Counsellor Haidee puts out the call to all stair avoiders! Making them a part of your day might be more valuable to your health than you think.

I’ve been working at the City Campus for a year now. Early in the year I made a lifestyle tweak – I decided to get around the campus by taking the stairs, rather than using the escalator or the lifts. It has become a habit – something I do automatically. Do my legs get tired?  Yes. Do I get puffed out?  Yes. Will I keep doing it?  Yes!

Not all of us have the time or inclination to work out every day. Many of us don’t like exercising, and there is a perfectly logical reason for this. Michael Easter, best-selling author of The Comfort Crisis, argues that our bodies have evolved to feel discomfort when we exert ourselves, because our ancestors needed to conserve energy whenever possible. Energy from food was scarce, and it never made sense to move any more than we had to. Burning lungs and muscles, heavy breathing, and a thumping heart would dissuade us from wasting our energy. We evolved to be lazy whenever we had the option, and this made sense for millions of years.

But scientists estimate that our ancestors were more than 14 times physically active than we are today. Early humans walked and ran across long distances, often carrying heavy loads, while hunting and gathering food. Now we are sedentary for most of the day, and as a result we are getting sick with all the things that are likely to kill us: heart disease, certain cancers, stroke, Alzheimer’s disease, type 2 diabetes, and depression. One analysis estimated that the combined effects of being unfit can take 23 years off our lives [i]

Given that we know that exercise is the best thing we can do for our health, one of the easiest ways to get more exercise into your day is to take the stairs. And you may think that this won’t make much of a difference to your health, but the research suggests otherwise. Several recent studies have shown that the simple act of taking the stairs – and not even that many stairs – can significantly improve your health and longevity. The latest is an analysis of nine studies that included nearly half a million people and found that climbing stairs is linked to a 39% lower likelihood of death from cardiovascular disease, which includes heart attacks and strokes, and a 24% lower risk of early death from any cause.[ii] Even if you already have an exercise routine, moving more throughout the day further reduces your risk of pretty much every bad outcome.

And what percentage of people take the stairs when they also have the option of taking an escalator? 2 percent.[iii]

Now for your challenge. Train yourself to be a 2-percenter. Live better and longer. Take the stairs every time!

[i] Michael Easter, Be a 2-Percenter, Waking Up app

[ii] Sean Hyson, Step Up to Better Health: The Case for Taking the Stairs (WebMD, 28 May 2024)

[iii] Michael Easter, Be a 2-Percenter (6 January 2023)