Take The Stairs!

   An easy way to get your daily exercise is by taking the stairs rather than the escalator or elevator. I think Fit-Bits have helped in this respect, as people are anxious to get their "floors climbed' number and total step number up each day.
   It's amazing when taking a train to New York City, for example, how many steps you can get in. Up the train platform (two at a time, if your knees can handle!). Again up the stairs in the labyrinth of Penn Station. If you're going to a baseball game, ascending and descending the stairs at Citi Field or Yankee Stadium, as well. It can almost even out the effects of the ballpark food and drinks!
    A recent column in the Star-Ledger entitled "Dementia Defensive" by Tony Dearing addressed the mind-body benefits of stair-climbing for seniors. Citing a study by research scientist Jason Steffener of Concordia University in Montreal, it said that for every flight of stairs you go up or down regularly, you reduce your brain age by half-a-year. I'd certainly take that!
    According to the article, climbing stairs burns two to three times as many calories as walking on a level surface. Walking just two flights of stairs a day can help you lose six pounds over the course of a year. It also builds bone density, particularly important to seniors, and leg strength, which is associated with good health and improved brain function in older adults.
   I always notice how few people go up the stairs in public places, and realize there are some extenuating circumstances: deteriorating hips or knees; sore lower backs; pregnancy; perceived lack of time, or even a safety issue of going up a secluded stairway in a hotel or office.
    However, regular activity helps stave off some of those physical ailments I mentioned, and the time difference in stairs or an escalator is negligible; much less waiting for an elevator to go up a flight or two!
     Stairs can be strenuous, the Concordia study found it to be twice as energy consuming than regular walking, and even more physically challenging than weight-lifting.
     However, it's accessible for anyone, and lets time-crunched office workers or moms get in their daily exercise in small, beneficial doses.  It helps the body and the brain - and adds numbers to your daily Fit Bit total - what could be wrong!