Stairways to fitness

[Ian H]

Which could otherwise be entitled 'Lifts Kill'.

Before the study, the 69 participants had what the researchers described as a sedentary lifestyle, meaning they did less than two hours of exercise or sport each week and climbed fewer than 10 flights of stairs each day.

How many people here use a lift if there are stairs available?

[Greenbank]

How many people here use a lift if there are stairs available?

Me. I have no problem taking the lift 3 floors up.

What with commuting by bike, swim/gym two or three times a week, 5-a-side football once or twice a week, occasional 11-a-side football, weekend rides and/or Audaxes. I easily average two hours of exercise/sport a day.

[tiermat]

I always use the stairs rather than the lift, my view is that in most cases I can pelt up the stairs quicker than waiting for the lift, getting into lift, waiting for inbuilt delay before doors close etc etc.

[Jacomus]

I always use a lift / escalator unless I absolutely have to use the stairs. That said, I don't mind walking down stairs.

My knees disagree with stairclimbing (and walking, but mostly stairclimbing), and I think the 200+ miles I cycle every week will keep me fit enough that I don't need to use stair climbing as my primary means of exercise!

It is always funny when people tut if I use the lift to go up a single floor they must be thinking "what a lazy sod" 

[andygates]

I only take the lift if I have a load of gear to heft - a trolley full of servers, usually.  I got into the stairs habit early, as a way of building huge calves

[Greenbank]

When I lived in NY my commute was further in a vertical direction than horizontally.

20 floors down, walk 80m up the road, 26 floors up.

[Charlotte]

I work on the seventh floor and always take the lift.

[Julian]

I'm a lazy bugger, I'll take the lift if it's available.

While we're on the silly season "people don't do good honest daily exercise" thread, there was an article somewhere about how housework used to keep women fit and now the tubby porkers do fewer than three hours' housework a week.  I'll fully admit to using a hoover, rather than beating my carpets by hand, I also take advantage of the washing machine rather than scrubbing my socks out with a nailbrush, and on the rare occasions that I make cake, I'll use an electric mixer.

It's called the Age of Technology; welcome all. 

[Notsototalnewbie]

Fewer than three hours of housework?

*snort*

Three feckin' hours?!

I used to take the lift when I worked on the 10th floor in a more modern building. I don't now because I work in an old building and the lift looks like a vertical wooden coffin and people keep getting stuck in it, and it is slower than huffing up the stairs anyway.

[andygates]

Fewer than three hours of housework?

Feh.  A month, maybe.

[Notsototalnewbie]

Fewer than three hours of housework?

Feh.  A month, maybe.

Maybe. I am a slattern.

[ABlipInContinuity]

Tend to avoid lifts, especially in winter time.

Large human-sized petri dishes.   

[Che]

5th-floor lift rider. I sometimes console myself that as the labs on 0 and 1 are extra tall, it's really like being on the 6th floor. Also, I know I'd jog up the stairs in my spd shoes, and break my neck. Generally, I feel that I'm content to get my exercise on my commute.

Has anybody found it windy of late, by the way?

[Chris S]

Has anybody found it windy of late, by the way?

If by "of late" you mean "the last three years", then yes .

[Gandalf]

I only use lifts if I have the grandson in a buggy or I'm carrying a load of shopping or something.  I just get wound up by perfectly able bodied youngsters clogging up the lifts.

[clarion]

I don't like lifts or escalators.  I was pleased when Superstoker suggested avoiding a lift in a tube station in favour of the 'emergency' staircase.

[Maladict]

Stairs.  When I was stoodent, I used to try to race the people in the lift to the lab, which was on the 11th floor.

[Valiant]

Usually, if it's over 3 floors I take the lift, because my back usually acts up by then, gone are the days of playing "run outs" in the building, legging it up and down the stairs every few minute.

These days, what with being ill, I think my building care taker is playing a joke on me. The lift on my side of the building doesn't work, no problem, I'll take the stairs, it's only 6 flights, no wait I can't, the keys don't work in the communal doors as they are midway through changing the locks. Ok so fine I'll go to the other side of the building and use the lift to go up to the 5th floor and walk across and back down. Except now, those lifts aren't working either. So now I have to walk up 10 flights of stairs, walk across the building and down 4 flights of stairs. Scary thing is, despite being more painful than a painful thing, I'm actually starting to quite enjoy it