After copious coffees this morning, and perhaps after reading this article online (http://www.runnersworldonline.com.au/stair-running-can/) I decided to go for a stair running workout, and now, 30 reps of our 7 storey building later, I'm feeling a lot like this guy (although no styling red sweatband for me):
"If you borrow one element (besides running) from Rocky Balboa’s training regimen, make it stair-climbing. The plyometric motion strengthens the same muscles as lunges and squats, and taxes your lungs and heart as you power to the top. “Stairs force you to work against gravity, and this helps build two essential needs for runners: strength and power,” says Anne Moore, an exercise physiologist and running coach. You need both, whether you’re kicking to the finish of a 5K or trying to maintain pace during the later kilometres of a marathon. Moore adds that stair-climbing “forces you to utilise muscle stabilisers, like the gluteus medius, that get neglected during regular runs,” because you’re balancing on and activating one leg, briefly, as the other moves to the next step. Strengthen these areas and you’ll reduce your risk of injury.
Finally, stairs are much steeper than most hills: Indoor stairs have a roughly 65 per cent grade, while Sydney’s Heartbreak Hill is less than 10 per cent. That’s why climbing them accelerates your heart rate so rapidly and makes you breathe faster to take in more oxygen. This, in turn, improves your VO2 max – the maximum amount of oxygen you can utilise during intense exercise. “This teaches your body to use that oxygen and convert it to energy quicker,” says Moore. A greater VO2 max means you can run harder and for longer durations. A study in the British Journal of Sports Medicine found that short bouts of stair-climbing five days a week for eight weeks improved VO2 max by 17 per cent among young women.
Weave these stair workouts into your weekly training and watch your performance reach new heights."