Brief stair climbing is good for heart health

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New Delhi: According to a new study conducted by researchers, brief stair climbing can have major benefits for heart.

Researchers recruited 31 sedentary but otherwise healthy women and tested the effect of two different protocols, each of which required a 10-minute time commitment, including warm-up, cool down and recovery periods.

The exercise sessions were conducted three times a week over the course of six weeks.

"Stair climbing is a form of exercise anyone can do in their own home, after work or during the lunch hour," said Martin Gibala, professor at McMaster University in Canada.

"This research takes interval training out of the lab and makes it accessible to everyone," said Gibala.

Previous studies have proven the benefits of vigorous stair climbing over sustained periods of time-up to 70 minutes a week - but scientists set out to determine if sprint interval training (SIT), which involves brief bursts of vigorous exercise separated by short periods of recovery, was an effective and time-efficient alternative for improving cardiorespiratory fitness.

(With PTI inputs)