On average, you’ll burn about 2 calories going up a flight of stairs (loosely based on median person weight, about 10 steps in a flight, and no huge baggage lugged). Calories burned taking the elevator -> zero. Burning a mere two calories seems negligible, but it does add up. I live at the top of 4 flights of stairs, and probably go up and down them (minimally) 3 times a day. That’s 2 cal x 4 flights x 3 times = 24 calories/day. But if I do this every day, that’s 8544 calories a year. If a pound of fat is contains 3500 calories, then my stairs are burning 2.4 pounds of fat per year. With age, metabolism tends to decelerate by about 5% for every decade of life past age 40. If your resting metabolic rate (amount of calories needed to keep you alive at rest) is say, 1,200 calories per day at age 40, it will be around 1,140 at age 50 and 1000 at age 60. The average weight gain after age 40 is one pound per year if one is not paying attention. Luckily, you can offset this with regular daily exercise, and very importantly, keeping your muscle mass up. Choosing stairs instead of elevators is an easy life hack to offset the metabolic creep. Also, it’s good ongoing training for your leg and butt muscles, stabilizing your knees and ensuring that you’ll never get stuck in an elevator.
Creating Healthy Lifestyles
