Climbing Stairs for Stronger Bones

Exercise physiologist and Assistant Professor of Interdisciplinary Health Sciences Alexander Rothstein, Ed.D., examines with Health recent social media discourse that “pounding the stairs” is the secret to stimulating bone remodeling, or building stronger bones. While forceful movements, like climbing stairs, place stress and signal to bones to breakdown old bone and form it anew, Rothstein says stomping steps may not be best practice for everyone.

“Those who haven’t been doing it should err on the side of slower, gentle weight training—building up their confidence, lifting slightly heavier weights—rather than doing things very fast or high impact,” he explains, adding that if something feels challenging for your muscles, it is a good indicator that the movement is generating enough load to trigger bone remodeling.