Comparison between stair climbing and 1 mile walking in relation to cardiorespiratory fitness among sedentary adults

Abstract

Background: The worldwide epidemic of physical inactivity is rising significantly and the main cause is a sedentary lifestyle. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of stair climbing and 1 mile walking in relation to cardiorespiratory response and to estimate the VO2max and Physical Fitness Index (PFI). Methods: PAR-Q and IPAQ were used to assess the level of physical activity and sedentary status of participants. 37 participants were initially assessed for their maximal oxygen uptake (VO2 max) and physical fitness index (PFI) using modified Harvard step test after randomly assigning them into 3 groups. Only 34 participants completed the study; 12 Full stair climbing, 11 half stair climbing, and 11 one mile walking. Full stair climbing group ascended 7 stories of 154 steps, each step 17.5cm in height (vertical distance =27m), whereas half stair climbing group ascended 3.5 stories of 77 steps (vertical distance =13.5m) and 1-mile walk group walked for 1 mile on the treadmill without any inclination. VO2max, PFI, heart rate recovery and rate of perceived exertion were measured at baseline and at the end of week 4. Results: Repeated measures 2 way ANOVA was used to find the differences between 3 groups. Full stair climbing group showed an increase in VO2 max and 1-mile walking group exhibited improvement in HRR. Conclusion: 1-mile walking group and full stair climbing groups exhibited improvement in cardiorespiratory fitness. Full stair climbing group took less than 2 minutes and 1-mile walking group took 11 to 14 minutes to complete the exercise, hence one can opt to perform either stair climbing or walking depending on their preference to improve cardiorespiratory fitness.