As the StairMaster has been around for a very long time now, you might be wondering whether or not it is still significant as a piece of exercise equipment. Of course, it isn’t an inexpensive machine, but is it worth it in comparison to the other kinds of step machines on the market?
I often wondered the same thing. I had never seen a StairMaster before my neighbor Jennifer bought one. She said I was free to use it anytime I liked, and I decided to take her up on the offer. Using the machine 4 to 5 times a week in 30-minute sessions, I found that it had made quite an impact. The muscles in my legs were toned, my thighs felt firmer. While walking, I just felt stronger.
Though using my neighbor’s StairMaster provided me with an effective workout, helping me me burn calories as well. There are times when I am on vacation that is very difficult for me to stay on my diet. As soon as I get home from my travels, I always wince when it comes time to weigh myself. Having access to this machine helped me get back into shape again.
After considering my experience using my neighbor’s StairMaster, I thought I would write down some of my thoughts on Stairmaster benefits. It should be helpful to anyone who is considering picking up one of these great machines.
Is the StairMaster still useful in 2021?
When the StairMaster was invented in 1983, it was originally known as the Stepmill. Allowing people to engage in low-impact aerobics, it was found to be an effective way of working the body’s major muscle groups. Most fitness machines at that time made use of body weight and other kinds of resistance. Treadmills, stationary bikes, and other cardio machines were not so ordinary at that time.
Some people still feel that StairMaster is obsolete in comparison to other kinds of exercise machines on the market. In reality, the technology has only improved over the years, making it one of the more viable choices for getting a great workout.
Key Benefits
For toning and strengthening your thighs, hips, core, and legs, StairMaster workouts are very effective. Especially when it comes to improving your balance and agility. Some of the most impressive StairMaster benefits are as follows:
Top-Notch Lower Body Workout
The StairMaster provides a strong lower body workout with the amount of climbing and pushing that you are required to do. While stair climbing, you can burn fat and build lean muscle mass while building strength in your glutes, quads, calves, and hamstrings.
To achieve the best benefits, you have to make sure you maintain the correct form during your workouts. You can do this by always keeping your head up and your eyes looking forward. While you’re exercising, you must not hunch your shoulders and back and stick your elbows out at the sides. If you don’t maintain proper form, you’ll get a weak workout, with fewer calories being burned.
Only use the rails to assist you with your balance. Keep your toes pointed slightly outwards when you press your heel on the step. Allow your left shoulder to left as you step with your right foot, keeping your glutes and hip flexors engaged. As long you follow this kind of process, you will get an excellent lower body workout.
Low-Impact
As we get older, we may not feel so inclined to engage in the kind of exercise that has the most health benefits. Often, this is because the activities we undertake are too hard on our joints or our fitness level. With StairMaster benefits, you can avoid strain or injury with a smooth, low-impact form of exercise.
To really get the most out of certain cardio equipment, you have to push hard and fast. As a result, you might hurt yourself. Using the StairMaster, even at a slow pace, can provide an effective workout. So if you’re someone that has bad knees or a bad back, you can usually improve your fitness, tone up and lose weight without trouble on a StairMaster.
Core Strength
While the majority of StairMaster benefits are centered around muscle groups in the lower body, maintaining the correct form while working out will engage your abs and get you an effective core workout.
Building up your core improves balance. Developing a good sense of balance improves the quality of life for people at all ages, but especially seniors. A strong core improves your posture, helps spinal alignment, and works to alleviate potential back pain. Day-to-day tasks such as carrying groceries or walking up the stairs are exponentially better with a strong core.
Cardiovascular Conditioning
If you want to increase your stamina, while at the same time boosting your stamina and endurance, you should use a StairMaster 3 to 5 times a week for a minimum of 20 minutes. You will see a transformation.
Losing Weight
Because the StairMaster engages the lower body, it is one of the most helpful in burning calories while doing a low-impact exercise.
Because your heart quickly elevates into fat-burning range when climbing stairs. A 20-minute workout will elevate your heart rate for nearly 19 minutes. This another reason that you can scorch a higher number of calories than you can on many other kinds of exercise machines.
A 20 Minute StairMaster Workout
StairMaster Workout Before and After:
Questions and Answers
What does the StairMaster work?
When using the StairMaster, you activate several different muscle groups in your lower body, including your quadriceps, glutes, calves, and hamstrings.
What does the StairMaster do for your body?
To put it simply, it tones your legs, helps you build stamina, strengthens your legs and core muscles.
Is the StairMaster a good cardio workout?
Using a StairMaster, you can burn between 500 to 800 calories an hour. With the helpful monitor on the machine’s console, you are able to see how many calories you are burning by completing your workout. It depends on how fast you use the machine and your body weight.
When using a StairMaster, you can choose to make your workout as intense and challenging as you see fit. However, you’re not going to have to worry about whether you’re burning enough calories.
What if I’m new to exercising?
Being a new exerciser should not discourage you from trying a StairMaster. Though exercises on the machine are far from simple, and most people find themselves sweating profusely after using the machine for only a few minutes.
Using the StairMaster for 20 minutes, 3 to 5 times a week, should result in huge improvements to your cardiovascular health and fitness level. Even if you work at a slow pace, you should see some results with regular use. 1 mile per hour on a StairMaster is the equivalent to running on a flat treadmill at 6 mph. Just keep in mind that a StairMaster will have much less impact on your joints.
You don’t have to rush it. Go as lightly as you like at the beginning, and as you improve, you can attempt more difficult StairMaster exercise programs.
How do StairMaster workouts typically work?.
Getting the most out of your Stair climbing workouts will depend on what you’re trying to achieve by using it. If you want to target a specific muscle group, your workout aim will be different to someone that just wants to burn calories. Either way, you should generally start each workout with a warm-up, build up speed and resistance, then cool-down.
To change things up, you can alternate your workouts to keep the exercise interesting. Alternating exercises helps you avoid weight loss plateaus that some people experience when doing the same routines over and over.
How long should you be on the StairMaster?
The amount of time isn’t the most critical factor when considering the benefits you’re looking for. The most effective StairMaster benefits tend to be between 20 to 60 minutes. Though you may expect that working out even longer will yield even better weight loss, that might not always be so.
Remember that our bodies should be able to handle stress and adapt to difficult routines. But you still probably won’t see better results by using a StairMaster for more than 60 minutes each session. After an hour of exercising, your heart rate slows and your body adapts, which removes us from our fitness target range. So you’ll get diminishing returns on the effort you exert at that point.
Does the StairMaster help you burn belly fat?
It helps you lose weight overall. There is no way to target specific areas on the body where you would like to lose weight. But if you need a cardio machine that will help you burn calories a StairMaster will do. For more advice on burning belly fat, click here.
Final Thoughts
If you’re looking for a cardio machine that will really have an impact, you shouldn’t overlook the StairMaster and its benefits. For toning your glutes and thighs and burning calories, there are few machines that can match the performance. You’re also far less likely to develop stress injuries on your joints.
Working at a slow pace, you can still get a very challenging workout. As you get accustomed to the motion the StairMaster provides for you, you can easily increase the difficulty. You are less likely to get bored and more likely to continue using the machine to get the results you want.
Though the price tag might be a little higher than other cardio machines on average, if it is something you can afford and you decide to buy one, I believe you will feel no remorse from your purchase.
If you’re looking to experience the same kind of benefits you might acquire from using a StairMaster without spending too much, you might consider steppers or mini steppers. These low impact machines target many of the same muscle groups while remaining more affordable.
