Stair Master

The off season is a great time to experiment with different types of cross training other than just running, and one machine that I have found to be very beneficial for me in my training is the Stair Master. I went to the gym with my friend a few weeks ago for the first time and she showed me the machine and said that it is usually the first thing she does before every workout at the gym. I hopped on to the Stair Master next to hers and after spending a few minutes figuring out the groove of the machine and how to start it up, I discovered that it was kind of fun, and hard. The Stair Master got going and it didn't seem too bad for the first few minutes but it steadily gets more and more taxing, similar to the feeling of a tempo run for me. I enjoyed the Stair Master though and felt like it was a great alternative to running because it not only works your circular system, getting you breathing heavy and sweating a lot, it also works your muscles substantially as you work your way up the never ending loop conveyor belt of stairs.

To the people at the gym whom I see working their way through the Stair Master like a champ for nearly an hour, I truly applaud you. Whether it is just because I am new to the Stair Master universe or because it is truly more taxing than running, which I feel is the case because I mean come on, it is a continuous loop of stairs, but either way, the Stair Master does seem to get me tiered far before running will and is a great way to get in a really good workout in less time. I usually go on the Stair Master for around 25 minutes at the beginning of my workout and by that point I am certainly feeling pretty darn tiered! So for those of you who don’t have the time to get a good long run in every day, the Stair Master can be a very efficient way to get in a beneficial workout that will result in increased leg muscle and endurance! In addition, it also has several levels of speed on the machine so one can experiment with different speeds and can work on speed training or distance as one would when they are running on a treadmill. The option of different levels also proves that the Stair Master is adoptable for all different fitness and experience levels, so go ahead and give it a try the next time you hit the gym.