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Steps to fitness
Climbing stairs helps a Zionsville engineer lose 145
pounds and rebuild his health.
February 2, 2004 When you consider the many ups and downs in Jon Blackburn's life, his unusual choice of exercise seems sort of logical: He's a stair-climber. His workouts take him up and down thousands of steps a day. Exercising on steps is something that fitness experts have long encouraged. Step aerobics, stair-step machines and plastic step platforms are among the options. And Blackburn is an excellent example of the health benefits of stair-climbing. Blackburn's pursuit of fitness started in December 2002. The Zionsville engineer's weight was up to 340 pounds, and he was feeling down. "It didn't seem like life was worth living," says Blackburn, now 44. With his health deteriorating, he decided to focus on fitness. Problem was, he didn't have a lot of exercise options. "I got out of breath bringing the groceries in," he says. Because he could walk up the flight of steps to his Lebanon office, he decided to try step aerobics. He devised his own "step," a platform made of concrete blocks, in his garage, and started stepping: up, up, down, down, up, up, down, down. . . . "I set the hurdle very low," he says, stepping only 10 minutes the first few times. Slowly, his ability to exercise increased and his weight decreased. That's when he started pre-dawn treks up and down the 30 steps at his church, at the Eagle Center in Zionsville. He's worked up to 6,000 steps a workout. When he discovered that stair-climb races are conducted in many cities, Blackburn decided that his next step was competition. In November, he entered Go Vertical, "the longest urban stair climb in the world" -- 103 floors and 2,109 steps -- in the Sears Tower in Chicago. Jan. 24, he did the annual Bop to the Top of the American United Life Building in Indianapolis. He ran up the 37 floors -- 806 steps -- in 6 minutes and 18 seconds. "The race is a celebration," says Blackburn, who says he has lost 145 pounds and a watermelon-size belly in the past year. "This is fun." Blackburn is unusual in his extreme devotion to steps, says Bop director Don Carr. Most "Boppers" are runners, walkers or cyclists who do the stair-climb for a mid-winter change of pace. But Blackburn's experience reflects the fitness benefits of stair-climbing. Lifting your body weight vertically requires more effort than moving horizontally, says Melanie Roberts, director of the fitness center at the National Institute for Fitness and Sport in Indianapolis. So, climbing stairs burns more calories than walking on flat ground. There are many ways to step up your activity level. Step aerobics classes have been attracting exercisers since the 1980s. NIFS offers more than 12 such classes a week, Roberts says. "It is very popular" for both men and women because the workouts focus on both strength and cardiovascular fitness. Gyms also have a variety of stair-step machines, like vertical treadmills, that can be adjusted to the exerciser's fitness level. These days, in an effort to get sedentary Americans to add bits of activity to their day, health experts recommend taking the stairs instead of the elevator whenever possible. Stair-climbing burns eight to 11 calories a minute, more than many other physical activities, says Health Canada. That government health agency encourages businesses to establish "Stairway to Health" programs to inspire workers to take the stairs. Every step helps. A worker who climbs two flights a day can lose about 6 pounds in a year, the agency says. According to Health Canada, studies of stair climbers have shown a variety of health benefits, including improved bone density in post-menopausal women, increases in "good" HDL cholesterol in the blood, and improved leg strength, which may result in fewer falls and injuries in elderly people. While stair-climbing helped Blackburn get rid of his extra pounds, he does not consider it the be-all-and-end-all of exercise. "Stair-climbing is not for everybody," he says. "It works really well for me." "I like it a lot. That's the key. Find what you like to do and make it a habit." Blackburn feels so good these days that he's inclined to continue his low-fat eating and high-intensity exercise habits the rest of his life. "The change in appearance is insignificant compared to the change in how I feel," he says. Instead of being exhausted all the time, "I'm pumped when I get out of bed in the morning." What's the next step? Sunday, Blackburn plans to do the Step Up For Kids event. That's 1,643 steps up the Aon Center in Chicago. Call Star reporter Patricia Hagen at (317) 444-6017. 
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