Be Well Workout of the Week: Sculpt Your Muscles With Stairs 

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Find a set of stairs — the Art Museum! Your office building! Your house! — and get ready to run up and down. For the first round of this workout, you’re going to run up and down one flight of stairs, then complete a circuit of bodyweight exercises. Next, you’ll run two flights of stairs, and repeat the circuit, then three flights, and the circuit and — well, you get the gist — until you get to five flights of stairs. Once you’ve completed the circuit after running five flights of stairs, you’re done!

Now, ready to sweat? Good luck! 

Note: If you’re working with a short flight of stairs, double the flights to get the most out of your workout. 

Be Well Workout of the Week: Get Sculpted Muscles Using Stairs

Round 1
Run 1 flight of stairs
Do circuit:
10 push-ups (with hands on step)
10 squat jumps (land on step)
10 tricep dips (with hands on step)
10 walk-ups
10 knee drives

Round 2
Run 2 flights of stairs
Repeat circuit

Round 3
Run 3 flights of stairs
Repeat circuit

Round 4
Run 4 flights of stairs
Repeat circuit

Round 5
Run 5 flights of stairs
Repeat circuit

Explanation of exercises:

Push-up: Start lying face down with your chest on the floor, with hands facing forward and palms down in line with your shoulders; elbows should be pointing back. Push up until arms are extended (the inside of the elbow should be facing forward) and drop back down.

Squat jumps: Stand with feet hip-width apart and perform a squat, dropping your rear until your knees are just behind your toes and your hamstrings are parallel to the floor. As you stand, propel yourself upwards and jump. Return to standing and squat again.

Tricep dips: Sit on a bench with your hands gripping the edge, fingers forward. Scoot your butt off the edge and walk your feet out a few steps. Drop your body and bend your elbows until they’re at 90 degrees. Push yourself back up until your arms are extended all the way.

Walk-ups: In front of a flight of starts, start with hands on the ground and your feet in a plank position. Walk your hands up as many steps as you can without moving your feet, then walk your hands back down to the starting position.

Knee drives: Start with your right foot on the step. Press into your right foot and as you stand up, drive your left knee up towards your chest. Return your left foot to the floor in one fluid motion. Do all reps on the right, then on the left.

>> Did you complete this week’s BeWOW? Tell us how you did in the comments! Or, feel free to tweet at us about it using the hashtag #BeWOW. Check out all the BeWOW workouts here.

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Audrey McKenna Hasse is the owner of A.M.Fit, a personal training and healthy consultation business on the Main Line. You’ll find her workouts every Monday right here on Be Well Philly.

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