There’s no doubt that stair-climbing workouts are an extremely effective way to burn calories. According to the 2011 Compendium on Physical Activities, stair climbing expends approximately 9.0 METs. (A MET, Metabolic Equivalent, is a unit of measuring energy output from physical activity; 1 MET = 1 calorie/kilogram (of bodyweight) per hour and is the amount of energy expended while sitting at rest.) Walking at a comfortable pace is approximately 3.3 METs, which means that running stairs can burn about three times the number of calories as going for a walk for the same amount of time.

If you’re looking for a fun and challenging way to kick your workout up a notch, try this stair-climbing workout, which can be done indoors or outside. In many parts of the country it’s been a long, cold winter, but as the weather warms up, it’s always nice to step out of the gym and exercise in the fresh air and sunshine.

The length, height and steepness of the stairs will influence the level of difficulty. When starting out, use a set of stairs that takes about 10 to 30 seconds to run up. From there, you can increase the distance or number of repetitions to increase the intensity of your workout.

Warm-up:

3-5 minutes of toe-taps, jumps and light stair running

Workout:

Run every step up, walk down – repeat 5-8 times

Run every other step up, walk down – repeat 3-5 times

Run laterally every step, walk down – repeat 3-5 times each side

Run steps in a crossover pattern (right leg in front of left) – repeat 3-5 times each side

Cool down:

Stretch calves, hips and quadriceps