Wikibooks:Exercise as it relates to Disease/Stairclimbing, is it enough for fitness and health in young, inactive women?

Stairclimbing, is it enough for fitness and health in young, inactive women?
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Where is the research from?

This research1 was done by the University of Ulster and The Queen’s University of Belfast in Northern Ireland and was published in the British Journal of Medicine in 2005.

What kind of research was this?

The research was an exercise trial, with the participants randomly allocated into two groups – a control group that didn’t change their sedentary habits and the active group that did the stair climbing program. This type of study is called a ‘randomised’, ‘controlled’ exercise ‘trial’.

What did the research involve?

Fifteen young (average 18 years old) healthy but sedentary women were involved in the study. The eight women in the active group undertook an eight week stair climbing exercise program, five days per week. Each set of stair climbing was a flight of 199 steps (33m vertical displacement). They started with doing two sets per day and this was increased every two weeks (by one set). By week seven and eight they were doing five sets per day (995 steps and 164 m vertical). The stair climbing could be done any time during the day (with each set taking about 2 minutes), and each set of stair climbing was separated by at least one hour. They climbed at a “comfortable but brisk rate’’1 (90 steps per minute), and descended at whatever rate they wanted. The participant’s fitness and a number of health indicators (see table 1) were measure before and after the trial. And the results for the control and the active groups were compared to determine how effective the stair climbing was.

What were the basic results?

The stair climbing resulted in a significant increase in fitness and reduction in bad cholesterol. Fitness was measured using VO2 (max) which is the gold standard for measuring aerobic or cardiorespiratory fitness and this increased by 17%. The bad cholesterol, Low Density Lipoprotein (LDL-C) decrease by 7.7%. A number of other health indicator were measured, but there was no significant change in these. Table 1: Summary of results of stair climbing trial

Parameter Pre exercise Post Exercise improvement Control Group Stair climbers Stair Climbers Statistically significant improvement VO2 (max) (ml/kg/min) 30 26.3 + 4.5 YES LDL–C (mmol/l) 2.19 2.15 - 0.17 YES Other parameters# NO

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1. Other parameters measured that did not change significantly with the stair climbing included: Body Mass Index (BMI), Total Cholesterol, Triglycerides (fats), and good cholesterol (High Density Lipoprotein).

How did the researchers interpret the results?

Sedentary young women can increase their cardiorespiratory fitness and reduce their cardiovascular risk factors by undertaking as little as 11 minutes of exercise in short sets of stair climbing throughout the day. The increase in fitness should lesson their risk or death 20%.

What conclusions should be taken away from this message?

Stair climbing is easy for most young women to include in their day whether they are at work, studying or on their days off. There is no cost and stairs are usually easily accessible. Stair climbing should be promoted as an effective and efficient way to exercise and achieve better cardiorespiratory fitness and decrease ones cardiovascular risk.

What are the implications of this research?

The research suggests that stair climbing was effective with only a small period of exercise because of the intensity of the exercise

References

1 Boreham CAG, Kennedy RA, Murphy MH, Tully M Wallace WFM, Young I, Training effects of short bouts of stair climbing on cardiorespiratory fitness, blood lipids, and homocynsteine in sedentary young women. Br J Sports Med 2005; 39;509-593.