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

Juheon Choi; Kyungmo Kang; Jong Seung Kim; Bumjo Oh

doi:10.5763/kjsm.2016.34.2.185

Journal List > Korean J Sports Med > v.34(2) > 1054570

Go to TopGo to Top Go to BottomGo to Bottom

TOOLS

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

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.

Go to :

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

References

1. NHLBI Obesity Education Initiative Expert Panel on the Identification, Evaluation, and Treatment of Obesity in Adults (US). Clinical guidelines on the identification, evaluation, and treatment of overweight and obesity in adults. Bethesda: National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute;1998.

2. Grundy SM. Obesity, metabolic syndrome, and cardiovascular disease. J Clin Endocrinol Metab. 2004; 89:2595–600.

3. Ng M, Fleming T, Robinson M, et al. Global, regional, and national prevalence of overweight and obesity in children and adults during 1980–2013: a systematic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease study 2013. Lancet. 2014; 384:766–81.

4. Park YR, Cho YG, Kang JH, et al. Comparison of obesity and overweight prevalence among Korean adults according to Community Health Survey and Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey. Korean J Obes. 2014; 23:64–8.

5. Al Saif A, Alsenany S. Aerobic and anaerobic exercise training in obese adults. J Phys Ther Sci. 2015; 27:1697–700.

6. Gardner AW, Skinner JS, Vaughan NR, Bryant CX, Smith LK. Comparison of treadmill walking and stair climbing over a range of exercise intensities in peripheral vascular occlusive disease. Angiology. 1993; 44:353–60.

7. Wycherley TP, Noakes M, Clifton PM, Cleanthous X, Keogh JB, Brinkworth GD. A high-protein diet with resistance exercise training improves weight loss and body composition in overweight and obese patients with type 2 diabetes. Diabetes Care. 2010; 33:969–76.

8. Boreham CA, Wallace WF, Nevill A. Training effects of accumulated daily stair-climbing exercise in previously sedentary young women. Prev Med. 2000; 30:277–81.

9. Natalio MA, Faria CD, Teixeira-Salmela LF, Michaelsen SM. Content validation of a clinical assessment instrument for stair ascent and descent in individuals with hemiparesis. Braz J Phys Ther. 2014; 18:353–63.

10. Thoma LM, Flanigan DC, Chaudhari AM, Siston RA, Best TM, Schmitt LC. Quadriceps femoris strength and sagittal-plane knee biomechanics during stair ascent in individuals with articular cartilage defects in the knee. J Sport Rehabil. 2014; 23:259–69.

Go to :

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.

TOOLS

Similar articles