Running stairs? (Read 729 times)

I live in a city where there doesn't happen to be any large hills for me to run. However, I DO live on the 20th floor of an apartment building

that has a nice concrete stairwell which extends to my floor and beyond. To date, I have only ever witnessed one or two individuals

using this stairwell besides myself. Would doing repeats of 20 flights of stairs by running up and then taking an elevator down be an OK way

to build some strength, in lieu of actual hills to run? 

I live in a city where there doesn't happen to be any large hills for me to run. However, I DO live on the 20th floor of an apartment building

that has a nice concrete stairwell which extends to my floor and beyond. To date, I have only ever witnessed one or two individuals

using this stairwell besides myself. Would doing repeats of 20 flights of stairs by running up and then taking an elevator down be an OK way

to build some strength, in lieu of actual hills to run? 

When I was coaching this young girl for 800m and we were supposed to do some hill training but I had a bad case of Achilles tendonitis, I found that I could do steps alright--it must have been and angle of my ankle when running over steps.  We used the outside the Minnesota Science Museum where there was 120 steps; most of them going straight up instead of going round and round like building stairs.  We would go up the steps, jog for about 200m for recovery; take "regular" downhill which is not too steep fast and about 100m jog to back to the base of the steps; we would do this for 45-60 minutes.  One day, as we were warming-up, a bad case of thunder storm was moving in.  The wind was particularly bad and I was actually seriously worried that we may get blown off and stumble down!!  So instead, we moved to the 8-storied building across the street from the museum and ran up and down for 55-minutes.  It turned out it was one of the best workouts we had that season.  By the end of the session, our legs were so wobbly that our "knees were laughing".  

20 floors is quite challenging--make sure you don't focus on trying to run up fast; the important thing is to maintain a good form going up.  For our workout, we just ran down easily but taking the elevator is probably a good idea because, trust me, 20-floor will make your knees wobbly and you may stumble and miss the step!!  Personally, I just hate to wait for the elevator to come--I'm impatient.  

Rod Dixon told me that, when he was training for 1983 NYC marathon that he won in a dramatic fashion over the final 300 yards, he used a 400-steps near the beach in LA where he was staying.  It is one of the best ways to strengthen your legs.

When I was coaching this young girl for 800m and we were supposed to do some hill training but I had a bad case of Achilles tendonitis, I found that I could do steps alright--it must have been and angle of my ankle when running over steps.  We used the outside the Minnesota Science Museum where there was 120 steps; most of them going straight up instead of going round and round like building stairs.  We would go up the steps, jog for about 200m for recovery; take "regular" downhill which is not too steep fast and about 100m jog to back to the base of the steps; we would do this for 45-60 minutes.  One day, as we were warming-up, a bad case of thunder storm was moving in.  The wind was particularly bad and I was actually seriously worried that we may get blown off and stumble down!!  So instead, we moved to the 8-storied building across the street from the museum and ran up and down for 55-minutes.  It turned out it was one of the best workouts we had that season.  By the end of the session, our legs were so wobbly that our "knees were laughing".  

 

20 floors is quite challenging--make sure you don't focus on trying to run up fast; the important thing is to maintain a good form going up.  For our workout, we just ran down easily but taking the elevator is probably a good idea because, trust me, 20-floor will make your knees wobbly and you may stumble and miss the step!!  Personally, I just hate to wait for the elevator to come--I'm impatient.  

 

Rod Dixon told me that, when he was training for 1983 NYC marathon that he won in a dramatic fashion over the final 300 yards, he used a 400-steps near the beach in LA where he was staying.  It is one of the best ways to strengthen your legs.

Thanks. I'm not sure how many steps are in 20 flights, but it must be close to 400. I'm currently at  3 repeats with slow running-down recoveries in between (harder than it sounds.) The degree of aerobic strain seems to increase exponentially the higher you get, too. I do it

barefoot because I feel more sure-footed and people in my apartment don't have to listen to me thundering up and down during the day.