GETTING STRONG NOW! You remember it?the theme song from thehit movie ROCKY. We all remember Rocky as he was running up those stairs inPhilly and the way we felt when he got to the top as he jumped up and down,raising his hands above his head. Yep, Rocky was pretty proud, and if you haveever hit the stairs in your workout, you'll know why?Running stairs kicks yourbutt! Adding stair running to your workouts will tax your lungs, your legs, andshred the fat off your body better than just about any stair climber in thegym.

Before you get started with this intense workout, you?llwant to work out FIRST. That's right, I said you want to work out BEFORE youworkout. The fact is, running stairs is tough?really tough. If you are abeginner, you can not only hurt yourself, but you can pass out if you are notin good enough shape. It is best to have a good background of cardio under yourbelt before adding stair running into your regimen. If you can run a few miles at10-12 minutes per mile, you should be in good enough cardiovascular shape tobegin your super cardio routine on stairs.

Running stairs is simple, and the equipment is available allover the place. One common practice is to run up the bleacher stairs at yourlocal high school, park or my personal choice? at the beach. Other folks choosestair running as their exercise of choice because of the amount they travel.Any multi story hotel will have a great set of stairs for you to use for yourworkout. To begin with, just run up the stairs, somewhat slowly at first, andthen walk back down. Continue this back and forth for 3-5 sets as you get usedto climbing the stairs. You can add intensity and speed with each set but itwon't take long before your lungs are burning and your legs are on fire. Becareful for the first few sets as running stairs is EXTREMELY taxing.

Because of the added work that your lower body will bedoing, running stairs will build fantastic muscle in your calves, thighs, andyes, your gluteus ( butt muscle). You will get a great butt sculpting workoutwith every step you take. The added muscle you build with these serious stairrunning workouts will help to speed up the fat you lose as well. Moremuscle=more fat loss!

If you are REALLY looking to up the fat burning ante, youcan make your stair running even more intense. Simply work to add speed to yourworkout and decrease the amount of rest between each set. You can also work torun DOWN the stairs as well as run up, but be careful; running down the stairscan be really dangerous and cause you to lose your footing. Finally, for thosefitness freaks out there that are in seriously good shape and are looking toget SHREDDED, adding a weight vest to your stair running workout will provide theultimate in fat burning and cardio intensity.