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I always wonder how does this compare to any other cardio? For example, I started to run a few years ago. Now my week is something like 5k, 6k, 9k, 12k, 9k, 9k, 3k runs. I usually do not take a day off, as when it starts raining or snowing, this will force me to take 2-3 days off randomly for months on end.

Should I be climbing stairs instead? I never climb stairs near me, I would have to literally go out of my way to find some. (Full disclosure, I sit for work, except for when I was teaching, so I run to try to make up for it. I still do not feel very healthy as I run for say an hour, then sit for like eight, or ten.... "sitting is the new smoking" is not helping).

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Most of these studies about near-trivial effort are basically showing that doing anything at all is better than doing nothing strenuous.

50 steps per day is basically nothing relative to your running schedule. However, it’s a significant step up from a sedentary lifestyle as shown by this study.

For someone like you, ignore these studies. It’s more important to do what you enjoy because that’s going to translate to more and longer engagement. The exact exercise doesn’t really matter.

NPR just had a series called Body Electric, the episode from Nov 17 explains sitting and how to counter. The takeaway is there is more benefit from small amounts of exercise, walking for 5 minutes every 30 minutes, so taking 16 breaks in an 8 hour day and breaking up sitting for long stretches.

https://www.npr.org/podcasts/510375/body-electric

The research is pointing towards having some movement each hour. Walking (stairs), micro workout, etc.

The new paradigm for health and longevity the focus is on frequency of excersice/movement instead of duration.

This research collaborates the new paradigm.

I can't comment on heart disease but I recently started adding running. Mostly in the form of running to and from the gym to lift weights, but I will sometimes throw in a 5k, even throwing in something like 7k today.

What I've noticed, when in the past I was a weightlifting maximalist and running minimalist, is that after running I've noticed a large endurance benefit in other sports. For example: windsurf hydrofoiling. In light winds it takes a lot of full body effort to pump the board/foil and sail to get out of the water and flying. I noticed how gassed I could get. After throwing running in the mix my capacity to get going without getting totally gassed has gone up substantially.

I would hope that would also translate into other long term benefits for health (provided I continue to cut back on drinking and improve my diet otherwise...)

From my research any amount of running is correlated with significantly lower risk of all cause mortality. (Benefits seem to plateau at 1 hour of running per day)

I think running is particularly effective for health because it builds your cardiovascular system to be strong enough to move your body weight at high intensity for longer periods of time.

I've been doing cardio on a stationary bike for years and decided I needed to start running after going on a hike in Nevada in the heat and feeling like I completely redlined my heart while my friends that are skinnier and do 0 cardio were fine. Just completing couch 2 5k dropped my resting heartrate by ~10bpm from 70bpm to 60. Walking used to get my heartrate to 115bpm and now I'm under 100. Also, I was able to cycle at the higher intensity while in zone 2 for longer.

Anyway, I definitely think you should keep up your running habit, especially if you enjoy it.

With biking you can get away with not pushing yourself or coasting whereas running always has a baseline power output which is required to maintain. Also with biking you are not using as many muscles as with running.

I started trail running this year and the benefits to my overall health, muscle balance, and injury rehab has been massive. Running over uneven terrain is maybe the most natural form of movement and your body reflects that.

The problem with stationary bikes or ellipticals is that’s it’s easy to go easy. You have to want to push, and this is why classes and leaderboards are popular. There’s also the fan bike which will destroy anyone lol

They should just strap a generator in there and let us know how much energy we generated.

Then you can convert to calories and show someone how much "fat they burned" (close enough to true) at ~3600 calories/lb

Sounds like a great episode for black mirror. Oh wait...

Can you get the same benefits from brisk walking (4+ MPH)?

Of course not. Running is going to improve so many more things than a few flights of stairs. You're already running different distances so I expect different paces. Best thing is some sprints for vo2 max improvement and then longer runs too.

This article is really for people who can't do a harder form of exercise. It's showing climbing stairs as an easier thing to do than go for a run, if you can't go for a run

It is useful "especially among those unable to achieve the current physical activity recommendations"

If you can do proper exercise of course do that!

Have you ever been on a stair climber?

I personally find the stair climber exponentially easier than long distance running. I do stair climber when I have a mental block for doing a decent distance as it’s rather robotic and easy, whereas, doing a proper decent long distance run requires me to be both physically and mentally up for it.

There's probably some benefit to walking (or running) up stairs. I'd guess you could accomplish a similar benefit by just doing jumping squats or something.

When I lived in San Francisco, I walked all over the place, including up and down hills. I also lived on the 8th floor and usually took the elevator up. I'd get pretty winded if I walked up the stairs. I imagine I would have had a much easier time walking up the stairs if I did it often.

I also live on an 8th floor and taking the stairs on a regular basis has been really beneficial. At first I had to stop and catch my breath at the 5th floor, but now that I’m doing it 1-2 times a day it’s a lot easier. I’ve been largely sedentary so this plus some time at the building’s gym has helped with weight loss and endurance.

I think it's good to break up the monotony by doing different kind of cardio, and also exercise parts of your body that don't get used as much if you stick to a single form of cardio.

I would keep doing cardio, but have some varieties.

Running is obviously better, but what if it's only something like 20% better than a a long brisk walk and some stairs? Less injury, cost, more accessibility.

Could be relvant, worth knowing

thats got to be an unhealthy amount of running. the extreme distance compared with not taking any days off is going to take its toll, just a matter of time. do yourself a favor and exchange the bragging rights for something that is actually sustainable.

Not to be disrespectful but this is a fairly ridiculous take lol. That is not a ton of running to be honest - there are weekend warrior 5K-10K guys in their 40s and 50s who run 50-70 miles per week and you'd have to really be stretching your brain to try to argue that they're not healthy. As with anything, you have to be gradual in conditioning yourself to run that much, but that amount of running is certainly sustainable. I will grant that it's easy to overdo it when first starting running and hurt yourself, but that's a somewhat different topic.

I personally like to take one rest day, but it's not necessary if you adjust the intensity throughout the week to account for never having a full rest day.

> thats got to be an unhealthy amount of running

Citation needed lol. I think it’s around 30 miles of running a week which many many many many recreational runners have little trouble maintaining.

Yeah I mean if it hurts take a break.

I built up to that over four to fivish years. I did not do a couch-to5k in one month or anything. I do not feel like its bragging... I know at least three marathon runners and my schedule looks like I do not run compared to them.

I also have done a lot of reading, as a lot of my friends tell me running is bad for your knees. As far as my reading of data goes, there is practically no amount of "bad running"... unless your body says "stop" and you keep going.

Your body tells you when something isn't sustainable.

You don't have to compare it. For just general exercise, the best thing to do is find something that you enjoy and can do multiple times a day. You seem to have found it in running. If you want to climb some stairs, climb some stairs, but it's not about optimizing your time. You won just by doing something active you enjoy.

I realized long ago that my running is mostly going up and down hills. 10,000' of gain/loss a week wasn't out of the ordinary, with some weeks being 60-70,000' in total (this is an extreme). Those 10k weeks could be as little as 20 miles. I'm very satisfied by my workouts.

If you have a GOAL, then you can think about specific training. But you do you my dude.

Do you enjoy running?

Not GP, but as someone who has gotten into running and other sports post-college, yes, I do. I typically look forward to my run each morning - it's the one time of the day I'm not connected to a computer / the internet (I purposefully only bring a watch), and has become almost a form of meditation. I live in a city, so there are a bunch of different routes I can use, and when traveling it's a great way to explore a new area.

Separate from just running, it makes other parts of life more comfortable:

* Walking around is just.. easier - in a weird way, running has mostly solved my knee quirks from when I was younger (when combined with foam rolling and some strength exercises)

* When travelling, I can easily hike 5-15 miles each day with no real issues

* I feel more alert the rest of the day (I like to say that it's my coffee)

* Other sports are easier to get into (skiing, biking, etc) because I have a decent cardio base

I was asking OP b/c of:

> Should I be climbing stairs instead?

And they never mention whether they actually like running.

As someone who likes running a lot I’d never think of giving it up because some random article said climbing a few flights of stairs is better.

Yes. I started very late in life. Never ran before about five years ago. I feel much better.

I mean then there’s your answer. If you like it, keep doing it.

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