Take the stairs to tone legs, butt

Looking for a way to get your body summer-ready, fast? Find a flight of stairs and start climbing.

Fitness First regional fitness manager Stuart Greaves said stair running was fantastic for both muscle toning and cardio.

"Stair running is a great way to shape and tone the legs and backside," Mr Greaves said.

"The reason that stair climbing is such a great form of exercise is that it provides a great cardio work-out as well as a resistance work-out, as the legs have to push the body's weight upwards against gravity."

Because the large prime-mover muscles in the legs needed to work at their peak to force the body upwards, the heart worked overtime in stair running, making it great for cardio and fat burning, he said.

"Stair running is a fantastic cardio work-out and gets the heart rate elevated within minutes of starting," Mr Greaves said.

"It can work both the aerobic and anaerobic systems depending on the type of climb (fast run or slow step) and the burn can be felt in the lungs, the legs or even both."

For safety, Mr Greaves said people should always use a heart-rate monitor during stair running and to stay at or below their maximum heart rate (220 minus their age).

"Also, always use the arms in a natural swing action, as in running," he said. "The arms make the legs work more effectively."

Dynamic Lifestyle personal trainer Bjorn Voon said stair climbers should also focus on keeping the lower abdominals engaged and their spine upright, and should team stair work-outs with another exercise.

"Stair running must be coupled with another exercise solely to tone up the posterior muscles like the hamstrings and because stair climbing can further promote a forward flexion that many of us spend our time in, such as in a chair slouched over a computer," he said.

"The pelvic curl is a good exercise to balance out the stair climb."

Be careful going down. "The descent of stair climbing can be very damaging to knees," Mr Voon said.

"Coming down narrow stairs forces the stepper to go toe first and knees out, which causes a large amount of bodyweight to travel through the knee joint instead of loading up on the quadriceps and gluteals."

This could cause knee irritation or pain. "Descent should be at walking pace."