Stair Walking ... a Few Steps to Better Health

Stair Walking ... a Few Steps to Better HealthAuthor(s): PEGGY EDWARDSSource: Canadian Journal of Public Health / Revue Canadienne de Sante'e Publique, Vol. 74, No.1 (January / February 1983), pp. 63-65Published by: Canadian Public Health AssociationStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/41987915 .

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Health Topic

Stair Walking ... a Few Steps to Better Health

PEGGY EDWARDS, B.A.

During the first National Physical Activity Week, May 15-23, 1983, the Canadian Public Health Association's Fit- ness Secretariat will launch a campaign introducing "STAIRWALKING" to Canadians. This article focuses on that essential daily activity which is simple, safe and fun.

Records show attempts to measure the strain of climbing as far back as 1 797 1 and over the years exercise physiologists have developed a variety of submaximal "step tests." Fitness Canada has played a major role in initiating such research, choosing stair-stepping as an effective, safe and accessible means of measuring cardiovascular fitness.

The Canadian Home Fitness Test2 unlike most laboratory tests that utilize an uncomfortable 18" step, is based on the repeated ascent and descent of the lowest two steps of a domestic 71^" staircase. The stepping rhythm is set by recorded music at a tempo that imposes an appropriate workload for the subject's age and sex. After three minutes of stepping at a "warm-up" rate a voice on the record gives time signals for the counting of an immediate pulse recovery rate. If a pre-determined ceiling is not exceeded the subject carries out a further three minutes at 65 to 70% of the average aerobic power for a sedentary person of the same age. The second pulse rate indicates the results. By compar- ing his or her score to a norms chart the individual is shown to have an "undesirable", "minimum" or "recommended" level of fitness.

The CHFT is a unique and enjoyable step-test of fitness which can be self-administered in the home, school or health-care setting. Packaged by Fitness Canada for the general public within the "Fit Kit," the CHFT is an effective motivational tool that has been widely used in Canada and abroad.

An advanced version of the test that incorporates an additional 3 minutes enables an accurate prediction of max- imal oxygen consumption. This serves as the measuring tool

Peggy Edwards, B.A., Program Manager, Fitness Secretariat C.P.H.A.

of cardio-vascular fitness in the Standardized T est of Fitness package designed for health and fitness professionals.3 The protocol was also used in the recent Canada Fitness Survey of over 15,000 Canadians.

The Fit Kit, containing the CHFT 1 ... 2 ... 3 Steps to Better Health and other motivational elements is available from the CPHA Health Resources Centre. Cost $9.95 plus $1.50 for mailing.

January/ February 1983 63



Though stairwalking is commonly associated with exercise testing, it is generally ignored as a suitable activity for improving and/ or maintaining fitness. Unfortunately, stairwells are often hard to find or locked for security rea- sons. Even when the stairs are readily accessible most peo- ple, out of habit, choose the elevator.

Morris4 postulated that London bus conductors, because they climb 60 flights of steps a day, experience less ischaemic heart disease than the bus drivers. This remains uncertain due to questions concerning the constitutional differences of the conductors and drivers, and the nature of the stress imposed by their jobs. It is clear, however, that the conduc- tor stays lean and fit on his job - performing work equival- ent to 4 or 5 Harvard step-tests in an 8-hour shift!

Fardy and Ilmarinen5 have shown that aerobic power can be increased by deliberate use of 1 5 or more flights of stairs a day. Shephard6 estimates that a sedentary executive who climbs a flight of steps at a rate of 30-40 steps per minute is achieving about 50% of his maximum oxygen intake. He concludes that "a useful, if brief work-out is thus obtained whenever he climbs three floors (30-40 steps)."

The average step is IVi' high. It takes about 3 seconds to run up 10 steps. For a 170 pound runner, that means lifting 1700 pounds to a height of more than six feet in three seconds7. Would-be "vertical marathoners" therefore, should be wary. Even the fittest athlete could quickly get into trouble charging up flight after flight of stairs in a competitive desire to "get fit quick" or to perform better than someone else. The runner would quickly experience oxygen debt, breathing difficulties and pain in the legs.

Stairwalking, however, is a safe and easy way to build more activity into one's daily routine. It is a sound exercise habit that helps to improve fitness, tone leg muscles, control weight and relieve stress.

Body weight is determined by the balance of energy in and energy out throughout the day. Brief bouts of activities such as stairwalking, can play an important role in maintaining that balance. In addition, using the stairs saves time and can help to alleviate stress during the working day.

Stairwalking requires about 8-11 k/cal per min. (33.5- 46kj / min.) of energy. This is relatively high when compared with other exercise activities.

Though an increasing number of Canadians - 38% according to the recent Canada Fitness Survey9 - strive to maintain a three-times-a-week exercise habit, the majority

♦Energy Expenditure Range Activity (k/cal min.)

Dancing rhumba 3.5 - 5.5 Walking (4.5 mph) 5.5- 8.6 Swimming (breast stroke) 6.0 - 9.2 Stair climbing 8.5-11.6 Jog/ Run (8.5 min. mile) 10.5-18.2 ♦adapted from Physiological Measurements of Metabolic Functions in Man.8

do not participate in a planned conditioning program. For most sedentary office workers, walking totals less than 2 miles a day and heart rates rarely rise above 120 beats a minute. For all of us, the journey to total fitness begins with little steps - gentle increases in daily activity patterns. Stairwalking, in the course of a normal business day, is one way to begin.

Mark T wain once said "Habit is habit, not to be flung out the window by any man, but coaxed gently down the stairs, one step at a time."

If you are on that stairway to good health, take it one step at a time. Stairwalk today . . . and bring your friends along!

Stairway to Health Campaign, May 15-23, 1983 The Stairway to Health Campaign will focus on the

workplace, providing creative resources, games and program ideas to encourage the use of the stairs.

Individuals who take the stairs 2 times each day for the 5 working days of National Physical Activity Week will earn an "I'm a 10" sticker for their efforts.

Other activities to encourage stairwalking will include both co-operative and competitive stairwalking games for employee groups.

THE MOUNT NEVEREST CLIMB will offer the challenge of a co-operative expedition to the summit.

THE STAIRWALK CHALLENGE will enable a group of employees to compete against another floor or department.

Through the Provincial Branches of the Canadian Public Health Association, the Campaign will be launched in 16 major cities across Canada. Eleven "Provincial Pacers" will choose 5 sites within their own province for the national campaign. On site, a "Building Big Foot" will organize a

64 Canadian Journal of Public Health Vol. 74



team of "Sherpa' s" - volunteers from each floor or department who will encourage their colleagues to participate. The major campaign will involve thousands of Canadians working in large office and government buildings, health units, schools of nursing or medicine, in several major companies and industry.

The campaign is co-ordinated by the national office of CPH A. A Stairway to Health Resource Kit containing pos- ters, games, prizes and instructions will be made available to the designated sites and at cost to other groups wishing to initiate the program.

The Stairway to Health Campaign is sponsored by Fit- ness Canada as part of National Physical Acitivity Week 1983, a major promotional program designed to stimulate greater participation in physical activity.

JOIN US - BE A "10". For more information or to obtain a Resource Kit on "Stairwalking" contact: Stairway to Health Co-ordinator Canadian Public Health Associa- tion, 1335 Carling Avenue, Suite 2 10, Ottawa, Ontario K1Z 8N8.

Au cours de la première Semaine nationale d'activité physique au Canada du 15 au 23 mai, 1983, le Secrétariat de conditionnement physique de l'Association canadienne d'Hygiène publique lançera la campagne de L'Escalier de la Santé.

G RA VIR UN ESCALIER sera présenté comme une activité quotidienne essentielle, simple, sur et amusante.

Le présent article décrit les avantages de la marche dans les escaliers ainsi que l'utilisation du test de l'escalier à titre de mesure submaximale de la santé cardio-vasculaire.

On y trouvera aussi des renseignements sur la campagne de L'ESCALIER DE LA SANTÉ.

REFERENCES 1. Coloumb as reported by Benedict, FG and Parmenter HS 1928. The

energy metabolism of women while ascending or descending stairs. Am J Physiol 84: 675-698.

2. Shephard R, Bailey D, Mirwald R. Development of the Canadian Home Fitness Test. Can Med Assoc J. 114: 675-679, 1976.

3. Jetté M. The Standardized Test of Fitness in Occupational Health. Can J Public Health. 69: 431-438, 1978.

4. Morris, JN et al. Coronary heart disease and physical activity of work. Lancet 2: 1053-1057, 1953.

5. Fardy P, llmarinen. Evaluating the effects and feasibility of an at work stairclimbing intervention program for men. Med Sci Sports 7, 2: 91-93, 1975.

6. Shephard, Roy. Endurance Fitness, Second Edition. University of Toronto Press, Toronto and Buffalo, 1969.

7. Benzaquin, Paul. Stairway to Fitness. Runners World , March: 66-67, 1981.

8. Consolazio, Johnson and Pecora, Physiological Measurements of Metabolic Functions in Man. McGraw Hill Book Company, 1963.

9. Canada's Fitness. Preliminary Findings of the 1981 Survey. Canada Fitness Survey, Fitness Canada. June, 1982.

William Mosley, Professor Emeritus of Health Administration, University of Toronto, died suddenly October 8, 1982.

He was born December 25, 1903, and graduated MD, CM from McGill University in 1928. Following his internship and residency (1928-30), he was appointed Medical Officer of Health of Burwash Industrial Farm near Sudbury.

After further graduate work in the Trudeau School of Tuberculosis at Saranac Lake, New York, he served in the Tuberculosis Division of the Ontario Department of Health 1933-36. In 1937, he proceeded to the DPH, University of Toronto, and then worked in various parts of Ontario.

In 1940 he became Director of Field Training, University of Toronto, and Medical Officer of Health of East York. In 1943-45 he was an RCAF Medical Officer retiring as Squadron Leader, after which he returned to his faculty and M.O.H. position in East York. In 1947, he became Director of the East York-Leaside Health Unit, the first demonstration health unit in Canada. Scores of public health authorities from more than 30 countries visited this Health Unit during the period from 1940 to 1971.

For more than 30 years, Dr. Mosley taught physicians and other health professionals from Canada and many developing countries. Many overseas students requested field work in the Health Unit. In 1941 he was appointed Associate Professor and in 1951 he became Professor of Public Health Administration. In 1949 he became a Diplomate of the American Board of Preventive Medicine, and in 1951 he received the Certificate of the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada. In 1964 he co-authored the report of a study for the Royal Commission on Health Services on "Organized Community Health Services".

He greatly influenced the development of the Canadian Public Health Association, serving as honorary treasurer for 14 years and as honorary secretary for two years. Until 1969 he chaired, or served as a member on, many of the Association's committees. His leadership in the development of public health inspection, as Chairman of the Board of Certification of Public Health Inspection, shaped the preparation and roles of Canadian public health inspectors until 1969. He was given Honorary Membership in the Canadian Public Health Association after his retirement.

Throughout his medical and academic careers he was very active in the Anglican Church of Canada. In 1963 he was ordained a Deacon and was still very involved in St. Luke's Church, Coxwell and Cosburn Avenues, East York, at the time of his death.

He is survived by his wife, Rozy, and a sister, Mrs. L.D. McCaw of Welland, Ontario.

January/February 1983 65



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Stair Walking ... a Few Steps to Better Health