Stairclimb Event?

Hellbent_Heidi
Hellbent_Heidi Posts: 3,669 Member
edited October 7 in Fitness and Exercise
Has anyone done a stairclimbing event? I'm seriously considering doing a "Fight for Air Climb" in Detroit's Renaissance Center to benefit the American Lung Association and am curious what other people thought of them. I do the stepper at the gym a lot, but I know dragging my body up 70 floors is going to be a bit harder than it sounds!

Replies

  • Hellbent_Heidi
    Hellbent_Heidi Posts: 3,669 Member
    Bump.....Nobody?
  • ajzmann
    ajzmann Posts: 147 Member
    oooh, we just did one in December. I did the stairclimber sporadically, but unless it's the actual stairs (and not just the stepper), it's difficult to get exactly prepared. I did cardio to get my lung capacity alright and did the occasional weights to strengthen my lower half.

    In any event, the best thing to do would be to see if you can get some actual stairs to climb. The one we did opened up the stairwells a month before for all who wanted a practice run.

    Good luck!
  • ajzmann
    ajzmann Posts: 147 Member
    oooh, we just did one in December. I did the stairclimber sporadically, but unless it's the actual stairs (and not just the stepper), it's difficult to get exactly prepared. I did cardio to get my lung capacity alright and did the occasional weights to strengthen my lower half.

    In any event, the best thing to do would be to see if you can get some actual stairs to climb. The one we did opened up the stairwells a month before for all who wanted a practice run.

    Good luck!
  • Hellbent_Heidi
    Hellbent_Heidi Posts: 3,669 Member
    oooh, we just did one in December. I did the stairclimber sporadically, but unless it's the actual stairs (and not just the stepper), it's difficult to get exactly prepared. I did cardio to get my lung capacity alright and did the occasional weights to strengthen my lower half.

    In any event, the best thing to do would be to see if you can get some actual stairs to climb. The one we did opened up the stairwells a month before for all who wanted a practice run.

    Good luck!
    Thanks...my workplace has a back stairwell that's similar to the ones we'll be running, so I figure I'll try to train on those a little bit. My gym does have a stair climber (with real steps) too, and that thing is hard, but I'll need to get on that too.

    I just got one of my best friends to agree to do it with me too, so I think I'm definitely going forward with it! We're still hoping to hook a couple of our single friends in with the lure of cute firemen (a lot of local fire depts are participating in the 'fully dressed firefighter challenge' portion of the event!).
  • Did you ever do the stair climb? Im interested in doing one in the future but I dont have anywhere to practice! Do you know of any places in Detroit where i can practice?
  • Hi there! I have actually done the Fight for Air climb in Boston 2 years in a row now. I love doing it. You don't necessarily have to train by just doing stairs. Last year I worked a very physical job and frequently went up stairs throughout the day, lots of them. This past stair climb, I didn't practice stairs at all. However, I was working out 3-4x/wk, if I was completely sedentary and had zero physical activity then it would've been a definite challenge. It's a lot of fun to do and I highly recommend it.
  • Hellbent_Heidi
    Hellbent_Heidi Posts: 3,669 Member
    Did you ever do the stair climb? Im interested in doing one in the future but I dont have anywhere to practice! Do you know of any places in Detroit where i can practice?
    I guess they had some practice climbs, but I'm guessing most office buildings are not open to the public as a rule.

    The climb is Sunday, so even though I didn't train by climing steps, I'm feeling pretty good about it. A girl on Biggest Loser did the 104 floors of the Sears Tower in less than an hour, and she probably has 100 lbs on me...plus I've been working out regularly (5 or more days a week) since last summer, and recently started running). Hopefully I'm not overconfident, but will post an update after Sunday to let everyone know how it went!!
  • Hellbent_Heidi
    Hellbent_Heidi Posts: 3,669 Member
    What an awesome event....first off - 70 floors wasn't too bad. I didn't run, but set off and stayed at a steady pace. I did all 1035 steps in about 22 minutes, which would have been greatly improved if I didn't wait on my friends who stopped a couple more times for water than I would have if I was alone. Its for a great cause and makes me SO proud to have quit smoking!!
  • Good for you! I'm glad you enjoyed it, I really really love doing it! the climb in Boston is 789...I always end up doing it in about 10 minutes flat. I want to be in the 9 minutes somewhere next year...I tend to feel badly if I pass someone or don't wait for a friend taking a water break:/
  • Hellbent_Heidi
    Hellbent_Heidi Posts: 3,669 Member
    Good for you! I'm glad you enjoyed it, I really really love doing it! the climb in Boston is 789...I always end up doing it in about 10 minutes flat. I want to be in the 9 minutes somewhere next year...I tend to feel badly if I pass someone or don't wait for a friend taking a water break:/
    Yes, being that we were all first-timers, I would have felt bad going ahead....plus my one friend has a mild heart condition, so I was afraid if I left her behind mid-way up, and she had to be helped by the medics, I'd feel like a tremendous jerk!
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