Movement tracking studies show even tiny, regular bursts of effort — as short as 30 seconds — can capture many of the health benefits of the gym. Climbing two to three flights of stairs a few times per day could change your life. Experts call it VILPA, or vigorous intermittent lifestyle physical activity.
“The message now is that all activity counts,” said Martin Gibala, a professor and chair of the kinesiology department at McMaster University in Canada. And perhaps nothing’s better than stairs.
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The villagers of Sardinia, a rugged part of Italy, stand out. A typical octogenarian engages in daily physical activity equivalent to climbing many flights of stairs. When researchers looked at what was behind Sardinians’ extraordinary longevity, three factors — terrain slope, distance to workplace and working as a shepherd (who often climb more than 1,000 feet per day) — were most strongly correlated with longer lives. In some regions, the global pattern of men dying earlier than women was virtually absent.
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Over the past decade, studies have shown the potency of going up and down stairs each day to boost your health. It doesn’t take much. Just taking the stairs daily is associated with lower body weight and cutting the risk of stroke and heart disease — the leading (and largely preventable) cause of death globally. While it may not burn many calories (most exercise doesn’t), it does appear to extend your health span. Leg power — a measure of explosive muscle strength — was a stronger predictor of brain aging than any lifestyle factors measured in a 2015 study in the journal Gerontology.
Subsequent studies put a finer point on it: Just nine to 10 brief bouts of vigorous activity per day — averaging 30 to 45 seconds each — lowered the risk of dying by about 40 percent in non-exercisers, according to a 2022 study in Britain. Benefits increased as people exercised longer, but most of the risk reduction occurred during the first few minutes of daily activity.
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Four minutes daily. Essentially a few flights of stairs at a vigorous pace. That’s the effort Stamatakis found delivered significant health benefits in that 2022 study of British non-exercisers.
“We saw benefits from the first minute,” Stamatakis said.
For Americans, the effect is even more dramatic: a 44 percent drop in deaths, according to a peer-reviewed paper recently accepted for publication.
“We showed for the first time that vigorous intensity, even if it’s done as part of the day-to-day routine, not in a planned and structured manner, works miracles,” Stamatakis said. “The key principle here is start with one, two minutes a day. The focus should be on making sure that it’s something that you can incorporate into your daily routine. Then you can start thinking about increasing the dose.”
Intensity is the most important factor. You won’t break a sweat in a brief burst, but you do need to feel it. A highly conditioned athlete might need to sprint to reach vigorous territory. But many people only need to take the stairs. Use your breathing as a guide, Stamatakis said: If you can sing, it’s light intensity. If you can speak but not sing, you’re entering moderate exertion. If you can’t hold a conversation, it’s vigorous.