How Many Calories Can You Burn Climbing Stairs?

It's a piece of exercise "equipment" most people overlook, but that staircase can do more than get you from point A to point B. If you've wondered about the average number of calories burned climbing stairs, the amount might surprise you — especially if you keep at it for an hour or so.

Many factors influence the calories-burned-climbing-stairs equation, including a person’s current weight, the rise of the steps, and how long the climbing workout lasts. But most people can expect to burn more than 200 calories in 30 minutes, according to the American Council on Exercise (ACE).

How Many Calories Does Stair Climbing Burn?

According to ACE, for a basic stair-climbing workout, a 130-pound person can expect to burn about 235 calories in a half-hour. If you have the stamina, you'll get close to 500 calories in a full hour.

And if you’re fit enough to run up and down the stairs, running stairs burns three times as many calories as walking for the same amount of time, according to ACE.

The ACE calculator shows that the higher your current weight, the more calories you'll burn during a workout. A 155-pound person uses an average of 285 calories per half-hour of climbing stairs. Harvard Health Publishing estimates that 30 minutes on a stair-stepper machine would burn 216 calories for someone of the same weight.

For a 200-pound person, the number of calories burned jumps to about 365 calories per 30 minutes, according to ACE.

Is Stair Climbing Better for You Than Walking?

Walking is a great way to get in some cardio, especially if you haven't worked out for a while or just need a low-impact day. But according to Cleveland Clinic, you’re also working against gravity when you walk up the stairs, making it more challenging than walking on level ground.

The ACE fitness calculator indicates that a 130-pound person burns 235 calories when climbing stairs for 30 minutes. If the same person were to walk briskly for the same amount of time, the count would be less than half that amount, or about 110 calories.

When Size Matters

How high you need to raise your feet when stair climbing also makes a difference. For instance, if you use a stair-stepper, the height setting on the steps affects how challenging the climb is. The same holds for how tall each riser on a flight of stairs is.

The fitness database ExRx.net estimates that, on a 6-inch stair step, a 130-pound person would burn 241 calories per half-hour climbing those stairs. That figure rises in "steps" (so to speak) of 10 to 20 calories per inch of height added to the riser. Climbing a challenging set of 12-inch steps would burn about 320 calories per 30 minutes.

However, if the extra height slows you down, it could affect how many calories you burn. For the taller stair to effectively burn more calories, the speed would need to stay consistent between the two heights.

Getting Started on Stairs

Not surprisingly, 30 minutes of stair climbing can be hard to sustain when you're just starting, whether you're running up and down steps in the park or using your fitness center's stair-climbing machine.

The American Lung Association recommends starting with a 10-minute stair climb using real stairs. You can build up cardiovascular fitness by mixing it up with different speeds and intensities.

For example, you could do two minutes of relatively easy climbing followed by one intense minute in which you work as hard as possible. As your fitness improves, you can extend the time you spend at maximum effort.

Warming up before you start and stretching for about five minutes afterward is also helpful in preventing soreness and injury.

ACE recommends mixing it up by running up the stairs and then walking back down, or going up and down the stairs sideways for some of your laps. To burn even more calories and get your upper body into the action, keep your arms off the railings. Pump them at your sides as you go.