WHY (huff puff)

gigiangelique
gigiangelique Posts: 233 Member
edited October 2024 in Fitness and Exercise
Why do I get winded going up stairs yet I could hop on the Elliptical for an hour or jog for ten min straight? WHY??

Replies

  • Shanna_Inc86
    Shanna_Inc86 Posts: 781 Member
    Why do I get winded going up stairs yet I could hop on the Elliptical for an hour or jog for ten min straight? WHY??

    LMAO...I've often noticed this...not always but at times
  • drizzella
    drizzella Posts: 27
    Yeah, I am the same way. I think there is something about the spacing of stairs that use different muscles maybe?? Or maybe when you go up the stairs, you take them at a greater pace. I know I tend to try to go faster up my work stairs because I know that I do the elliptical and can jog ten minutes straight. Then people see me and say, "Don't you workout? Are you okay?"
  • rml_16
    rml_16 Posts: 16,414 Member
    It's a different workout. I had the same issue, so I started taking the stairs at work instead of the elevator. Minimum twice a day climbing up and down three flights and the issue went away.

    Now we're in a new building, no stairs, so I'm sure my stamina is gone. :-(
  • iamvillanueva
    iamvillanueva Posts: 63
    Maybe it's the higher altitude at the top of the stairs. Less air! :laugh:
  • Marll
    Marll Posts: 904 Member
    Seems to me the elliptical doesn't really do a whole lot other than work the lungs and heart. Using stairs requires muscle, and exerting muscles takes oxygen. If the muscles are not used to that type of movement chances are you will huff and puff trying to deliver oxygen to those muscles.
  • Dave198lbs
    Dave198lbs Posts: 8,810 Member
    Seems to me the elliptical doesn't really do a whole lot other than work the lungs and heart. Using stairs requires muscle, and exerting muscles takes oxygen. If the muscles are not used to that type of movement chances are you will huff and puff trying to deliver oxygen to those muscles.

    ya...elliptical is ok but its easy...thats why so many people do it
  • libland
    libland Posts: 284 Member
    Same here. I can run for miles and yet two flights of stairs and I am out of breath.
  • gigiangelique
    gigiangelique Posts: 233 Member
    Seems to me the elliptical doesn't really do a whole lot other than work the lungs and heart. Using stairs requires muscle, and exerting muscles takes oxygen. If the muscles are not used to that type of movement chances are you will huff and puff trying to deliver oxygen to those muscles.

    ya...elliptical is ok but its easy...thats why so many people do it

    I have really bad knees thats why I do it for my cardio. I also do around 30 min of weights after.
  • Marll
    Marll Posts: 904 Member
    Try removing grains from your diet for a few weeks and see how your knees feel. I have a good friend that had debilitating knee issues, cut grains and within about 2 months his knees got a lot better.
  • gigiangelique
    gigiangelique Posts: 233 Member
    Try removing grains from your diet for a few weeks and see how your knees feel. I have a good friend that had debilitating knee issues, cut grains and within about 2 months his knees got a lot better.

    I was a ballet dancer and I have NO cartledge left in my kness. I wish it was that simple
  • cardbucfan
    cardbucfan Posts: 10,571 Member
    Why do I get winded going up stairs yet I could hop on the Elliptical for an hour or jog for ten min straight? WHY??

    OMG yes! I can run, do a HIIT spin class and be fine, but that one flight of stairs! So glad to know it's not just me.
  • raindropwishes
    raindropwishes Posts: 182
    Maybe it's the higher altitude at the top of the stairs. Less air! :laugh:

    ^^ Sounds like fact to me!! Makes perfect sense :smile: :bigsmile:
  • gigiangelique
    gigiangelique Posts: 233 Member
    Seems to me the elliptical doesn't really do a whole lot other than work the lungs and heart. Using stairs requires muscle, and exerting muscles takes oxygen. If the muscles are not used to that type of movement chances are you will huff and puff trying to deliver oxygen to those muscles.

    ya...elliptical is ok but its easy...thats why so many people do it
    I also do not think the elliptical is that "easy" when you up the levals it can be tough
  • LuckyLeprechaun
    LuckyLeprechaun Posts: 6,296 Member
    Seems to me the elliptical doesn't really do a whole lot other than work the lungs and heart. Using stairs requires muscle, and exerting muscles takes oxygen. If the muscles are not used to that type of movement chances are you will huff and puff trying to deliver oxygen to those muscles.

    ya...elliptical is ok but its easy...thats why so many people do it
    I also do not think the elliptical is that "easy" when you up the levals it can be tough
    right? I can burn almost a thousand calories in an hour if I put it up on level 15 or so.....
  • dissonancesquared
    dissonancesquared Posts: 17
    gravity sucks!!
  • FitForeverAgain
    FitForeverAgain Posts: 330 Member
    gravity sucks!!

    That's your answer. You simply require more energy consumption to climb stairs - it's a higher workload than an elliptical. That's the beauty of doing stair work over elliptical - you can't cheat it like an elliptical (i.e. slowing, less resistance, etc).
  • mrsdizzyd84
    mrsdizzyd84 Posts: 422 Member
    gravity sucks!!

    Exactly. It's gravity. With every step you are lifting your body weight against the resistance of gravity. Add that to a quick pace and there you go. That workout gets the heart pumping and so you start breathing heavier.
  • carriem73
    carriem73 Posts: 333 Member
    I was in training for a MARATHON and still got winded doing a single flight of stairs!!!!
  • JennaM222
    JennaM222 Posts: 1,996 Member
    ha ha ha THE SAME thing happens to me and then I speed walk to my cube and flop in my chair
  • BarbWhite09
    BarbWhite09 Posts: 1,128 Member
    Lmao, I love this question. I'm the same way, I hate stairs. In one of the buildings on my college campus the stairs are just torture! I don't know what it is about them but going all the way up to the 4th floor is just impossible. There's even a facebook group about how much the Plumb Hall stairs are hated! So funny.
  • PBmaria
    PBmaria Posts: 854 Member
    I can run 17 miles and I can't get my heart rate up on the elliptical.
    I got up the stairs and my heart is beating a little harder than I'd like lol
  • lunglady
    lunglady Posts: 526 Member
    A lot of people hold their breath while going up stairs and don't even realize it. When engaging in endurance activities such as running and elliptical machine, breathing tends to be more rhythmic.....

    Just my observation as a pulmonologist .....
  • sportsforfun
    sportsforfun Posts: 353
    Climbing stairs requires using many leg muscles that don't get used on an elliptical or simple running. Therefore those muscles require more oxygen to do the work and thus you feel winded. That is why it is such a great workout.
  • gigiangelique
    gigiangelique Posts: 233 Member
    :happy: :happy:
    gravity sucks!!

    That's your answer. You simply require more energy consumption to climb stairs - it's a higher workload than an elliptical. That's the beauty of doing stair work over elliptical - you can't cheat it like an elliptical (i.e. slowing, less resistance, etc).

    I am going to start doing 10 min of the stair climber along with the elliptical :smile:
  • LadyKatie2010
    LadyKatie2010 Posts: 115
    Maybe it's the higher altitude at the top of the stairs. Less air! :laugh:

    favorite. answer. ever. :)
  • Bentley2718
    Bentley2718 Posts: 1,689 Member
    Seems to me the elliptical doesn't really do a whole lot other than work the lungs and heart. Using stairs requires muscle, and exerting muscles takes oxygen. If the muscles are not used to that type of movement chances are you will huff and puff trying to deliver oxygen to those muscles.

    ya...elliptical is ok but its easy...thats why so many people do it

    I think that depends on how you have the elliptical set. If you increase resistance and/or set it at an incline, it's not all that easy.
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