Is climbing stairs harmful or beneficial for your knees?

The complex network of bones, ligaments, tendons, and muscles in the knee joint is highly susceptible to injury. Knee pain can stem from a variety of issues, 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 address any existing knee issues. A simple exercise you can do is climbing stairs.

The benefits of climbing stairs

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

Climbing stairs also indirectly benefits your knees by helping you control your weight. By walking up stairs for just 5 minutes, you can burn about 45 calories. If you do that 5 times a week, that's 225 calories.

If you do this for 50 weeks a year, you can burn 11,250 calories. If you just climb stairs a little on most days of the year, you can lose more than 1.4 kg.

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

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

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

Climbing stairs also helps improve cardiovascular health. As a vigorous form of exercise, climbing stairs helps improve cardiovascular health.

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

Climbing stairs helps strengthen muscles. To climb stairs, you need to activate all the muscles in your legs, abdominal muscles, back muscles, etc., plus the movement. All of that contributes to a healthy musculoskeletal system.

And because using skeletal muscle helps boost metabolism, that can lead to burning more calories and more weight loss in the long run as lean muscle mass increases and muscle tone improves.

Research has shown that using musculoskeletal muscles also has a significant effect on improving blood sugar levels, which is important in preventing and controlling diabetes. Additionally, improving overall musculoskeletal health can help reduce arthritis pain, which tends to affect obese individuals.

Climbing stairs is also an easy way to combat a sedentary lifestyle. Numerous studies indicate that a sedentary lifestyle is all too common in today's world and is a major contributing factor to the global obesity epidemic.

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

Why do you experience knee pain when climbing stairs?

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

When going uphill, you may tend to let your knee protrude forward and use almost exclusively the muscles around your knee. Our knee is a very vulnerable joint due to the way it's designed. In other words, it needs every bit of help it can get.

Therefore, when going uphill, it can be very helpful as you engage your body more, especially your glutes and core muscles. Specifically, you focus on using your back to generate propulsion, supported by core activation. Training your legs, glutes, and core muscles is crucial for protecting your knees.

Protecting your knees when they are bent (when going down stairs) becomes more difficult for two reasons. First, you can barely keep your knees extended forward, which is a vulnerable position.

Secondly, when going downhill, you have to rely on eccentric contraction. This means, essentially, you're slowing the movement while your muscles are lengthening. While your muscles are quite good at this and can generate a considerable amount of force, it still puts them through a tough time. They are more prone to fractures, tears, and are unable to protect an aging knee.

Therefore, climbing stairs is good; you just need to pay attention to using your glutes, core muscles, and legs.

Professional guidance is needed.

For many people, climbing stairs 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 specialist or rehabilitation coach.

Ask them how many steps you should climb during your workout. If you overdo it, you might find yourself experiencing more severe knee pain.

When you start incorporating stair climbing into your routine, be aware of what to watch out for. Talk to your doctor or trainer about signs that you're straining a joint. A little soreness from a good workout might be okay, but sharp pain could signal other problems and should be a sign to stop exercising.

If you have heart or respiratory problems, climbing stairs can be especially difficult. If you currently experience shortness of breath 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 going up and down stairs is part of your exercise routine, pay attention to how your body reacts 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 patellar 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 typically treated with rest and ice, and minimal or no stair climbing. A supportive brace can also help reduce pain. While temporarily avoiding stairs may be helpful, other exercises to strengthen the knee joint will be beneficial.