When it comes to choosing the best exercises and machine equipment to use at your gym, it can be overwhelming. From treadmills like the Treadly 2 to rowers such as the Hydrow Rower, it can be pretty difficult to choose what gym equipment is best in helping you maximize your fitness goals.
With that said, one of the most popular gym equipment pieces, the StairMaster, is always a good option. It can be incredibly good for your body and burns more calories than most machines.
Many athletes and training sportsmen have used this equipment to enhance their muscular strength and athletic performance, while ordinary people also reap the benefits. In this article, we’re going to discuss the main benefits of using the StairMaster and some other unknown facts about this amazing workout inducing equipment!
What Is A StairMaster?
The StairMaster is a stationary fitness machine that is found in many local gyms and fitness centers. If you have a home gym, you can even buy one yourself to add to your workout regime. This machine, which replicates walking up stairs, is highly similar to the treadmill or elliptical but it gives you that sort of “climbing the stairs” workout.
The StairMaster has been proven to provide you with a variety of benefits and is an effective and safe way to train your body. It is also important to take note that using StairMaster is a low-risk exercise, as well as low-impact.
This fitness equipment has been around since the early 80s but as time progressed the regular StairMaster has added several advancements due to the recent technological progression. Today the usual StairMaster has features such as a heart rate monitor, calorie-burning calculator, and more.
When it comes to asking the question – how good are StairMaster workouts? The answer is really good!
This stationary machine enables you to rotate your steps just like a treadmill greatly trains your cardiovascular strength and endurance. Not only that, but it also promotes muscle growth and toning in the lower body muscles such as the glutes, quadriceps, hamstrings, and calves.
Overall, this staple machine provides you plenty of benefits that we’ll discuss more in the next section.
Benefits Of A StairMaster
The StairMaster is an extremely popular machine these days. Whether you are an athlete trying to increase endurance or a fitness enthusiast trying to burn maximum calories, this machine is a great option for you. There are countless benefits, but we will cover the most popular reported benefits.
1. Tones Your Lower Body Muscles
We all know those fitness enthusiasts who have a well-developed upper body, big, muscular arms, and chest but have relatively skinny legs and quadriceps. It makes their whole body look disproportionate and awkward. This machine is quite helpful when it comes to solving this problem.
It is also true that the lower body muscles should be subjected to more training if you want them to be bigger. Luckily the StairMaster is a great way to tone your lower body muscles as the relative movements of using this machine enable you you to promote muscle protein breakdown and later muscle growth.
The repetitive movement of climbing the StairMaster creates incredible amounts of muscle tension which increases muscular hypertrophy, resulting in stronger quads, stronger hamstrings, and stronger glutes!
Some studies show effective 6-week use of StairMaster alone increases muscular size and endurance in the lower body, of course, this needs to be accompanied by a diet full of healthy fats, enough carbohydrates, and good protein sources that will nourish the damaged muscle to grow.
2. Provides Aerobic Conditioning
Aerobic exercise is a type of exercise that strengthens your heart and lungs, which the StairMaster helps with. This staple machine fits the bill as stair climbing has been proven to improve heart and lung health.
Because of the repetitive movements done while stair climbing, regardless of whether it is low or high in intensity, it effectively boosts your cardiovascular endurance by being able to withstand the work done in a period thereby boosting more blood flow in the system.
It is also important to take note that the StairMaster has been proven to increase your heart rate which allows the blood to pump more oxygen efficiently to all the muscles and other organs as well as the lungs. This is incredible news to those people who are looking for a great way to train their bodies with minimal effort.
Aerobic exercises such as stair climbing can also effectively boost overall mood and mental health. Studies have shown that any type of aerobic exercise, whether it is swimming or running or even stair climbing can effectively trigger a boost in positive growth hormones and endorphins which effectively stimulates the brain to a positive degree.
This is also the reason why people who have an active lifestyle and those who exercise and lift weights daily have been shown to have a more happy, optimistic, and healthy attitude and approach in life than those who don’t.
3. Efficiently and Effectively Burns Body Fat
Using the StairMaster can be incredibly great especially if you’re looking to shed off some pounds. Studies show that a simple 30-minute workout in a StairMaster can burn 300 to 400 calories, depending on the intensity of the workout.
Rigid and faster climbing will burn more fat and calories than the regular slow climbs, although both are incredibly efficient in making sure you burn off those calories. Alongside that, most StairMaster equipment at the gym comes with calorie calculators which means you can accurately measure how many calories you’re burning as you’re using the equipment.
4. Improves Bone Health
Interestingly, climbing the stairs can be an effective exercise that improves and strengthens the lower bones including the joints, this is because using the StairMaster is considered a low-impact exercise.
This effectively creates mechanical stress on the feet and joints without actually posing any risk to it such as running and biking. This means using the StairMaster is a great alternative especially for those who want to exercise and improve their health but have joint problems.
Although it is still true that this is a low-impact exercise, have time to consult your doctor if you’re experiencing problems regarding your joints as it may be caused by more serious and sometimes deadly complications.
Best StairMasters On The Market
If you have a home gym and are looking to add a StairMaster to your regime, there are a variety of things to think about before purchasing one.
The first thing to consider would be to determine your budget. This will help you narrow down machines by price, which will then allow you to browse for features.
StairMaster SM3
One of the newest members of the StairMaster family, the SM3 is a great machine to choose from if it’s within your budget. It not only works great but has a variety of impressive features to help you achieve your fitness goals.
GET THE BEST PRICE ON STAIRMASTER SM3Stairmaster SC916 Stepper
A more affordable option, this stair stepper is outfitted a little differently than most stair steppers. More lightweight than most machines, this one offers similar features when it comes to tracking your workout.
GET THE BEST PRICE ON STAIRMASTER SC916 STEPPERMatrix C5x ClimbMill
Similar to the StairMaster SM3 in both price and functionality, this option is extremely popular and can be found in gyms around the country.
GET THE BEST PRICE ON MATRIX C5X CLIMBMILLFinal Verdict: StairMaster A Fantastic Cardiovascular Workout!
Aside from helping you burn calories, the StairMaster actively provides you with a variety of health benefits and it is easy to use and incredibly accessible to many gym-goers! It mainly targets the lower body muscles effectively training them as well as it improves the cardiovascular function!
You can build strength and endurance while being effectively safe at your workouts! Now that you know the benefits of using the StairMaster train today and use it to your advantage!