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[00:00.66] If you are trying to lose weight, climbing stairs as a regular exercise might be for you.

[00:08.89] Stairs are available in many places.

[00:13.14] And research shows stair-climbing is more effective than walking on level ground.

[00:20.84] “Overall, it is a fact that stair-climbing gets you fit faster and consumes more calories,” said Lauri van Houten, vice president of the International Skyrunning Federation.

[00:35.46] The organization oversees a number of activities that involve climbing.

[00:41.83] “How many calories will I burn is the question everyone wants to know,” van Houten said.

[00:49.53] “Here’s the good news: The overall energy expenditure of the exercise depends on your weight.

[00:57.50] Therefore, the more you weigh, the more you burn,” she said.

[01:02.81] Research shows you burn about 20 times more calories going up stairs than walking on flat ground.

[01:16.89] Even going down stairs, you burn around five times more because your muscles have to work to slow the body.

[01:21.94] That might be all you need to know if you are trying to lose weight.

[01:27.78] Dr. Alberto Minetti of Italy’s University of Milan has done a large amount of research on human movement — including stair-climbing.

[01:40.53] It is an exercise everyone can do and does not cost money, he said.

[01:47.97] Minetti did the math to explain why going up stairs is so effective for burning calories in a short amount of time.

[01:59.66] “To move 1 kilogram of body mass over one horizontal meter, you expend 0.5 calories,” he said.

[02:10.28] But, he added, “If you move 1 kilogram of body mass vertically on stairs it’s 10 calories.

[02:22.23] So it’s 20 times the calories moving vertically rather than horizontally.”

[02:25.42] Trained as a doctor, Minetti has spent his career as a researcher.

[02:31.27] He suggested that older people and beginner stair climbers watch their speed.

[02:44.02] Minetti does his own stair-climbing at his home in Milan.

[02:46.14] He said he often takes a few deep breaths before going up the many stairs.

[02:50.92] In a scientific study, Minetti makes the point that using your arms in stair-climbing adds extra power.

[03:00.22] Handrails offer safety, too.

[03:03.41] The study notes that handrails are available along most stairs in very tall buildings.

[03:11.91] Using them increases “the muscle mass involved..." by getting the arms involved, the study shows.

[03:19.87] “They are relatively small muscles in the arms, but better than nothing,” Minetti said.

[03:27.05] If stair-climbing were an Olympic sport, Australian Suzy Walsham would own gold medals.

[03:34.75] She has won 10 races up New York City’s Empire State Building — officially 1,576 stairs — and five climbs up the Eiffel Tower.

[03:48.56] Overall, Walsham has won more than 100 international stair races, and was once considered the top woman in the sport.

[04:02.11] When she was living in Singapore, Walsham climbed up her 29-story building — 37 times straight.

[04:10.61] It took over four hours with short breaks for coffee or water.

[04:15.92] She covered a vertical distance of 3,200 meters.

[04:22.30] Walsham told the Associated Press that stair-climbing is a good form of exercise for many kinds of people.

[04:33.45] “Many people struggle to run as they age,” she said, noting the exercise is “harder on the joints.”

[04:42.48] She said stair training is a great substitute for running.

[04:45.41] Stairs are everywhere — one flight, two flights at home, inside very large buildings, in stadiums, at work, in shopping malls, in the subway.

[04:58.16] Stair-climbing does not take much time.

[05:01.34] It is easy to build up, adding a few flights of stairs every day or week. Stair-climbing can also help improve balance.

[05:11.97] And it can easily become part of an exercise plan.

[05:17.81] Yuri Yoshizumi won last year’s women’s division of the Stairclimbing World Championships in her native Osaka, Japan.

[05:34.28] She completed the 285-meter climb — 1,610 stairs — in 10 minutes, 20.06 seconds.

[05:47.56] “Stair-climbing is an easy sport for beginners and the general public to get into,” Yoshizumi told the Associated Press in an email.

[05:54.46] She said the exercise helps to “strengthen your muscles and your cardiovascular system in a short amount of time.”

[06:03.77] Yoshizumi noted that cities usually have many public stairways for people to climb.

[06:11.20] “Just using the stairs instead of the escalators at (subway) stations and department stores is a good way to get some exercise,” she said.