Is climbing stairs good exercise?

Shelga

I'm going to join my local gym in the new year for regular, varied exercise. In the meantime, I was thinking of climbing the stairs in my apartment block for some form of exercise, as it's too cold to go running/walking much.

I live on the 17th floor, and was thinking of climbing this twice a day, so 34 flights?? Question is, is it an efficient form of exercise in terms of calories burned? It must be at least good for the leg muscles, surely :-p Can anyone fill me in?

JJayoo

I think this is a great idea for burning calories. Keep a record of the time it takes and try to progress on it over the weeks. I think the best approach is to use the elevator on your way down. Coming down stairs on tired legs can lead to splattedness :pac:

I used to do this in my younger days with a 6 story building, trying to see how many times I could reach the top in 10 minutes.

Rovi

Check out Tower Running.

There's even a World Cup of this stuff:
http://www.towerrunning.com/index.htm

nice_guy80

a lot of mountain climbers train for expeditions using full packs and tall buildings.
or running up with lighter packs