Your 7-Day Stair Climbing Workout Plan

One of the best vertical trainers, P.J. Glassey, shares simple injury prevention tips and a seven-day training play to get you ready for your next stair climb.

Injury Prevention Training Tips

  • Warm up and cool down for five minutes.
  • When stair climbing in a building, always take the elevator down to avoid injuring knees, ankles and calf muscles.
  • Incorporate three days of H.I.I.T (High Intensity Interval Training).
  • Stretch after every workout; use the foam roller on your IT band and glutes.
  • Rest for one day.

MoreHow to Prevent Injuries in Endurance Training

Sample Seven-Day Glassey Stair Climb Workout

Day One: Treadmill Workout

Set the treadmill incline to 30 percent grade (or the highest on the treadmill) and 4 mph.; go as long as you can and then rest one minute. Repeat six times. Keep track of your segment times.

Day Two: Off Day

Practice mental preparedness. Maybe take a meditation or yoga class to ease your mind and focus on your breathing.

More15 Minutes to a Stronger Mind and Body

Day Three: Tower Training

Assume the building is 50 stories high. Adjust the training based on the number of floors in the training tower.
  • Use the first 15 floors as a warm up, climb at 70 steps per minute, two steps at a time. Use a digital metronome for pacing. 
  • Sprint full speed to floor 30. Ignore the pacer on the sprint segment.
  • Single-step to floor 32 at a 70 steps per min pace.
  • Sprint full speed to floor 39. Again, ignore the pacer on this segment.
  • Single-step to floor 42 at a 70 steps per min pace.
  • Sprint full speed to the top. No need to use the pacer here.

More: Intro to Stair Climbing

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About the Author

Kathy Smith

Kathy Smith is a freelance writer, who has been published in many local Denver magazines and was nationally published in Her Sport. She has a keen interest in writing about athletics. She is a chef, mother of four and a fitness enthusiast. She recently picked up stair climb races as her new favorite sport, and while she isn't the fastest, she is passionate about competing in more races and getting better times.
Kathy Smith is a freelance writer, who has been published in many local Denver magazines and was nationally published in Her Sport. She has a keen interest in writing about athletics. She is a chef, mother of four and a fitness enthusiast. She recently picked up stair climb races as her new favorite sport, and while she isn't the fastest, she is passionate about competing in more races and getting better times.

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