Is the Stairmaster Good for Weight Loss
This short blog post is dedicated to all you endless cardio warriors out there, specifically those who daily climb Mount Everest on the Stairmaster.
How many times have you been in your car traveling to the gym dreading the time you’re about to spend on the Stairmaster?
It feels good at the end, everyone gets it…
It seems like the start of this piece is setting up to vilify your preferred method of cardiovascular training, however, you’ll find out this is not the case. If you absolutely love the Stairmaster and it’s the exercise you just cannot do without, please disregard this blog post altogether.
If you’re looking for a perspective on how to use the Stairmaster as one of many tools in your tool belt for your weight loss program, keep reading!
What this blog post will help you do is understand the roll the Stairmaster can play in your weight loss program. Additionally, it will take you from someone who thinks you have to suffer like a hamster on a wheel, to someone who has the freedom to choose how you spend your workout time while achieving the weight loss you deserve.
Let’s get to work!
What is the Stairmaster?
Stairmaster is actually a brand name for certain stepmills or steppers. For a more in-depth history of the company, check out an interesting article here.
The stepmill is a variable speed revolving endless staircase.
The stepper has two alternating downward moving pedals.
The Stairmaster will be the term used when referring to either the stepmill or the stepper in this blog post.
What does it take to achieve weight loss?
If you’re new to the Cornerstone Weight Loss Blog, welcome! As you read the blog posts throughout, you’ll notice that weight loss is achieved through a caloric deficit -calories in/calories out.
*Side note: for a recent article that goes over this in greater detail, as well as a link to a peer reviewed scientific study that can help you better understand, go here.
Additionally, you’ll also learn that the mission of Cornerstone Weight Loss is to help you better understand how food affects your body in a common sense way that will put you in control of how you look.
Whatever you do to ensure that your average energy expenditure is greater than your average energy intake, you’ll experience weight loss. There are numerous ways to get to this state of energy imbalance. The most simplistic (and most irritating when you’re actually looking for solutions to your weight loss challenge instead of cute catch phrases) is to eat less and move more.
What you’ll begin to explore here is how the Stairmaster can help get you to the proper energy imbalance for you to achieve weight loss. More importantly, you’ll be able to explore ways to substitute non-exercise actions in order to prevent you from becoming overly-dependent on the Stairmaster during your weight loss program.
How the Stairmaster can be your ally in weight loss
It’s widely accepted that one pound of body fat contains an estimated 3500 calories worth of energy.
*Side note: what you just read is simplistic explanation of weight loss because this article is about whether or not the Stairmaster is good for weight loss. For a more in-depth view on how weight loss is achieved, check this out.
As long as you have your weight loss program dialed in, making sure you have all your Big Rocks in order and understand how to set up your macronutrients to serve you best, the Stairmaster can help you further reduce your calories.
According to this Harvard article, depending on how much you weigh, “Stair Step Machine: General” for 30 minute bouts expends 180-252 kcal worth of energy.
This can mean that by adding a 30 minute Stairmaster regimen 4 times per week can help accelerate your weight loss approximately one pound per month, not counting energy expenditure from other exercise activity.
The Stairmaster seems to be a great tool for your weight loss program.
How the Stairmaster can work against you in weight loss
Sometimes it’s easy to get caught up in thinking that you have to keep adding more and more to your workout regimen for your weight loss goal. There seems to be a psychological factor that steers you into never being able to let off the gas, even after you have achieved your weight loss goal.
If you don’t have an experienced guide to help you with the non-negotiable part of your weight loss program after you achieve your weight loss goal, tools like the Stairmaster can work against you.
If you don’t know about this, please stop reading this blog post and go here.
The beginning of this blog post began with a joke about climbing Mount Everest, but there seems to be a little truth in every bit of humor.
How often have you seen that person that must do a ritualistic dance with the Stairmaster in order to have an acceptable (in his or her eyes) workout?
There seems to be a mentality that makes you believe you’re going to reverse your weight loss if you don’t continually chase the Stairmaster carrot.
When do you think that’s going to end?
How long do you think you can consistently spend an hour on the Stairmaster everyday?
When do you suppose you’ll burn out?
What you’re about to read is going to sound extreme, and you may call it crazy. Have an open mind anyway.
Experience says there will come a day when it’s not feasible for you to dedicate that much time to one weight loss tool. If you give that up involuntarily, it can disturb your mental game and has the potential to cause you to reverse your weight loss.
*Side note: if this has been your story, please leave a comment below or email mike@cornerstoneweightloss.com.
It is for this reason that you should use tools for your weight loss program like the Stairmaster three ways:
- To ramp up calorie expenditure nearing the end of the low-calorie phase of your weight loss program
- As a part of your overall cardiovascular health campaign in conjunction with other methods of training
- As a substitute for other cardiovascular training if you’re in a controlled reduction of overall energy expenditure after you have achieved your weight loss goal
*Side note: if some of that does not make sense, please get in touch by filling out the form in the bottom of this blog post. It costs nothing to ask questions!
The conclusion of the matter
You may be starting to understand that there is little in the weight loss world that has a simplistic answer.
It seems anyone can just give you a flat answer to the question, is the Stairmaster good for weight loss? For those of you new to the weight loss and fitness world and are trying to gain a better understanding for yourself, things aren’t as obvious as some would have you believe.
The Stairmaster is one of many tools in your tool belt for your weight loss program. It can be used in a positive manner, and can also be taken to a point that’s unhealthy. It’s imperative in the weight loss and fitness world that you do not take anything too far in one direction as some would have you go. Consistency is the key for longterm weight loss. Balance is a crucial.
At Cornerstone Weight Loss we help you better understand how food affects your body in a common sense way that will put you in control of how you look. In order to get in touch with a professional who can help tailor your weight loss plan to you, click below, fill out the information, and a member of the Cornerstone Weight Loss team will reach out to you to get the results in weight loss you deserve.