Is climbing stairs bad or good for your knees?

The complex network of bones, ligaments, tendons, and muscles in the knee joint is vulnerable to injury. Knee pain can stem from a variety of problems, from sports injuries to arthritis and gout. And when you have knee arthritis or a torn knee ligament, climbing stairs, walking, and even standing can be painful.

Strengthening your knees is one way to prevent knee problems and treat any knee conditions you have. One simple exercise you can do is climbing stairs.

Benefits of climbing stairs

According toHealthlineStrengthening the muscles around your knee will reduce stress on the joint. These muscles include the quadriceps in the front of your thigh and the hamstrings in the back of your thigh. Both of these large muscle groups are exercised when you climb stairs. Your own weight is enough to make climbing stairs a challenge.

Stair climbing also indirectly benefits your knees by helping you control your weight. Just walking up the stairs for 5 minutes can burn about 45 calories. If you do it 5 times a week, that’s 225 calories.

Do it 50 weeks a year and you can burn 11,250 calories. Just take a few stairs most days of the year and you can lose more than 1.4kg.

Similarly, according toVerywell Health, climbing stairs helps burn more calories. Studies have shown that climbing stairs, considered a vigorous physical activity, burns more calories per minute than jogging at a slow pace.

You burn calories not only going up, but also going down stairs. It is estimated that the average person will burn at least 0.1 calories per step climbed (at least 1 calorie for every 10 steps climbed) and 0.05 calories per step descended (1 calorie for every 20 steps descended).

Additionally, climbing stairs reduces the risk of stroke. According to the results of the Harvard Alumni Health Study, which involved more than 11,000 men, physical activity such as climbing stairs can reduce the risk of stroke.

Stair climbing also improves cardiovascular health. Because it is a vigorous form of exercise, stair climbing improves cardiovascular health.

Decades of research have shown that regular exercise improves heart health and can help prevent heart disease. Research also shows that regular exercise can increase healthy life expectancy by up to 7 years.

Climbing stairs strengthens your muscles. Climbing stairs requires you to activate all the muscles in your legs, abs, back… plus you move. All of this helps you have a strong musculoskeletal system.

And since using skeletal muscle boosts metabolism, that can lead to more calories burned and more weight loss in the long run as lean muscle mass increases and muscle tone improves.

Research has shown that using skeletal muscle also has a significant effect on improving blood sugar levels, which has implications for preventing and controlling diabetes. Additionally, improving overall musculoskeletal health can help reduce arthritis pain, which tends to affect people who are obese.

Stair climbing is also an easy way to combat a sedentary lifestyle. Numerous studies have shown that sedentary lifestyles are all too common in today's world and are a major contributor to the global obesity epidemic.

Taking the stairs whenever possible is a quick and easy way to break out of that sedentary lifestyle and increase physical activity in your daily life. The stairs are often right in front of you, so taking the stairs can be a lot easier than going to the gym or sports field.

Why do you have knee pain when climbing stairs?

According toDesign for Fitness, many of us have probably experienced the discomfort of going up and down stairs or steep hills.

When you go up, you may tend to let your knee stick out in front of you and almost only use the muscles around your knee. Our knee is a very vulnerable joint because of the way it is designed. In other words, it needs all the help it can get.

So, when you go up, it can be very helpful to engage more of your body, especially your glutes and core. Specifically, you focus on using your backside to create the thrust, supported by core activation. Training your legs, glutes and core is important to protect your knees.

Protecting your knees when they collapse (when going down stairs) is more difficult for two reasons. First, it is almost impossible to keep your knees pronated, which is a vulnerable position.

Second, when going downhill, you have to rely on eccentric contraction. This means that you are essentially braking the movement as your muscles lengthen. Even though your muscles are pretty good at this and can generate quite a bit of force, it is still hard on them. They are more likely to break, tear, and not be able to protect aging knees.

So, climbing stairs is good, just be mindful of using your glutes, core, and legs.

Need professional guidance

For many people, stair climbing is one of the safest and easiest exercises. But if you want to make stair climbing a formal part of your knee rehabilitation program, you should talk to a rehabilitation specialist or trainer.

Ask them how many steps you should climb during your workout. If you overdo it, you may find yourself making your knee pain worse.

As you embark on your stair-climbing routine, know what to look for. Talk to your doctor or trainer about signs that you’re straining your joints. A little soreness from a good muscle workout is probably okay, but sharp pain can signal other problems and should be a sign to stop exercising.

If you have a heart or respiratory condition, climbing stairs can be especially difficult. If you currently have difficulty breathing or a rapid heartbeat when climbing stairs, talk to your doctor. These symptoms should not be ignored.

For example, if you have coronary artery disease and climbing stairs is part of your exercise regimen, pay attention to how your body responds to each workout.

Some things to note

Some knee problems should not be treated by climbing stairs. For example, chondromalacia patella is a painful condition that occurs when the cartilage under your kneecap is damaged. Another name for this condition is patellofemoral pain syndrome.

Its most obvious symptom is increasing pain when climbing stairs. The affected knee may hurt when you go up or down stairs.

Chondromalacia patella is usually treated with rest and ice, and little or no stair climbing. A supportive brace may also help ease the pain. While it may be helpful to avoid stairs temporarily, other exercises that strengthen the knee joint can be helpful./.