Are you one of those people who avoid the stairs to take the elevator? If you do, you are missing out on all the fun.
Outdoor stair workouts are a great change of pace from traditional cardio workouts, and the scenery can be a welcome distraction from the burning in your lungs. This workout blends the challenge of gravity with the outdoors, turning every step a chance to enhance cardiovascular health, build power, and shed fat.
Whether you’re pressed for time or looking for variety in your cardio, this 15-minute outdoor stair workout is the ticket to your cardio gains. Ready to step up (pun intended) your game and make every step count? Let’s dive into this high-intensity outdoor stair workout that proves you don’t need fancy equipment to get a great cardio workout.
Benefits of Outdoor Stair Workouts
Taking your workouts outdoors means you have to deal with the elements and are not in a controlled environment of the gym’s four walls. That makes you better prepared for what the world can throw at you.
Here are three more reasons to take your cardio workouts outdoors.
Cardiovascular Health
High-intensity stair workouts are like hitting the turbo button on your heart rate. They boost your cardiovascular system, enhance endurance, and burn unwanted fat. Each sprint up those steps is a step towards stronger legs and heart.
Endurance Gains
Outdoor stair workouts are exceptional for building lower body endurance. Each step focuses on your glutes, quads, hamstrings, and calves, turning the staircase into the Stairmaster machine. Running stairs helps build a bigger engine and improves athletic performance.
Improved Mental Health
Something is refreshing about taking your workout outdoors. The combination of fresh air, natural light, and the physical challenge refreshes the mind and helps reduce stress. It’s a mental and physical reset, allowing you to clear your mind while sweating it out.
Outdoor Stair Safety Tips
To ensure that your stair workout is not only practical but also safe, keep these essential tips in mind:
Have a water bottle handy: Stair workouts are high-intensity and can lead to dehydration, especially in warm weather. Drink water before, during, and after your workout to stay hydrated.
Surface Inspection: Before starting your workout, inspect the stairs for potential hazards, such as loose stones, debris, or uneven steps.
Pay attention: Adjust your intensity or take a break if you experience excessive knee or lower back pain. It’s essential to challenge yourself, but not at the expense of your health.
THE 15-Minute Outdoor Stair Warmup
Before charging up those stairs, prepare your body with a dynamic warm-up. Let’s keep it quick with a combo of two things.
Dynamic Stretches: Begin with leg swings and ankle circles to loosen up your lower body. Perform ten swings per leg, side-to-side and front-to-back, followed by ten ankle rotations per foot.
Light Cardio: Next, walk up and down the stairs for two minutes to prepare your muscles and joints for work ahead.
The 15-Min Outdoor Stair Workout & Cool Down
This circuit-style stair workout is designed to be quick, intense, and have you breathing hard. The following workout will alternate between strength and cardio moves to have your lungs working overtime.
Note: Excluding nine, the last 10 to 15 seconds of each exercise can be used for rest if needed.
Stair Sprint (2 minutes): Start sprinting up the stairs as quickly as possible, using the descent as a recovery but keeping the pace brisk.
Alternating Step-Ups (1 minute): At the bottom of the stairs, perform quick alternating step-ups on the first stair.
Stair Push-Ups (1 minute): Find a step challenging your upper body; place your hands on it and perform push-ups.
Double-Step Runs (2 minutes): Run up the stairs two steps at a time and use the descent as a recovery similar to exercise one.
Stair Hops (1 minute): Stand at the base of the stairs and hop up to the first or second step with both feet together, then step back down.
Lateral Stair Runs (1 minute): Turn sideways and quickly step up and down the stairs. 7. Bear Crawl Up and Down (1 minute): Start in a bear crawl position with your hands and feet on the ground and your hips elevated to about hip height. Crawl up one to two steps using your hands and feet, then reverse the movement to come back down.
Stair Toe Taps (1 minute): Face the bottom stair and quickly alternate toe-tapping the top stair.
Cool Down (2 minutes): Stroll up and down the stairs. Focus on deep breathing and gradually allow your heart rate to return to normal.