Don't stare up the steps,
step up the stairs.
step up the stairs.
~ Zig Ziglar
I've always loved that quote *Ü*
I've had my Fitbit for a few years. I started with the original Ultra, then upgraded to the ONE about a year ago. There were a few new features, but an interesting addition was the ability for the Fitbit to now track changes in elevation.
It was about eight years ago that I changed from being an overweight, stationary couch potato, to an active and fit individual. I do find ... I take the stairs a LOT more often now.
When visiting the doctor or dentist, I've found that taking the stairs will often actually get me to the top faster than waiting for the elevator (I'm usually only in a building with only a few floors. Often the kidlets will race me, I take the stairs, they take the elevator). When we went to Disneyland a few years ago and our room was on the 10th floor ... yes, I went ahead and took the elevator *Ü* (although in truth, my little boy and I DID take the stairs a few times, as elevators were one of his many phobias ... one he managed to overcome during that trip!)
I'm a homebody, so I don't come across stairs that often. We live in a rambler. So the main rooms are all on one floor. My gym IS in the basement though, and I do hit it a number of times a day. The default goal is 10 flights of stairs in a day. I have left that as my goal and I almost always hit it. Many days I get more. Here's a look at my stairs from the past thirty days.
The one spike, was my big Monday last week. I DID do some extra stairs that day. Up and down at home, and actually running the stairs a few times at the gym during the basketball practice. But ... I don't know if I was actually that high. It was a weird weather day, lots of wind ... and unfortunately changes in air pressure can mess with the altimeter readings. Customers have also mentioned that driving (and the ups and downs there) can skew the stairs results. Fitbit does not credit extra calories for stairs; so an incorrect stair reading won't affect your daily burn ... the stair count is mainly there for motivation and fun.
My 14-year old son spent the day at the university for a basketball tournament last spring. As they waited between games, he and his buddies ran the bleachers. When he got home exhausted that night, he was at 89 flights of stairs ... similar to me and my 40K Day, he wanted to earn a new Fitbit badge. He ran up and down the stairs in our home until he hit 100. He's only been challenged by Grandpa, who wears his Fitbit on long hikes up the mountain (Grandpa has also hit 100 flights of stairs in a day). I'm not sure if I'm quite up to that challenge. I have heard there are actually "elevation" races that take place in office buildings! My brother also runs "mountain challenges" ... but I'm probably just going to stick with the stairs in my home.
It does make a difference here at home though. In the past ... I'd gather items that needed to go downstairs and lay them at the top of the stairs. When there were enough items in the pile, I'd make the trek (or tell the kidlets to do it). Now ... if something needs to go downstairs, I take it. I don't wait, I just do it. More steps on my pedometer. Another flight of stairs for me. At one point, I'd even sort the boy's laundry upstairs, and then take multiple trips to put things away, rather than just taking the basket down the stairs in one trip.
If you make it fun ... you're more likely to do it.
That was the theory behind and experiment done a while back.
Have you seen this video?
It is worth watching!
