Here’s How Many Stairs You Should Climb a Day for a Healthy Heart

Nearly 48% of adults in the United States have heart disease, and it’s the leading cause of death for most Americans. There are steps that people can take to reduce their risk of cardiovascular disease, and a new study suggests that some of those steps are literal.

Researchers found that regularly taking the stairs can significantly decrease your risk of heart disease, especially atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease (ASCVD), coronary artery disease (CAD), and stroke.

“Short bursts of high-intensity stair climbing are a time-efficient way to improve cardiorespiratory fitness and lipid profile, especially among those unable to achieve the current [CDC] physical activity recommendations,” study author Lu Qi, MD, PhD, a professor at the Tulane University School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine, told Verywell. “The study provides evidence supporting stair climbing as a potential convenient and time-efficient exercise for prevention of cardiovascular disease.”

Here’s how many stairs you should be taking each day to protect your heart.

Take the Stairs

Qi’s team looked at data from 458,860 adult participants in the U.K. Biobank database. None of the participants had been diagnosed with cardiovascular disease at the start of the study. The average age of the participants was 56 years and about 56% of them were female.

The researchers estimated the participants’ cardiovascular disease risk by looking at their family history, genetics, and known risk factors for heart disease like high blood pressure and a history of smoking. The participants were also asked to self-report lifestyle habits, including how frequently they climbed stairs. The research team followed the participants for about 12.5 years.

During the follow-up, the team identified 39,043 cases of ASCVD, 30,718 cases of CAD, and 10,521 cases of ischemic stroke. They found that adults who climbed more than five flights (or 50 stair steps) daily had a 20% lower risk of developing ASCVD, which includes stroke, heart attacks, and blood clots.

Qi said the findings provide new evidence of the “protective effects of stair climbing on the risk of ASCVD, particularly for individuals with multiple ASCVD risk factors.”

Another interesting note: The participants who reported climbing stairs daily at first but later stopped were 32% more likely to develop ASCVD than participants who had never reported stair climbing.

Why Stair Climbing Helps Your Heart

Regularly taking the stairs may lower your risk of heart disease because it’s a form of physical activity that increases your heart rate, Vignesh Raghunath, MD, a cardiologist with Atlantic Medical Group, Morristown Medical Center in New Jersey, told Verywell.

When you increase your heart rate through physical activity such as stair climbing, running, or biking, it helps strengthen the heart muscle and makes it more efficient at pumping blood and oxygen throughout your body.

Increasing your heart rate through physical activity also helps regulate and lower blood pressure, blood sugar, and cholesterol levels, which Raghunath said are significant risk factors for heart disease.

While the study did show a possible link between daily stair climbing and reduced cardiovascular disease risk, experts say it’s not quite enough to say that taking the stairs is going to be a preventive measure for heart health.

“This article shows a correlation with reduced cardiovascular risk, but more research needs to be done to prove a causal relationship,” John A. Osborne, MD, PhD, an American Heart Association volunteer and founder and director of State of the Heart Cardiology in Dallas, Texas, told Verywell. “But it’s very promising and certainly makes sense. I think any activity is useful to reduce cardiovascular risk, but stairs (or inclines) may be more efficient in a time sense!”

What If You Can’t Climb Stairs?

Stair climbing is not the only option for heart health. Higgins said that other activities that get your heart rate up—like brisk walking, running, bicycling, or high-speed interval training—are also beneficial. What’s important is a moderate or high intensity level.

“For those looking for an activity that would achieve similar results, walking, running, or participating in moderate-intensity exercise like swimming or yoga on a regular basis would be worthwhile,” said Raghunath. “The key is finding something that works for your health and lifestyle and being consistent.”

While the study found that regularly climbing five flights of stairs a day was linked to a lower risk of some kinds of heart disease, Raghunath said that other factors like lifestyle and diet are also part of the equation.

“This study looked at stair climbing as a singular factor, but when thinking about heart health, you must consider the whole person,” said Raghunath. “Though being more active is certainly beneficial, it is important to also take into account other factors like what you are eating, your weight, environment, and genetic predisposition to heart disease.”

If you want to make heart health a priority, John Higgins, MD, a sports cardiologist with UTHealth Houston, told Verywell that American Heart Association Life’s Essential 8 can be a helpful place to start. These guidelines include:

• Physical activity for at least 150 minutes a week
• A diet with plenty of whole foods, fruits, vegetables, and lean protein
• Quitting tobacco
• Getting 7-9 hours of sleep a night
• Managing your weight
• Keeping your cholesterol, blood sugar, and blood pressure levels in check