Why Count Floors?

[dennisd3miller]

I understand that some people climb stairs as a form of aerobic exercise. For those people, knowing an acurate stair count is essential to improving and achieving. But what about those of us who don't try to climb stairs? My FitBit Surge tracks them automatically and I see all kinds of posts from people about inaccuracies and all kinds of questions about how it works; but, my question is more fundamental: why do I care?

I know that I can just remove it from my dashboard, but here's the thing... 10,000 steps per day is aligned with Dr. Levine's recommendation for being active. It is also the number of steps that an average person needs to take to burn 1-pound of fat per week. So, it makes sense. 30 active minutes per day is aligned with the CDC's recommendation to get 150 minutes of moderate to vigorous exercise per week in at least 10 minute chunks. Makes sense too. Calories, weight, food intake align with weight loss (or gain) goals and, in my experience, they work very well provided I'm honest and thourough about recording what I eat. Hydration? 8-by-8 is a long standing metric, so tracking 64 ounces per day make good sense. Moving every hour is also aligned with Dr. Levine' recommendations and is widely accepted as a good starting point. All good things. 

So, what is the driver behind climbing 10 floors per day? Why do I want to track them? Is there a CDC, AMA, or AHA recommendation? A popular book like Dr. Levine's "Get Up" that has enough following to merit attention? Is 10 floors a day anything more than an interesting metric.

I'd like to hear other user's thoughts; but, please, read what I've written: I don't actively climb stairs as a form of exercise, so why should I count them? Maybe the answer is "If you don't care about them, don't track them"; and that is fine, but all of the other metrics are so well thought out that an answer like that would be a huge disappointment.

[USAF-Larry]

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@dennisd3miller wrote:

I don't actively climb stairs as a form of exercise, so why should I count them? Maybe the answer is "If you don't care about them, don't track them"; and that is fine, but all of the other metrics are so well thought out that an answer like that would be a huge disappointment.

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I hate to disappoint you, @dennisd3miller, but the answer is, if you don't care about them, just don't track them.  A lot of people aren't interested in counting the floors they climb, but a lot are interested in that number. I am not overly concerned about the number of floors I climb a day, but I do make an effort to climb as many hills as possible during my walks because my heart rate is higher while climbing hills than it is on level ground. So, after a good walk, I do look to see how many floors I climbed on that walk. But, if you aren't interested in it, just remove that part of the display.

[JennyJenn]

I never considered this question! How funny. I just took it as a challenge, and I do at least 10 flights a day. (Or more, actually, becuase my Charge HR doesn't count all the flights I do.)

I liked doing it after reading it's a good all-body exercise, meaning you're moving all the major muscles in your body. Unfortunately, I have no idea the answer to your question and now I'm interested in it as well. I suppose a moderator or someone from Fitbit will have to answer, if it is an arbitrary thing. But why would they waste their time including something arbitrary? It must have come from somewhere.

I also like doing it because I have easy access to flights of stairs (seriously, can you imagine doing this daily if you didn't?), I get steps in while doing it, calories burned and I'll align doing them before, during or after exercise so it counts towards my active minutes.

Sorry this doesn't answer your question, though! I only said why *I* care about it!

[Marcy]

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@dennisd3miller wrote:

So, what is the driver behind climbing 10 floors per day? Why do I want to track them? Is there a CDC, AMA, or AHA recommendation?

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Fitbit may have included floors because floors are measurable and the AHA recommends aerobic exercise. 

The organizations that you list above are trying to maximize the health of the entire American population with guidelines that are low enough to get participation but high enough to have some benefit. So the guidelines are unlikely to be ideal for most individuals. Hopefully you can work in what is best for your situation.

[emili]

you know, I never thought about it either. I too assumed it was for some form of aerobic activity for folks who don't really do it. The only time I look at the floors climbed is after a hike or during a wind storm. Just because it amuses me. Good question...

[WendyB]

Never thought about it either. Just thought it was nice when they came out with it. I used it a lot in the beginning. Now I don't pay attention to it.

I could of been requested on the old forum a lot but I do not remember.

[Dancingfiorella]

Stair climbing is a unique form of exercise that can have a powerful and positive impact on your health over time. 

While most of us think of exercise as 'sport', the scientific evidence shows it is everyday activities like walking and stair climbing that are most closely associated with improved health.

Stair climbing is recommended by doctors and health authorities worldwide because high quality studies show:

• Climbing just eight flights of stairs a day lowers average early mortality risk by 33%
• Seven minutes stair climbing a day can halve the risk of heart attack over 10 years
• Just two minutes extra stair climbing a day is enough to stop average middle age weight gain

Stair climbing delivers these benefits by improving our cardiovascular fitness. It's officially classed as a 'vigorous' form exercise and burns more calories per minute than jogging

Source: stepjockey.com/health-benefits-of-stair-climbing

[shipo]

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@Dancingfiorella wrote:

Stair climbing delivers these benefits by improving our cardiovascular fitness. It's officially classed as a 'vigorous' form exercise and burns more calories per minute than jogging

Source: stepjockey.com/health-benefits-of-stair-climbing

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Sorry, I almost spewed a mouthful of tea all over my screen; not buying that last comment.  I went to the StepJockey site you referenced and see they make that claim but don't offer any supporting data or references to any supporting studies.  Personally, I call the claim bogus.

Don't get me wrong, I know there are definite benefits to climbing stairs, but most authoritative references I study say something along the lines of, "So, how many calories will you burn climbing stairs? That depends on your intensity. Climbing at a fast pace burns about the same calories as moderate jogging or cycling."

[BruceBu]

Just as steps are a measure of the energy expended in translating your body horizontally, floors are a measure of the energy expended in lifting your body vertically. Rule of thumb, one floor (10 ft) climbed takes about the same energy as walking 130 ft (~50 steps) horizontally. Floors are also a low-impact way of strengthening your knees and increasing general lifting capacity. I live and walk in the mountains and find that 'floors' are a significant fraction of my exercise load and I can't imagine wanting to ignore them. Also, if you do lots of vertical, either walking or running, it makes the same seem trivially easy on the flat and level.

[shipo]

@BruceBu, agreed.

A few years ago I ran a very hilly 10-mile race with over 1,000' of climbing, and then a few weeks later I ran a relatively flat half-marathon with only about 350' of climbing; wouldn't you know it, my 10-mile split in the half-marathon was nearly five minutes faster than what I ran in the 10-mile race.

[Lala1975]

I have a question that I've always wanted to know about the stair climbs it counts when you go up but not when you come down don't you take just as many steps going up as you do going down? If so which is yes, then why only up and not down? I'd love to hear from Fitbit on that one too!

[Dominique]

@Lala1975: here you go (from this help article😞

Fitbit devices that count floors have an altimeter sensor that can detect when you're going up or down in elevation. Your device registers one floor when you climb about 10 feet at one time. It does not register floors when you go down.

Fitbit devices do not count the elevation gains simulated from a StairMaster, inclined treadmill, or other stationary exercise equipment. Your device uses changes in barometric pressure to detect elevation change, and therefore requires that you physically change elevation in order to properly record floors.

It makes sense to me Fitbit only registers floors on your way up (going against gravity, harder) and not on your way down (a lot easier). 

[maxnova]

This is a well intentioned but completely wrong response.

Walking up stairs burns about twice as many calories as moderate running.

Running up stairs is exponentially more calorie burning than running on a flat surface.

https://www.livestrong.com/article/316762-how-many-calories-are-burned-climbing-seven-flights-of-sta...

And there’s no comparison when it comes to muscle activation and muscle growth. So many more muscle groups are activated by stair climbing than by running, regardless of the speed or intensity.

Best to do both forms of exercise, but if circumstances limit your options, always hit the stairs.

[C.R.S.]

I hardly ever climb stairs. Yet when I walk the rolling hills in my neighborhood, tracks stairs like crazy. It doesn't count stairs in my home. I gave up on believing it's accurate.

[Colinm39]

@C.R.S.Because the Fitbits have an inbuilt altimeter, in the early days of Fitbit we had users trying to get their floors in the house..  The techniques were

• Never stop
• Squat at the bottom of the stairs
• Lift their arm up at the top..

It seemed to work then....  memories.....

Ironically the timing that this topic has reignited, I'm approaching 80, and with discussions with my physio, (he is only 60), I feel I need to strengthen my lower body more... His suggestion was to walk up and down the court where I live for 15 minutes each day and use walking poles.. Nothing fancy just walk. and my Ionic always records 1 floor...

Since I have started that I feel more comfortable in my lower strength..  The walking poles are to help stabilize my lower back because I have age related stenosis (narrowing) and strengthen to parts of the upper body.

It is 100m ( 110yds ) gradient of  3.6m (12')

[ACK_4514]

I went to the Tallulah Gorge in GA a few years back. There are quite a few steps that you must go down to see the gorge and then you have to climb all of the steps back up to get out of the gorge and back on to “ground level”. The hiking intensity level is listed as “hard”. I spoke to one of the Rangers after I completed the climb both ways (and was completely NOT in the shape to do so. I could’ve really caused myself some issues). The ranger said they have several heart attack victims every year and it almost always happens on the way DOWN the steps. He claimed (I don’t know where he got his facts or statistics, just letting you know what he said) that going DOWN is much more strenuous than climbing back up. 

[Patrick]

@ACK_4514

As a person who prefers stairs over just walking on flat surfaces I decided to see if I could find any data on the Down Stairs (DSW) anecdote that the Ranger mentioned.

According to these articles they tested elderly obese women to see what was what, and apparently there is a marked improvement in the health of such people who descend stairs over those who ascend stairs. I don't completely follow all the logic, and it is late; so I'll leave the links here for you to review if you would like to...

https://www.stepjockey.com/blog/stair-climbing-which-is-better-up-or-down
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/28291022

[MrMikeCH]

Actually, the 10'000 steps metric is s bit of a marketing gimmick. More than 7'000 doesn't bring extra benefits. And why count floors? So you can track your individual progress.

https://www.zmescience.com/science/how-steps-a-day-should-i-walk/

[MrMikeCH]

No one counts calories anymore, it's all about what's right for you. Stair climbing is a great excercise, also because it can be done by anyone, anywhere.

https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/climbing-over-50-steps-of-stairs-a-day-may-help-reduce-hea...

https://hr.duke.edu/wellness/exercise/take-stairs/benefits-taking-stairs/