If you think bone strength will be your holy grail to movement in the older ages, then a recent study is about to open your eyes for good. Evelien Van Roie, an assistant professor at Hasselt University, conducted a study in which they randomly assigned 46 adults between the ages of 65 and 80 to either do a leg-press machine workout or climb two sets of stairs a few times twice a week for 12 weeks.
As we age, we start to lose not only muscle strength but also power. And muscle power — someone’s ability to quickly make use of their strength — is crucial for older adults to catch themselves when they trip, said Roie, the lead study author.
“If you’re not able to move fast, even if you’re strong, you will still fall down,” she said. “This is something we really need to train. And the results show stair climbing could be an accessible, at-home way for older adults to build muscle power,” she added.

The climbing stairs workout

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As a part of the study, twice a week the participants exercised at the university lab for 35 minutes. They began with a 10-minute warmup on a stationary bike followed by two upper-body exercises- chest press and low row, on weightlifting machines.
Then, the participants were divided into two random groups. One would do a leg-press machine workout and the other half a stair-climbing exercise. The stair-climbing group began with four sets of step-ups on a box 30 or 40 cm high, alternating two sets per leg to induce muscle fatigue and build strength. Here, participants moved at a slow pace taking two seconds to step up and another two to step down.
During week five, they climbed up two flights of six stairs each with a landing in between and rested for 45 seconds, which included the time it took to walk down the stairs. They performed the sequence four times and were not allowed to skip steps or use handrail. By the end of the study, the stair-climbing participants were donning weighted vests as they climbed the steps.
As for the leg-press workouts, the participants did four sets of 12-15 repetitions, alternating two sets per leg on a pneumatic leg-press machine which relies on pressurized air to create resistance. At four weeks the researchers asked the participants to push as fast as possible.

The shocking results

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Both groups experienced a gain in muscle power, improvements in walking speed and time required to stand up from a chair. As per Roie, the results show “you don’t need a fancy gym” to build strength. Simple, consistent and progressively challenging exercises will lead to results, she added.

Do try this at home

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Roie advises climbing the stairs at a slow and steady pace before gradually increasing the speed. Immediate fast movements can lead to injuries and thus must be avoided. Also, use the handrail for support and not strength to pull yourself upwards. If that’s the case then step-up or sit-to-stand exercises might be better.