Exercise snacks. What are they? The answer may come as a surprise

At the initiative of the non-governmental organisation International Sport and Culture Association, No Elevator Day has been promoted globally for ten years, encouraging physical activity. In Poland, an additional step in encouraging climbing stairs was taken by the STOP OBESITY Partnership for the Prevention and Treatment of Obesity, the initiator of the nationwide social campaign called “Your movement for health,” which promotes physical activity through daily climbing of stairs instead of using the elevator.

According to the “MultiSport Index 2024: Sportcrastination” report, one in three Poles do not undertake any physical activity, including walking or cycling, which affects their health and wellbeing. A sedentary lifestyle is the everyday reality for millions of people today – we work at a computer, we travel everywhere by car, we relax on the couch. We perform more and more tasks in a sitting position, and technology is taking over the movement that was once a natural part of the day.

– Unfortunately, this convenience comes at a price. Lack of daily physical activity is a direct path to overweight and obesity, and consequently to serious health problems such as atherosclerosis, diabetes, cardiovascular diseases and cancer. Interestingly, however, people suffering from obesity who are physically active are healthier than people with a normal body weight but who do not exercise – explains Ilona Ozimek, medical trainer and physiotherapist at Zdrofit fitness clubs.

Physical activity is often associated with intense workouts. Meanwhile, little attention is paid to spontaneous activity, i.e. activity that is not purposeful, structured, has no specific pace or number of repetitions. This type of movement should dominate our daily lives and have a significant impact on daily energy expenditure. Therefore, in addition to planned exercise, it is worth intensifying spontaneous activity. An example of an accessible and simple form of spontaneous activity is climbing stairs.
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Stairs for the heart

Climbing stairs supports the circulatory system and helps prevent cardiovascular diseases, which are still the leading cause of death in the world. The Polish Cardiac Society emphasises that almost twice as many people die in Poland due to these ailments as in other European Union countries.

The results of the “Evaluating the cardiovascular benefits of stair climbing” study presented in 2024 during the European Cardiology Congress show that people who use stairs, compared to those who avoid this activity, have a 39% lower risk of death from cardiovascular disease and an overall lower risk of heart disease, heart attack, heart failure or stroke. The same group of researchers found that climbing stairs reduced the risk of death from any cause by 24%.

– When climbing stairs, many changes occur in the circulatory system that contribute to improved efficiency, including increased heart rate, increased minute volume, and improved blood distribution. As a result, regular and moderate physical activity protects us against numerous diseases, such as heart attack, hypertension or ischemic disease – comments Ilona Ozimek.

Stairs for the body

Based on data from the Central Statistical Office and the National Health Fund, the Supreme Audit Office estimates that 9 million adults in Poland suffer from obesity. According to a report by the World Obesity Federation, by 2035 half of humanity will be overweight or obese. Obesity already affects almost a billion people worldwide.

– The way to love stairs is to treat them as ‘exercise snacks, i.e. short, intense forms of physical activity performed during the day, usually lasting from several dozen seconds to several minutes. Their goal is to break up prolonged sitting, stimulate the body to move and gradually improve fitness and metabolism. Shortly speaking, stairs are a spontaneous activity that breaks up a sedentary lifestyle, which brings metabolic benefits and can improve your overall physical fitness – explains Ilona Ozimek.

Climbing stairs is a physical exercise that contributes to weight loss. The American Council on Physical Exercise estimates that we burn more than twice as many calories climbing stairs as walking. These results are possible because climbing steps engages many muscle groups.

– Climbing stairs is a simple, yet very effective way to improve our fitness and endurance. It primarily engages large muscle groups – buttocks, thighs, calves, but also abdominal and back muscles, which are responsible for posture stabilisation. And because larger muscles need more energy, this type of activity effectively burns calories, even in short bursts – explains Ilona Ozimek.

Are there no stairs in the area? Check out the fitness club

It’s not every day that we encounter traditional stairs on our path. This is where fitness clubs with training stairs come to the rescue. These are specialised machines that faithfully reproduce the movement of climbing steps. Nowadays, they are standard equipment in cardio zones in fitness clubs. They allow to regulate the pace of your workout and adjust the intensity level to the individual needs of the trainee. Some models also offer interval programmes and simulations of different types of hills, making them a great tool for both beginners and advanced users.

– The growing popularity of these devices is particularly visible among people training to improve their fitness and endurance, as well as among those preparing for sports competitions, including obstacle courses. Training stairs are often chosen by people looking for an effective lower body workout with less strain on the joints than in the case of running – explains Magdalena Szwed, Product Development Director at Benefit Systems Fitness Unit responsible for the Zdrofit network. – Many of our clubs also have multi-story layout, and the way to the cardio or strength zone leads... via stairs. You could say that a visit to the club begins with a step… up – she adds.

No Elevators Day is officially one day a year, but its message is worth implementing permanently. Sometimes you won’t be able to complete your planned workout, but it’s hard to ignore all the opportunities for spontaneous activity. Climbing the stairs instead of taking the elevator, going shopping on foot instead of by car, playing with a child, quickly tidying up or even talking on the phone while walking – these are small portions of movement that add up to real physical effort during the day. The more small decisions like these we make, the more we support our health and wellbeing.

^{Zdrofit is a fitness club network owned by Benefit Systems. The clubs promote healthy movement in line with the philosophy that physical activity is available to anyone who wants to take care of their health, regardless of age, body shape or previous achievements. Currently, Polish residents can exercise in 116 Zdrofit clubs. The largest number, as many as 62, are in Warsaw. The remaining ones operate in Tri-City, Szczecin, Kielce, Koszalin, Toruń, Lublin and Elbląg.}

^{Benefit Systems has been operating on the Polish market for over two decades and is one of the leaders in providing non-financial benefits that support employee wellbeing. The company is the creator of the MultiSport Programme, which enables physical activity in sports facilities throughout the country. Its portfolio also includes the MyBenefit cafeteria platform and the MultiLife wellbeing programme. For several years now, the company’s sports offer has been developed on foreign markets, including the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Bulgaria, and Croatia. The Benefit Systems Group also operates fitness clubs (in Poland it is responsible for Fabryka Formy, FitFabric, Fitness Academy, Good Luck, My Fitness Place, Saturn Fitness, StepONE, Total Fitness and Zdrofit networks). An important area of Benefit Systems activities is the promotion of an active lifestyle at every stage of life, which is why the company implements initiatives supporting physical activity of children, adults, and seniors, also as part of the MultiSport Foundation. Since 2018, Benefit Systems has been part of the global B Corp initiative, bringing together companies operating and engaging in solving the most important social problems. More information can be found at benefitsystems.pl/en.}