47-year-old Ms. He enjoys climbing stairs to lose weight, but recently, she has been suffering from unbearable knee pain. After going to the hospital for a check-up, she was diagnosed with arthritis. Yesterday, Dai Zhibo, the chief physician of the Fourth Department of Orthopedics at the Provincial Orthopedic Hospital, explained that climbing stairs is not the best form of exercise.
Middle-aged woman climbs stairs to lose weight and develops joint disease
Women all love beauty, and Ms. He is no exception. In middle age, she fears gaining weight the most, but age is unforgiving—her body functions have declined, and her weight has actually increased quite a bit.
During the National Day holiday, Ms. He’s daughter came back home on break, and gatherings with relatives and friends became more frequent. Sometimes there were even three gatherings in a single day, including lunch, dinner, and late-night snacks. After each gathering, Ms. He would sigh, “Ah, I ate too much again.”
Ms. He said that she usually does yoga and stands against a wall for half an hour, but this time she didn’t see much effect. She thought about going out for a run, but there weren’t any suitable places nearby, and going to a specialized gym made her worry about the cost. “Might as well climb stairs—it’s convenient and free,” she thought.
So, living on the 6th floor, she repeatedly went from the 1st floor to the 6th and back down, doing this six or seven times every day. It was the same routine every day she came home, continuing for several days in a row. However, this kind of exercise did not help her lose weight—in fact, she began to feel pain in her knees.
Expert: Repeated stair climbing and mountain hiking can accelerate joint damage
Dai Zhibo explained that when standing on flat ground, each leg bears half of the body’s weight, and the joints experience vertical force that is stable. But when standing on one leg, the entire body weight is supported, doubling the pressure on the knee joint. When going up and down stairs, the knee and hip joints—especially the knees—are in a flexed position, with one bent leg bearing the full body weight.
In addition to the immense load on the knees, the hip joints also endure significant pressure during stair climbing. At this time, the joints are in their least stable state, with uneven stress on muscles, ligaments, and cartilage, which can lead to damage of the cartilage. “We often see bone spurs growing on X-rays, which increase friction with joints, ligaments, and tendons, possibly causing aseptic inflammatory stimulation and resulting in pain,” said Dai Zhibo.
Therefore, Dai Zhibo recommends avoiding stair climbing and mountain hiking as forms of exercise, especially for those over 45 years old. Due to calcium loss and reduced joint flexibility, repeated stair climbing and mountain hiking can accelerate joint damage.