Key result
Brief vigorous stair climbing improves VO2peak by ~10% and reduces body weight versus control.
Why the study?
The study evaluated the effect of 4 weeks of brief vigorous stair climbing exercise on cardiorespiratory fitness and body composition in overweight or obese women.
Does a 4-week brief vigorous stair climbing exercise program improve cardiorespiratory fitness and body composition in overweight or obese women?
RCT (n=26)
Open-label
Drawing lots
No
Does a 4-week brief vigorous stair climbing exercise program improve cardiorespiratory fitness and body composition in overweight or obese women?
Absolute Event Rate: 34.9% vs 29%
p-value: p=<0.01
Short bouts of vigorous stair climbing over 4 weeks significantly improve cardiorespiratory fitness and body composition in overweight or obese women.
Brief stair climbing may aid CRF and body composition in overweight women; hypothesis-generating pilot data requiring larger trials.
Background: This study examined the effect of 4 weeks of a brief vigorous stair climbing exercise on cardiorespiratory fitness (CRF) and body composition in overweight or obese women.Methods: Twenty-six participants (age, 25.4±4.9years; body mass index [BMI], 25.3±1.8kg/m 2 ) were randomly assigned to either a stair climbing exercise group (n=13) or a nonexercising control group (n=13).The stair climbing exercise group performed 20 sessions (supervised, five sessions/week over 4 weeks) of brief intermittent stair climbing exercise consisting of a 3-minute warm-up followed by three bouts of 20 seconds of stair climbing (≥80% of age-predicted maximum heart rate) interspersed with 2-minute recovery periods (total exercise duration=10 minutes/session).Peak oxygen uptake (VO2peak) was measured using a graded maximal treadmill test with the use of a standard open-circuit spirometry technique.Body composition was assessed with bioelectrical impedance analysis.Results: All participants except one, who left the study due to coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) infection, completed the study with 100% attendance rates.There were significant interaction effects (group X time) on body weight, BMI, waist circumference, and CRF such that the stair climbing exercise group had significant (P≤0.01)reductions in body weight (66.5±4.6 to 65.2±4.6 kg), BMI (24.8±1.2 to 24.4±1.1 kg/m 2 ), and waist circumference (78.0±3.7 to 76.5±4.1 cm) and improvements in VO2peak (31.6±2.5 to 34.9±2.6 mL/kg/min) compared with controls.Conclusion: Short bouts of vigorous stair climbing is a feasible and time-efficient exercise strategy for improving CRF in previously sedentary, overweight, or obese young women.
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Yun et al. (2023) conducted an RCT in Overweight and obesity (n=26). Brief vigorous stair climbing exercise vs. Non-exercising control was evaluated on Cardiorespiratory fitness (VO2peak) (p=<0.01). Four weeks of brief vigorous stair climbing significantly improved peak oxygen uptake by 10% and reduced body weight, BMI, and waist circumference compared to a non-exercising control group.
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