Stairmaster Help

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  • Rammer123
    Rammer123 Posts: 679 Member
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    chelseahatch24 wrote: »
    rdridi12 wrote: »
    haha that's fine, I just wouldn't put any real pressure on your hands to take anything away from your legs. To be honest, its as much balancing as it is helping you along. I believe you will get the most out of it from walking normally. In the end, doing 30 minutes holding on for dear life, is going to give you more of a metabolic boost than 5 minutes without hands, but there is no comparison holding on vs. not holding on with equal time.

    I would suggest even doing 1 mintue segments and slowly working up, using no hands at all, at a slow speed to build up. Take any rests you need.

    This helps so much. Thank you! It always sucks when you have no level of physical fitness and you want to start. I don't know if I'm pushing myself too hard or not enough, ya know?


    You can even pracatice by walking on a treadmill at a big incline without holding on, that might help with getting the leg power to be able to hold it for longer. Never had experience doing this, but a similar lunging type movement and you can change speed more easily.
  • chelllsea124
    chelllsea124 Posts: 336 Member
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    rdridi12 wrote: »
    chelseahatch24 wrote: »
    rdridi12 wrote: »
    haha that's fine, I just wouldn't put any real pressure on your hands to take anything away from your legs. To be honest, its as much balancing as it is helping you along. I believe you will get the most out of it from walking normally. In the end, doing 30 minutes holding on for dear life, is going to give you more of a metabolic boost than 5 minutes without hands, but there is no comparison holding on vs. not holding on with equal time.

    I would suggest even doing 1 mintue segments and slowly working up, using no hands at all, at a slow speed to build up. Take any rests you need.

    This helps so much. Thank you! It always sucks when you have no level of physical fitness and you want to start. I don't know if I'm pushing myself too hard or not enough, ya know?


    You can even pracatice by walking on a treadmill at a big incline without holding on, that might help with getting the leg power to be able to hold it for longer. Never had experience doing this, but a similar lunging type movement and you can change speed more easily.

    I have the leg power, I lack the heart rate
  • sharde8691
    sharde8691 Posts: 29 Member
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    I love the stairmaster...I can do it for quite a bit of time, but I am very cautious of the levels. Currently, I go at a regular pace for 2 minutes, then speed up the pace and skip a step for 1 minute. I do this for a total of 15-20 minutes on leg days. I hope to get fancy like the other folks on the stairmaster at my gym and climb sideways.
  • boopster99
    boopster99 Posts: 48 Member
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    It's my fave cardio machine also. Like everyone else I thought WHAT THE H*** IS WRONG WITH ME?! when I couldn't do more than 5 or 10 minutes the first few times I tried. I've persisted for the last 5 months and was recently able to do a full 60 minutes at a good pace. Next step: increasing my speed. I try not to hold on, I see some people literally holding themselves up on the handles - I try not to until I'm about to face plant then I grab on frantically!! I'm clumsy to start with - I don't need to entertain the rest of the gym by making a complete fool of myself :p:p:p
  • pondee629
    pondee629 Posts: 2,469 Member
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    chelseahatch24 wrote: »
    goldenday wrote: »
    I love this machine and honestly credit it with helping to give me an *kitten*!

    Just keep turning up girl- build up slowly at your own pace and the endurance will come.

    What is a kitten?! Lol

    MFPs "bleep"
  • burnthefatnicole
    burnthefatnicole Posts: 8 Member
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    Does anyone know if the stairmaster builds muscle? I have been doing it for3 weeks now and notice a difference. I usually do 30 mins starting at 7 and ending at level 5
  • Azdak
    Azdak Posts: 8,281 Member
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    burnthefatnicole wrote: »
    Does anyone know if the stairmaster builds muscle? I have been doing it for3 weeks now and notice a difference. I usually do 30 mins starting at 7 and ending at level 5

    If you start any new activity, the body has to adapt to the specific demands of that activity. The stairmaster (stepmill) movement requires a certain amount of muscle strength to perform optimally.

    So.....someone just starting out on the stairmaster can experience a noticeable increase in muscle strength and perhaps even a small increase in muscle mass. However, this is short-term adaptation that will stop once you are fully habituated to the movement.

    Climbing stairs is an interesting blend of cardio power and muscle strength. I have to go down (and up) 7 flights of stairs totaling 45 steps from the fitness floor to the boiler room on a regular basis--numerous times a day sometimes. I have found that if I run longer and faster runs it makes going up the stairs easier--but I get a similar effect from doing heavy squats.

  • jayemes
    jayemes Posts: 865 Member
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    I always get confused with the step machines - I know there's one that I think is called the StairMaster that you push down on while upright to simulate walking on steps. I love this machine and can do it endlessly and FAST (I used to listen to Prodigy while stepping to the beat) It looks like this
    cs7k6791nnfi.png


    The Stair Climber on the other hand is hell on wheels. Or steps. It's this monstrosity and I find it brutal and cruel.
    gov4qnucfv2d.png
  • chelllsea124
    chelllsea124 Posts: 336 Member
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    jayemes wrote: »
    I always get confused with the step machines - I know there's one that I think is called the StairMaster that you push down on while upright to simulate walking on steps. I love this machine and can do it endlessly and FAST (I used to listen to Prodigy while stepping to the beat) It looks like this
    cs7k6791nnfi.png


    The Stair Climber on the other hand is hell on wheels. Or steps. It's this monstrosity and I find it brutal and cruel.
    gov4qnucfv2d.png

    "The Stair Climber" is the one I was originally referring to... which is most definitely brutal and cruel.
  • RavenLibra
    RavenLibra Posts: 1,737 Member
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    I only use the stairmaster when I have been a bad boy... and for interval training... it's probably the best machine at the gym... don't be afraid to hit the stop button and take advantage of the 2 minute rest it gives you... set floor goals... given it has been a couple months since you first posted... how are the gains?
  • pwhitechurch
    pwhitechurch Posts: 72 Member
    edited August 2017
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    Very good suggestions by all. Love the stair Mill and stairmaster. The top picture doesn't look like a stairmaster though. I started doing level 1-4 for ten minutes on the stair mill ( that was two years ago). I can now do 30 minutes or more on it (higher levels). The stairmaster: Started out doing it on level one for 30 minutes, as my fitness level improved, I went up levels little by little (2 years ago). I can stay on the stairmaster at high levels 30 minutes or more now. Start small and you will get stronger. They are my main cardio machines today, they are killers, but they made me strong. Some days I do a spinning/cycling, treadmill inclining, and bike to give myself a rest from it. I switch machines monthly, just in case my body gets used to it. I say 30 minutes at a time, because my gym limits cardio equipment to 30 minutes.

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