Living in Amsterdam makes it very hard to train for hills. Amsterdam is completely flat, in fact it is actually 2m (6.5 ft) below sea level. In order to compensate for the lack of hills, I use the stairs in my house to train (there are 64 stairs at home, I just use 32 for this workout!).
Before doing the actual workout I spend 10min on the stationary bike to warm-up and get the blood flowing. I’m pretty competitive when it comes to working out so I always try and beat the distance I can reach within the 10min. Today I managed 5.1km (3.1mi) which is a nice increase on the last time I did this workout.
I have a pretty simple pyramid style workout as follows:
10 x every single step up and down
10 x every second step up and every step down
10 x every third step up and every step down
10 x every second step up and every step down
10 x every single step up and down
As you start to take more stairs in your stride you tend to slow down. It is hard to stride that length, and you need to be careful on the stairs.
It’s important that you take every step on the way back down, otherwise as you get tired you are more likely to slip, trip or fall. The last thing you want is an injury from your training.
After completing the stair workout I have done a massive 1800 stairs! This stair workout took me 21min 37sec to complete.