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Choi, Kang, Kim, and Oh: Effects of Three-Week Stair Climbing Exercise for Weight Control: A Case Series Study
Case Report

Korean J Sports Med 2016;34(2):185-189.

Published online: 20 January 2016

DOI: https://doi.org/10.5763/kjsm.2016.34.2.185

Effects of Three-Week Stair Climbing Exercise for Weight Control: A Case Series Study

Juheon Choi1, Kyungmo Kang2, Jong Seung Kim3, Bumjo Oh3

1Cheongju Immigration Detention Center Clinic, Ministry of Justice, Cheongju, Korea

2Department of Medicine, Seoul National University College of Medicine, Seoul, Korea

3Department of Family Medicine, SMG-SNU Boramae Medical Center, Seoul, Korea

Correspondence: Bumjo Oh Department of Family Medicine, SMG-SNU Boramae Medical Center, 20 Boramae-ro 5-gil, Dongjak-gu, Seoul 07061, Korea Tel: +82-2-870-2682, Fax: +82-2-831-0714 E-mail: bo39@snu.ac.kr

Received 6 July 2016       Revised 6 October 2016       Accepted 13 October 2016

Copyright © 2016 The Korean Society of Sports Medicine

This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0) which permits unrestricted non-commercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

Abstract

This study is designed to check whether everyday-life stair climbing, which is a low-cost and readily accessible form of exercise, is effective for reducing overweight of sedentary people in various health indicators. We selected four overweight people and measured body weight, body fat percentage, muscle quantity, pulmonary function, lower-extremity strength and volume of thigh muscle and fat. After 3-week exercise of climbing stairs in more than 5 minutes twice a day, same procedures were taken. Body weight was reduced by 3.35 kg on average (standard deviation [SD], 0.79), and body fat mass by 2.53 kg (SD, 1.36). Lower extremity strength improved about 5%, and slight loss of thigh fat (right 3.2%; left 13.4%) was observed. However, pulmonary function and muscle quantity did not grow significantly. Although only four people may not be representative as targets, but it is suggested that stair climbing has sufficient utility as an easily accessible exercise.

Keywords: Exercise, Overweight, Sedentary lifestyle, Lower extremity, Pulmonary function tests

References

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Table 1.
Physical characteristics of the subjects
Variable A B C D
Age (yr) 36 37 33 58
Sex Female Male Female Female
PAR-Q – – – –
Height (cm) 154 174 167 149
Weight (kg) 72.3 88.9 73.9 67.0
Body mass index (kg/m2) 30.5 29.4 26.5 30.6
Body fat mass (%) 31.6 26.5 28.6 26.6
Muscle quantity (kg) 22.2 35.2 24.6 21.8
Pulmonary function tests        
FVC (L) 3.03 4.94 4.79 3.15
FEV1 (L) 2.53 3.90 3.99 2.54
Volume of muscle and fat (by CT)        
Thigh muscle (Rt, mm2) 11,158.42 16,890.19 9,815.86 10,003.57
Thigh muscle (Lt, mm2) 10,850.97 17,492.72 10,171.19 9,955.67
Thigh fat (Rt, mm2) 13,900.71 10,294.79 12,375.07 8,669.50
Thigh fat (Lt, mm2) 13,857.45 9,450.47 12,737.36 8,774.56
Lower-extremity strength by Biodex        
Peak torque (60/sec, Rt, extension) 73.400 197.900 85.100 65.400
Peak torque (60/sec, Rt, flexion) 40.600 77.000 37.900 41.900
Peak torque (60/sec, Lt, extension) 56.200 206.800 51.100 57.400
Peak torque (60/sec, Lt, flexion) 45.300 75.900 19.200 41.500
Peak torque (180/sec, Rt, extension) 52.600 129.700 70.400 50.000
Peak torque (180/sec, Rt, flexion) 19.200 59.000 36.100 29.400
Peak torque (180/sec, Lt, extension) 41.000 139.900 64.200 45.500
Peak torque (180/sec, Lt, flexion) 23.000 52.500 32.700 34.300

PAR-Q: Physical Activity Readiness Questionnaire, FVC: forced vital capacity, FEV1: forced expiratory volume in 1 second, CT: computed tomography, Rt: right thigh, Lt: left thigh.

Table 2.
Changes of subjects (average)
Variable Before (A) After (B) Difference (SD) Rate of change∗
Weight (kg) 75.52 72.18 −3.35 (0.79) −4.44
Body fat mass (%) 28.32 25.80 −2.52 (1.36) −8.91
Muscle quantity (kg) 25.95 25.70 −0.25 (0.57) −0.96
Pulmonary function tests        
FVC (L) 3.98 3.87 −0.11 (0.43) −2.64
FEV1 (L) 3.24 3.19 −0.05 (0.21) −1.54
Volume of muscle and fat (by CT)        
Thigh muscle (Rt, mm2) 11,967.01 11,941.32 −25.69 (159.5) −0.21
Thigh muscle (Lt, mm2) 12,117.63 11,925.29 −192.34 (244.2) −1.59
Thigh fat (Rt, mm2) 11,310.01 10,944.63 −365.38 (788.1) −3.23
Thigh fat (Lt, mm2) 11,204.96 9,698.05 −1,506.91 (982.6) −13.45
Lower-extremity strength by Biodex        
Peak torque (60/sec, Rt, extension) 105.45 110.60 5.15 (17.54) 4.88
Peak torque (60/sec, Rt, flexion) 49.35 58.58 9.22 (8.66) 18.69
Peak torque (60/sec, Lt, extension) 92.88 97.78 4.90 (25.00) 5.28
Peak torque (60/sec, Lt, flexion) 45.48 52.38 6.90 (10.67) 15.17
Peak torque (180/sec, Rt, extension) 75.68 77.25 1.58 (12.97) 2.08
Peak torque (180/sec, Rt, flexion) 35.93 44.03 8.10 (9.01) 22.55
Peak torque (180/sec, Lt, extension) 72.65 74.10 1.45 (15.57) 2.00
Peak torque (180/sec, Lt, flexion) 35.63 40.60 4.98 (8.37) 13.96

SD: standard deviation, FVC: forced vital capacity, FEV1: forced expiratory volume in 1 second, CT: computed tomography, Rt: right thigh, Lt: left thigh. ∗Change rate=(B−A)/A×100.

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