Stairs—Are You Doing Them All Wrong?
Stairs. We all use them. We go up. We go down. End of story.
Or is it?
Strange as it may seem, there’s an efficient and an inefficient way to ascend and descend stairs. One way is mechanically advantageous, and can be used to strengthen our leg muscles, and another way is a lurching/pulling routine on the way up and a somewhat “controlled fall” from step to step on the way down.
Today I am offering a few pointers which will help your staircase from becoming a “flight risk” to your body, haha!
First off, there’s a saying with regards to stair training in the physical therapy world: “Up with the good, and down with the bad.” So, if you have significant leg injury or painful joint, you have no other choice than to step up or down with the same leg, step after step. Going down, if your left knee is severely arthritic and painful, for example, you would reach to the lower step with the left foot so that the majority of the effort is controlled by your sounder, right leg. On the way up, you would lead with your right foot, so once again, your right leg would act as the primary “lifter” of your body up the stairs.
Now, for the rest of you with two good legs—
GOING UP
The key to good stair climbing technique is to use the strength in your quadriceps and gluteus muscles to their best ability. This is accomplished by getting your body weight directly over your lifting legs. Most people stair climb with their trunk straight upright which causes their center of gravity to fall behind their knee joints. Instead, lean forward a bit from the waist as you ascend the stairs (one hand on a rail, if balance is required) and intentionally push down hard into each step as if you were attempting to drive your foot directly through each stair tread. You will feel the power of your legs kick in and your ascension will be accomplished with much less effort.
GOING DOWN
As you descend your staircase, in order to use all four of your quadricep muscles efficiently, make sure your knees are pointing straight ahead (not drifting out to the side). This will protect against wear and tear of your knee joints. Each time you reach for the next lower step with the ball of your foot, be intentional to slow down your lowering speed so that your thigh muscle can remain in control of lowering your body. If you merely initiate your lowering with your quad muscle and then proceed to “fall down” to the next step by letting gravity have its way, over time you will lose more and more strength in your quads. If done properly, you should actually be able to stop and hold, mid-step/mid-air!