European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - July 30, 1988, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Ping up to by William Stockton new York times t s time to celebrate the fourth floor walk up. It s not the apartment we re interested in but the stairs. The typical fourth floor walk up should have about 50 Steps providing about 40 feet of vertical Rise. Moving your body up and Down the stairs is work and work equals exercise. As a fitness tool stairs have several advantages. They re highly accessible and in most situations protected from inclement weather. And there Are no distractions in stairwells like a pleasant View. To climb them you need no special equipment just a comfortable pair of shoes. There is nothing magical about Stair climbing but it is Good aerobic activity said Steve Farrell associate director of continuing education at the Institute for aerobic research in Dallas. Any activity that elevates the pulse rate for an extended time and uses Large muscle groups is  Farrell s words came tumbling out jammed together As if he were speaking a set piece. They lacked the ring of conviction. Farrell paused a moment and then added Stair climbing certainly is not for  but Kenneth Cooper the physician and leading proponent of aerobic exercise who founded the Dallas Institute has written books in which he actually advocates Stair climbing As an exercise. Two decades ago when he was doing the Basic research that made his reputation he hooked people to instruments and studied their physiology while they climbed stairs. Cooper has even published exercise programs based entirely on stairs. Cooper s advocacy of Stair climbing is Well documented but did Farrell actually know someone who regularly climbed stairs for fitness someone who regularly climbs stairs for fitness he repeated pondering the idea. Not by name i Don t. I d say it s a pretty Small proportion of the population that climbs stairs As a primary Way to work out. I do a Stair climb occasionally but to me it is very  still climbing stairs is an effective aerobic exercise. Judging from Tjie Cooper data running up and Down a flight of stairs consisting of 10 Steps six to seven inches in height could work up quite a sweat. Someone from 30 to 49 years old who performed eight of these round trips a minute for 13 minutes five times a week would earn 29 of Cooper s Points. Earning the same number of Points running and jogging would require covering two Miles in 24 minutes four times a week. And look at the time savings. It was wonderful exercise recalled Walter Bottger a Manhattan lawyer who lives on the 15th floor of an apartment. He had been described As a dedicated Stair climber. I did it for five or six years before and during ski season he said. It was terrific for the quadriceps. I could ski As hard As i wanted All Day and not get  alas he Hurt his knee running about five years ago and the Ortho Peist ordered the Stair climbing to end. To Tell you the truth it was Boring but the Best conditioning i Ever had he said his voice betraying not the slightest bit of nostalgia. Robert Cooke climbed stairs off and on for a few years. The last period was several years ago while getting ready for a trek in the Atlas mountains of Morocco. I used to do about 50 flights up he recalled. It s Good in inclement weather but the View is not great. I Only did it out of necessity. I much prefer being outdoors. I m a  but in All of his Stair climbing he never once encountered an unfriendly dog. Stair climbing 30-49 years of age this program applies to a set of 10 Steps 6 to 7 inches High with a 25 degree to 30 degree incline. During the first six weeks the requirement is to exercise the required number of minutes not continuously. Rest frequently but walk slowly while resting. The time goal is combined time for climbing and resting. Beginning with the seventh week the time goals refer to continuous exercise. You Are in Good condition if you Are averaging 27 Points a week women or 32 Points a week men for Al your aerobic activities. Round trips time goal week . Min 1/2 3/4 5/6 7 8 9 10 11/12 13 14 5 5 5 6 6 6 7 7 8 8 7 30 10 00 12 00 6 30 7 30 8 30 9 00 10 30 11 00 13 00 frequency Points week week 3 3 3 4 4 5 4 4/5 5 5 0 0 0 6.0 6.92 9.81 12.0 14.0/17.5 25.0 29.54 source the aerobics program for total Well being by or. Kenneth Cooper still some of the most popular machines in health clubs Are the Stair simulators. Stairmaster for example is a revolving set of Steps that constantly presents you with another step to mount. A lever lets you select the Speed from a gentle climb to a lung stinging run. They re very popular and they provide one of the Best workouts available said Dave Dardano fitness director at new York health and Racquet club. Tom pulling who works on Wall Street bought a stairmaster for his apartment on the 18th floor of a Manhattan building i hate the thing he said. It s so bloody Boring. But it s Good  he does 50 flights or so each morning before work. One of the ultimate challenges in Stair climbing of course is the Empire state building. The annual race to the top takes slightly less than 13 minutes and reporters each year like to make comparisons with King Kong s ascent even though he bypassed the stairs and had a weight Handicap Fay Wray. What Stair climbing needs is a More romantic image something to attract new devotees in search of a trendy fitness Niche. The Empire state building run provides one of the few stories we can seize upon for this purpose. Veteran fitness buffs probably recall that the first run in 1978 was won by Gary Muhrcke. The Victory was greeted with incredulity by Many who wondered Why someone would voluntarily run up 1,575 Steps. But the affair took a delicious turn when it was revealed that Muhrcke had earlier received a disability pension from the new York City fire department because of Back problems. Astonished officials ordered that his Case be re evaluated but doctors ultimately upheld the pension saying that running up stairs was irrelevant to Muhrcke s inability to carry heavy hoses the ruling defused the Issue. Unfortunately it also deprived Stair climbing of a possible Folk hero someone who might have helped Start a now fitness movement. Saturday july 30, 1988 the stars and stripes Page 17