According to longevity experts, the most effective physical exercise when it comes to extending life expectancy and staying fit is an activity we perform each day. Multiple scientific studies confirm this, including one conducted by Gianni Pes, researcher at the Department of Experimental and Clinical Medicine of the University of Sassari. In 1999 the researcher discovered that taking the stairs is good for your health. Going up and down stairs, as well as going up and down steep slopes or hills, is one of the keys to longevity. This is a theme addressed in a chapter in the Netflix Live to 100: Secrets of the Blue Zones, which follows the American writer Dan Buettner in his travels in the areas of the planet where people live the longest, in search of those common characteristics that explain the longevity of their inhabitants.
It’s definitely nothing shocking that going up and down stairs is good for you – after all, we’re still talking about physical activity – but it’s surprising that there is a direct correlation between the steepness of the terrain and longevity. As Pes explains, the inhabitants of one of these Blue Zones, the Barbagia region in Sardinia, exercise without realizing it, having to move up and down the hills every day. After interviewing 300 centenarians living locally, the expert established that the slopes of this region, with their steepness, which involves additional energy expenditure, constitute a factor in longevity. Not to mention that these people climb at least 30 steps a day, given that they live in two or three-story houses.
The 2013 study The Blue Zones: Areas of Exceptional Longevity around the World, carried out by Pes himself in collaboration with two other longevity scientists, Michel Poulain and Anne Herm, confirms that residing in geographical regions where an intense daily physical activity extends life expectancy over 80 years. As Pes stated in an interview with men’s luxury lifestyle magazine Preferred, “my best advice for living longer is simple: love your friends and family and do lots of physical activity outdoors, like climbing the hills of Sardinia.”
Going up and down stairs is one of those exercises that, as personal trainer Sandra Lordén Álvarez explains, increase NEAT, an acronym that shows the amount of calories burned daily through all physical activities that are not directly attributable to sport. “It involves a greater caloric expenditure during the day, which, day after day, becomes the key factor for weight loss,” explains Álvarez.
Patricia Garin, therapist at the Madirid beauty center The Beauty Concept, confirms that carrying out physical activity on a regular basis is an effective weapon against cellulite and that even going up and down the stairs can be helpful, from this point of view. “It is a very simple practice, but it represents an excellent workout for the lower part of the body – legs and buttocks – , as well as a good cardiovascular exercise”, she says.
An important factor in carrying out this simple physical activity is posture. “As with any exercise, controlling your posture guarantees better results”, confirm from the Arsenal Femenino Madrid sports club. “It is necessary to ensure that the core [the abdominal and lumbar muscle complex that guarantees stability and support to the spine during movement] is always active, in order to keep the spine straight, without moving the weight forward, also making sure that the shoulder blades are close together. Furthermore, while going up or down the stairs, it is useful to move your arms vigorously, thus activating the entire muscles of the body.”
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