Tip 13: Use the printer, bin or toilet furthest away from your desk.

To gain the real advantages from this tip, this week I’m going to the furthest for all three of the suggestions. To really up the stakes, I’m studying in Augustine House Library. Which if you weren’t aware, has a stunning 3 floors worth of bins, printers and toilets.

Now for the sake of includability, lets use the average number of steps on a staircase. The average flight of stairs contains 12 steps. For a person weighing between 150 and 160 pounds, climbing one flight of stairs three times per day burns approximately 15 calories, according to the Health Sciences Center of the University of New Mexico. So 15 / 3 =5 calories for flight. Considering the 2 flights of steps needed to go down each floor at AH, that’s 10 calories. Over the day I went to either the toilet, bin or printer on the very furthest floor. Unfortunately for me the Mac’s are on the top floor, so that meant going all the way to the bottom (3 floors), and climbing all the way back up with gives a total of 30 calories. I haven’t included the calories to go down but we can assume it’s a lot more effort to go up.

So how many times did I leave my warm seat? A total of 2 toilet breaks, 6 trips to the printer and 4 trip to the bin & lunch over the day. I must have looked funny to all the students I passed on the way and back but thats a whopping 12 journeys of climbing. 12 x 30 = 360 calories! 

To put that into comparison, for a 125-pound person that equivalates to:

1 hour of swimming at a moderate pace.

Around 45 minutes biking.

Over 4 miles fast walking at 3.5 mph

And that was just one day! If i made that many trips over a 5 day week, we are up to 1,800 calories less, just by making one small change. I have to admit, by the end of the day my legs didn’t know what hit them but these short walks also gave me a break from work and I got to chat to friends I’d find on my way down that wouldn’t have seen otherwise. I also filled up my water bottle more, so remember to stay hydrated on your climbing journeys.

Even if my calculations end up wildly wrong, just seen the benefits of stair climbing below.

Did you know? ‘Climbing stairs on a regular basis can lead to several health benefits, including weight loss, stress relief, greater leg strength, increased aerobic capacity and a lower risk of cardiovascular disease.’

Remember for staff and students at CCCU:

Complete 10 move more tips in a week through our Move More Mission and receive a free resistance band for stretching and exercising. Contact movemore@canterbury.ac.uk for your sheet to fill in.

Time to climb those stairs!