30-Minute Stairmaster Workouts
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Reviewed by Kristin McGee, CPTReviewed by Kristin McGee, CPT
During frigid days in winter and the sizzling heat of summer, taking your cardio indoors to a gym can become necessary for your health and safety. Walkers and runners often turn to the treadmill for their workouts, but those who prefer to challenge their hamstrings and glutes opt for the Stairmaster, a machine that can make you work hard for a calorie burn and cause sweat within a mere minute or two of stepping.
Cardio enthusiasts looking for an optimal Stairmaster workout will find that stepping at a tempo and adding intervals is key. To get you started, several certified personal trainers offer intense workouts and fun strategies to incorporate into your time on this machine.
Benefits of the Stairmaster Workout
The Stairmaster offers more than a cardio workout and calorie burn. Research shows this cardio workout may provide more benefits than just an aerobic workout. Here is how you may benefit from using the Stairmaster.
Impacts Bone Mineral Density
In one study, researchers found that climbing stairs impacts bone mineral density. The researchers note that not all forms of exercise have equal positive outcomes on bone mineral density, but weight-bearing aerobic exercise such as stair climbing could increase the resistance and thickness of bone mass.
Walking alone does not necessarily improve bone mass—you need an exercise like stair climbing because of its intensity when you strike the ground, so opting for a Stairmaster workout may be the key to strong bones.
Related: The Best Vertical Climbers for Fast, Full-Body Workouts at Home
Increases Fitness Levels
Climbing stairs is a way to help improve your fitness. A recent study from Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise had 31 women climb stairs weekly for a few minutes. Results show they increased their fitness levels by 10% in around 40 days.
30-Minute Stairmaster Workouts
Stairmaster workouts engage your glutes, thighs, and calves. Beginners should begin slowly or risk injury and lactic acid buildup. Start with a short warmup (about five minutes) to ensure your muscles are prepared before kicking it up to a more moderate pace.
30-Minute Stairmaster Workout
This 30-minute workout has four parts: warm-up, building endurance, moderate pace, and cooldown. Beginners can keep the second section (building endurance) at a moderate pace as they get comfortable with 30 minutes of stepping. Slow down if you feel out of breath at any time.
Try this 30-minute Stairmaster workout from Ryan Ernsbarger, CPT, SNS, of Zenmaster Wellness. It involves turning steady stepping into a tempo stair climb.
Start with a 5-minute warm-up at an easy level.
Increase the intensity, aiming for 5 minutes at a moderate level.
Ramp up your workout with 10 minutes at a vigorous pace.
Transition into 5 minutes at a moderate pace.
End with a 5-minute cooldown at an easy level.
Alternative 30-Minute Stairmaster Workout
You'll want to switch up your workouts once you're comfortable with the above workout. Not only will a new Stairmaster workout invigorate your body, but it also can help build your endurance level and get you in even better shape. Try this alternative 30-minute workout once or twice each week.
Brett Durney, CPT, founder of fitnesslab.fit, says planning intervals keeps you focused. Here is a simple yet effective interval workout.
Start with a 5-minute warmup.
Progress to 1-minute fast stair climbing.
Switch to 1-minute slow stair climbing.
Keep alternating every minute until you hit 30 minutes.
To add variety and intensity, do a 5-minute warmup and perform 4 minutes of high resistance followed by a 2-minute recovery. Repeat this four times with a 1-minute cooldown.
Resistance Stairmaster Workout
If time is a commodity and you can squeeze in a 15- to 20-minute Stairmaster workout, Kerri Howell, NASM-CPT suggests the following resistance-focused workout. You are not focusing on speed but are making the climbing more challenging.
This is an especially helpful Stairmaster workout for anyone who enjoys hiking, trail running, or mountaineering. The added resistance prepares you for elements you face outside when you cannot work at a steady state.
Warm up at a lower resistance and speed for 2 minutes.
Choose a mid-range resistance and speed for 3 minutes.
Skip a step for 1 minute.
Take normal steps for 2 minutes.
Side step (left) for 1 minute.
Take normal steps for 2 minutes.
Side step (right) for 1 minute.
Take normal steps for 2 minutes.
Take backward steps for 1 minute
Take normal steps for 2 minutes.
Skip a step for 1 minute.
Cool down at lower resistance and speed for 2 minutes.
Endurance-Focused Stairmaster Workout
If your goal is building endurance without a lot of time, incorporate this cardio Stairmaster workout routine into your regimen once a week. This is designed to shock your body by varying the intensity every minute. Once your heart rate begins to fall, you shoot it right back up, which helps you gain endurance strength. Here is how to do this workout.
Warm up at a lower resistance and speed for 2 minutes.
Choose a high speed and high resistance for 1 minute.
Transition to a medium speed and low resistance.
Go back to a high speed and high resistance for 1 minute.
Transition to a medium speed and low resistance.
Repeat this cycle until you have amassed 14 minutes of repetitions.
End with a 1-minute cooldown.
Related: The Best Vertical Climbers for Fast, Full-Body Workouts at Home
Ways to Make Stairmaster Workouts Fun
If the thought of stepping over and over without going anywhere sounds a bit monotonous—do not worry. You can spice up a Stairmaster workout using these six creative techniques.
Incorporate Intervals
Rather than stepping at the same pace for 30 minutes straight, alternate quick and slower speeds like in the workouts above. You can also switch between a 30-second maximum effort to recovering at an easy pace for one minute.
“This will not only help increase calorie burn but improve cardiovascular endurance,” says Nathan Lloyd, CPT, MSc, of Blink Fitness.
Use Motivating Music
Lloyd also suggests using music as a motivator, choosing songs with a beat per minute (BPM) of 145 to 160. This matches a decent cardiovascular pace on the machine and keeps you at the right intensity level. For example, the songs “Marry You” by Bruno Mars, “Toxic” by Britney Spears, and “Don’t You Want to Stay” by Jason Aldean are 145 bpm.
Add Equipment
Once you get comfortable with Stairmaster workouts, begin upping the intensity of your workouts by incorporating equipment like resistance bands to burn more calories.
“If you are physically able, add a resistance band to increase the difficulty of taking each step,” says John Adams, CPT, of Blink Fitness.
For this technique, wrap a band around your thighs and try not to let it fall as you step. This breaks down your muscles and causes them to fatigue faster.
Grab Your Partner
You do not always have to work out alone. Having a partner can help you stay motivated. But if you decide to use Stairmasters next to each other, try not to hold onto the handrail while you step. While it is tempting to do this while you chat, it derails your intensity and may keep you from staying upright.
“Having someone with you is an awesome opportunity to help motivate you to do more and to not get bored,” says Adams.
Take Two Steps at a Time
You can try taking two steps instead of one to make your workout more mentally—and physically challenging, suggests Kevin Harris, CPT, founder and CEO of NANBF.org. Of course, you must make sure this is safe.
"[By using the Stairmaster this way], you are creating more work for your legs and thus giving your glutes and upper quads more of a workout," he says.
Track Your Stairmaster Workouts
Durney advises keeping track of various benchmarks—including your heart rate—in your Stairmaster workouts for motivation.
For instance, pay attention to how your heart rate changes in morning versus evening workouts. You also can track distance traveled and resistance achieved, and keep track of what you ate before your workout (and document if any particular food helped you work out better). Finally, note your feelings once you are finished.
Related: Stair Running Workouts to Build Speed and Power
A Word From Verywell
Stairmaster workouts are a fun way to get in some cardio with a fitness routine that offers an immediate impact. If you get bored easily, try bringing a friend, changing up your step patterns, or keeping a diary that brings laser-focused attention to your workouts.
If you are new to working out, talk to a healthcare provider to determine if a Stairmaster workout is right for you.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is the Stairmaster better than walking?
The Stairmaster can be better than walking because of the ground force intensity. You hit the ground harder with each step when compared with walking. You also must use extra force and more leg muscles to step compared with the relatively easier cardio choice of walking.
Why is the Stairmaster so effective?
The Stairmaster is effective because it allows you to work a number of leg muscles: glutes, hamstrings, calves, and quadriceps, and change the resistance anytime. The lifting of the leg requires more work than walking and also more ground force, allowing you to burn a lot of calories in a short amount of time.
What does going backwards on the Stairmaster do?
Reverse movement can help improve your quadricep muscles on your upper thighs, according to a systematic review and meta-analysis. This review also showed that going backward is an effective treatment for knee osteoarthritis. If you have knee pain, this action could be a suitable alternative for you and still allow you to use the Stairmaster.
Read Next: Manual vs. Motorized Treadmills
Read the original article on Verywell Fitness.
