Climbing Stairs May Improve Heart Health and Help You Live Longer

A new study suggests regular stair climbing can lower the risk of heart disease and death from all causes.
The benefits of exercise are well-known, from better heart health and lower blood pressure to improved mood.
There are many ways to be active on a regular basis, such as taking the stairs. According to the authors of a new study, climbing stairs is associated with improved heart health and longevity.

Climbing stairs promotes heart health, longevity
For this study, researchers conducted a meta-analysis, examining nine studies with 480,479 participants.
Participants included healthy adults ages 35 to 84 and adults with a prior history of heart attack or peripheral arterial disease.

Following the analysis, researchers found that stair climbing was linked to a 24% reduced risk of death from any cause and a 39% lower risk of death from heart disease.
Climbing stairs was also associated with a reduced risk of cardiovascular events, such as heart attack, heart failure, and stroke.
Regular exercise helps prevent heart disease
John Higgins MD, a sports cardiologist at McGovern Medical School at UTHealth in Houston, not involved in the study, told Healthline exercise strengthens the heart muscle and improves vascular function, among other positive effects, such as:
• improved nitric oxide production
• improved vascular endothelial function
• reduced cardiovascular risk factors

Cardiovascular disease affects the heart and blood vessels. Aerobic exercises such as walking, running, biking, and swimming can help strengthen the heart and improve its ability to function.
“Aerobic exercise can help the heart pump blood more efficiently, reducing the risk of heart failure,” Benjamin Boudreaux, PhD, a postdoctoral fellow in Columbia’s Center for Behavioral Cardiovascular Health, told Healthline. Boudreaux was not involved in the study.

“Climbing stairs is a form of aerobic exercise, which provides numerous heart health benefits,” Boudreaux noted.
Regular aerobic exercise helps lower blood pressure over a 24-hour period, which increases flexibility in the blood vessels and reduces the risk of high blood pressure (hypertension), Boudreaux explained.

Exercise also increases levels of “good” HDL cholesterol, he said, which helps reduce “bad” LDL cholesterol and the risk of atherosclerosis, he said.
In addition, Boudreaux noted that exercise helps regulate blood sugar and improve insulin sensitivity, which helps reduce the risk of type 2 diabetes and related blood vessel damage.

How many stairs should you climb each day?
The new study did not make a specific recommendation for stair climbing frequency.
According to experts interviewed for this article, aiming for three to six flights of stairs per day (assuming each flight is 10 to 15 stairs) is a good goal for overall health.

A 2023 study suggests climbing more than five flights of stairs (or 50 stair steps) daily may reduce the risk of cardiovascular diseases, such as stroke, heart attacks, and blood clots.
“When you increase your heart rate through stair climbing, it helps strengthen the heart muscle and makes it more efficient at pumping blood, so the heart works less now to complete its daily mission of pumping blood packed with nutrients and oxygen throughout your body,” Higgins explained.

Tips to climb more stairs
Even if you don’t have stairs in your home, there are plenty of ways to incorporate more stair climbing into your daily life.
For instance, if you work in an office or other type of building with multiple floors, you can take the stairs instead of the elevator.
Other buildings, such as hotels, malls, airports, doctor’s offices, and hospitals, have stairwells that are typically available for public use.
To get the most out of stair climbing, experts recommend picking up the pace to strengthen your cardiorespiratory fitness.