Do Stair Climbing Exercise "Snacks" Improve Cardiorespiratory Fitness?

We investigated the effect of stair climbing exercise "snacks" on peak oxygen uptake (VO2peak). Sedentary young adults were randomly assigned to perform 3 bouts/d of vigorously ascending a three-flight stairwell (60 steps), separated by 1-4 h of recovery, 3d/wk for 6 wk, or a non-training control group (n=12 each). VO2peak was higher in the climbers post-intervention (P=0.003), suggesting that stair climbing "snacks" are effective in improving cardiorespiratory fitness, although the absolute increase was modest.