. A. Influence of exercise and menstrual cycle phase on plasma homocyst(e)ine levels in young women--a prospective study. Scand J Med Sci Sports. 1999 Oct;9(5):272–278. doi: 10.1111/j.1600-0838.1999.tb00245.x. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  9. Duncan J. J., Gordon N. F., Scott C. B. Women walking for health and fitness. How much is enough? JAMA. 1991 Dec 18;266(23):3295–3299. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  10. Durstine J. L., Haskell W. L. Effects of exercise training on plasma lipids and lipoproteins. Exerc Sport Sci Rev. 1994;22:477–521. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  11. Erikssen G., Liestøl K., Bjørnholt J., Thaulow E., Sandvik L., Erikssen J. Changes in physical fitness and changes in mortality. Lancet. 1998 Sep 5;352(9130):759–762. doi: 10.1016/S0140-6736(98)02268-5. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  12. Fardy P. S., Ilmarinen J. Evaluating the effects and feasibility of an at work stairclimbing intervention program for men. Med Sci Sports. 1975 Summer;7(2):91–93. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  13. Friedewald W. T., Levy R. I., Fredrickson D. S. Estimation of the concentration of low-density lipoprotein cholesterol in plasma, without use of the preparative ultracentrifuge. Clin Chem. 1972 Jun;18(6):499–502. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  14. Gaesser G. A., Rich R. G. Effects of high- and low-intensity exercise training on aerobic capacity and blood lipids. Med Sci Sports Exerc. 1984 Jun;16(3):269–274. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  15. Haskell W. L. The influence of exercise training on plasma lipids and lipoproteins in health and disease. Acta Med Scand Suppl. 1986;711:25–37. doi: 10.1111/j.0954-6820.1986.tb08929.x. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  16. Herrmann Markus, Wilkinson John, Schorr Heike, Obeid Rima, Georg Thomas, Urhausen Axel, Scharhag Jürgen, Kindermann Wilfried, Herrmann Wolfgang. Comparison of the influence of volume-oriented training and high-intensity interval training on serum homocysteine and its cofactors in young, healthy swimmers. Clin Chem Lab Med. 2003 Nov;41(11):1525–1531. doi: 10.1515/CCLM.2003.234. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  17. Ilmarinen J., Ilmarinen R., Koskela A., Korhonen O., Fardy P., Partanen T., Rutenfranz J. Training effects of stair-climbing during office hours on female employees. Ergonomics. 1979 May;22(5):507–516. doi: 10.1080/00140137908924634. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  18. König D., Bissé E., Deibert P., Müller H-M, Wieland H., Berg A. Influence of training volume and acute physical exercise on the homocysteine levels in endurance-trained men: interactions with plasma folate and vitamin B12. Ann Nutr Metab. 2003;47(3-4):114–118. doi: 10.1159/000070032. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  19. Laukkanen J. A., Lakka T. A., Rauramaa R., Kuhanen R., Venäläinen J. M., Salonen R., Salonen J. T. Cardiovascular fitness as a predictor of mortality in men. Arch Intern Med. 2001 Mar 26;161(6):825–831. doi: 10.1001/archinte.161.6.825. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  20. Matthews J. N., Altman D. G., Campbell M. J., Royston P. Analysis of serial measurements in medical research. BMJ. 1990 Jan 27;300(6719):230–235. doi: 10.1136/bmj.300.6719.230. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  21. Morris J. N. Exercise in the prevention of coronary heart disease: today's best buy in public health. Med Sci Sports Exerc. 1994 Jul;26(7):807–814. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  22. Murphy M. H., Hardman A. E. Training effects of short and long bouts of brisk walking in sedentary women. Med Sci Sports Exerc. 1998 Jan;30(1):152–157. doi: 10.1097/00005768-199801000-00021. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  23. Pate R. R., Pratt M., Blair S. N., Haskell W. L., Macera C. A., Bouchard C., Buchner D., Ettinger W., Heath G. W., King A. C. Physical activity and public health. A recommendation from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the American College of Sports Medicine. JAMA. 1995 Feb 1;273(5):402–407. doi: 10.1001/jama.273.5.402. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  24. Randeva Harpal S., Lewandowski Krzysztof C., Drzewoski Józef, Brooke-Wavell Katherine, O'Callaghan Chris, Czupryniak Leszek, Hillhouse Edward W., Prelevic Gordana M. Exercise decreases plasma total homocysteine in overweight young women with polycystic ovary syndrome. J Clin Endocrinol Metab. 2002 Oct;87(10):4496–4501. doi: 10.1210/jc.2001-012056. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  25. Shephard R. J. How much physical activity is needed for good health? Int J Sports Med. 1999 Jan;20(1):23–27. doi: 10.1055/s-2007-971086. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  26. Ubbink J. B., Hayward Vermaak W. J., Bissbort S. Rapid high-performance liquid chromatographic assay for total homocysteine levels in human serum. J Chromatogr. 1991 Apr 19;565(1-2):441–446. doi: 10.1016/0378-4347(91)80407-4. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  27. Vincent Kevin R., Braith Randy W., Bottiglieri Teodoro, Vincent Heather K., Lowenthal David T. Homocysteine and lipoprotein levels following resistance training in older adults. Prev Cardiol. 2003 Fall;6(4):197–203. doi: 10.1111/j.1520-037x.2003.01723.x. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  28. Woolf-May K., Kearney E. M., Owen A., Jones D. W., Davison R. C., Bird S. R. The efficacy of accumulated short bouts versus single daily bouts of brisk walking in improving aerobic fitness and blood lipid profiles. Health Educ Res. 1999 Dec;14(6):803–815. doi: 10.1093/her/14.6.803. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  29. Wright M., Francis K., Cornwell P. Effect of acute exercise on plasma homocysteine. J Sports Med Phys Fitness. 1998 Sep;38(3):262–265. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]

Articles from British Journal of Sports Medicine are provided here courtesy of BMJ Publishing Group

RESOURCES