We added stairs this week to two normal workout lift/PT workouts. The stairs added both a cardio and muscle endurance/stability effect to the day. Check it out, and when you want to push yourself a little harder, just add stairs.
Upper-body workout: Easy push-up pyramid warmup 1-10: Equals 55 total push-ups: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10 -- with a short 25-meter jog in between.
Repeat 5 times
Bench press -- 5 (heavy) or do 20 TRX atomic push-ups
Pull-ups/pulldowns mix -- total of 20 reps (Combine the two to get 20 reps. If you can do 20 pull-ups, you are done. Mix it with 10/10, 15/5, etc. It's up to you.)
Stair crawls -- Bear crawl down a flight of stairs head first -- backwards bear crawl up a flight of stairs feet first. (Or bear crawl 50 meters if no stairs.)
Repeat 5 times
Heavy rows 10
Biceps curl/military press 10
Hanging knees 10-15
or abs of choice 1 minute
After the lift/PT/crawl, then get your choice of cardio. We did the following:
Run 20 minutes -- first 10 minutes fast/last 10 minutes easy -- and swim 20 minutes for max distance.
The other way to add stair climbing is on leg day. We try to "rest" between squat and deadlift sets with farmer walks up/down a flight of stairs (or step-ups) for two minutes. The stair-step machine is fine, too.
Try this specifically:
After any leg circuit or heavy set, grab a moderately heavy dumbbell or weight in one hand. Walk up and down a flight of steps, stair-stepper machine or do step-ups onto a bench if you do not have either available for 1-2 minutes.
Work on balance and core stability by walking straight and upright throughout the farmer walk/carry process. You will find that this “rest” will degrade your next lift a little, especially if you are working on heavy weighst with maximum effort lifts for 1-5 repetitions.
Depending on your goal, you can take out the lift portion altogether, mix in a set of running or biking and calisthenics legs like lunges and squats -- then do the stair walks with weight in hand or just run up and down a flight of stairs for a few minutes to top off any leg day.
However, if you want the ultimate spec-ops level topping off a leg day, either put on a ruck and walk/shuffle for 30-45 minutes or swim with fins for 1,500-2,000 meters. That is how to top off a leg day, especially if you are preparing for a military or police SWAT selection-type program that requires load-bearing walks/runs and long-distance swimming with gear.
Stew Smith is a former Navy SEAL and fitness author certified as a Strength and Conditioning Specialist (CSCS) with the National Strength and Conditioning Association. Visit his Fitness eBook store if you’re looking to start a workout program to create a healthy lifestyle. Send your fitness questions to stew@stewsmith.com.
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