The lift is here! No, thanks. I’ll take the stairs.

For nine years, on the initiative of the non-governmental organisation called International Sport and Culture Association, we have been celebrating No Elevators Day on the last Wednesday of April. It is a global event aimed at emphasising the impact of physical activity on our physical and mental condition. At the same time, the organisers suggest how to “smuggle” exercise into your daily routine.

Lack of regular physical activity has undeniably a negative impact on our health. It leads to overweight and obesity, which in turn leads to other diseases. The World Health Organisation reports that in 2022 as many as 2.5 billion adults were overweight, including 890 million who were obese. The number of people in the world struggling with excess weight has increased by 18% in 30 years.[1]

– We, modern people, have become a sedentary society. We sit on the way to work, at work and after returning from work. I often observe that physical activity of my patients with numerous health and mobility problems is limited to approximately 800 steps a day. This means virtually no activity – says Dr. Andrzej Kępczyński, physiotherapy advisor at Zdrofit clubs. – On the other hand, I have patients who work out 2-3 times a week, but completely skip spontaneous activity, which often results in degenerative problems. Spontaneous activity is the most natural type of exercise and is necessary for a healthy life, so it is worth including it in our everyday life and treating it as an important complement to planned workouts – he adds.

Stairs instead of lift

Spontaneous activity is any type of movement during the day that is not associated with training. One of them is the underestimated climbing the stairs. Meanwhile, it is one of the ways to prevent cardiovascular diseases, burn a significant number of calories and work on the muscles of the lower parts of the body. At the same time, it is easily accessible and does not require preparation.

Cardiovascular diseases, including heart attack and stroke, are the leading cause of death and disability worldwide. According to the research[2] conducted in Great Britain, walking more than 50 stairs every day (which usually corresponds to climbing the fifth floor) translates into a 20% reduction in the risk of atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease. At the same time, permanently replacing the lift with the stairs may have a positive impact on the fat and lipid profile, blood glucose level and blood pressure.

Climbing the stairs is also a great way to burn excess calories. During this activity, we expend up to three times more calories than walking on flat ground.[3] For example, a quarter of an hour spent climbing the stairs (between floors at work, on the way home, in the underground, at the train station, in the shopping centre) results in burning about 250 kcal. For comparison, a 15-minute walk at a speed of 5 km per hour is an energy expenditure of approximately 70 kcal.

– When climbing stairs, we engage all important muscles. The muscles of the lower parts of the body work particularly intensively, because when we put our foot on a step, we have to raise it higher than when walking or running. As a result, the gluteal muscle lengthens and then shortens when we rest our leg on the step. We also engage the thigh and calf muscles. If we also add arm swings, as during walking, the shoulder joint will also start working – explains Dr. Andrzej Kępczyński.

Let’s move spontaneously

Stairs instead of the lift are just one of our choices that can have a positive impact on our health. We often underestimate the importance of simple activities that are not time-consuming and can be done at home, at work or on the way to work.

– “Exercise can replace almost any medicine, but all medicines together will not replace exercise”, Wojciech Oczko, court physician to Polish kings in the 16th century, used to say. There is really no pill that will cure our motor negligence – says Dr. Andrzej Kępczyński. – My recipe for everyone, both for people who do not exercise much and for those who work out regularly, is to recognise the benefits of spontaneous activity and include it in their daily routine. Let’s start with the simplest and most natural activity – walking – supplementing it over time with planned training – he adds.

Any excuse to give up the car or public transport in favour of walking is a good idea. It is worth going shopping on foot and at the same time giving up the trolley in favour of a basket in the shop. Thanks to this, we engage the muscles not only of the lower but also the upper parts of the body. On your way to work, you can get off the bus or tram three stops earlier. Perhaps, after reviewing the daily schedule, it will turn out that it will be possible to walk or ride a bike to kindergarten or school twice a week.

We can also find opportunities to exercise in the office. Instead of taking the lift, let’s take the stairs, get up from the desk regularly. Even when reaching for documents, don’t use a chair on wheels to get them, just stand up and take a few steps, or walk while talking on the phone. Let’s not use the nearest printer or waste bin, but let’s print a document or take out the garbage as an excuse for a short walk.

Numerous professional and non-professional responsibilities make us willingly reach for solutions and tools that relieve us of housework. However, it is worth looking for a balance and dividing the tasks into those that can be performed by a self-cleaning vacuum cleaner, dishwasher or food processor and those that we will regularly perform ourselves. Sweeping the apartment with a brush, peeling and cutting food for dinner or washing a few dishes by hand means additional calories burned and the work of muscles and joints that remain inactive while sitting at a desk or driving a car.

^{[1] Obesity and overweight; https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/obesity-and-overweight}

^{[2] Zimin Song, Wenxiu Wang, Yueying Li, Yimin Zhao, Zhenhuang Zhuang, Xue Dong, Wendi Xiao, Ninghao Huang, Ming Xu, Robert Clarke, Lu Qi, Tao Huang; Daily stair climbing, disease susceptibility, and risk of atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease: A prospective cohort study; https://www.atherosclerosis-journal.com/article/S0021-9150(23)05221-8/fulltext}

^{[3] Matthew Solan; Master the stairs; https://www.health.harvard.edu/staying-healthy/master-the-stairs}

^{Zdrofit is a network of fitness clubs owned by Benefit Systems. The clubs promote healthy exercise in accordance with the philosophy that physical activity is available to everyone who wants to take care of their health, regardless of age, body shape and previous achievements. Currently, Polish residents can exercise in one hundred Zdrofit clubs. Most of them (58) are located in Warsaw, while others operate in Tricity, Szczecin, Kielce, Koszalin, and Toruń.}

^{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 well-being. 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 operates over 240 fitness clubs on four markets (in Poland it is responsible for the Zdrofit, Fitness Academy, My Fitness Place, Fabryka Formy, StepONE, Total Fitness, FitFabric and Saturn Fitness 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.}