- #1
BicycleTree
- 520
- 0
I generally walk at a leisurely pace, maybe two steps a second or so, which I have found results in a walking speed slightly faster than the average. When taking stairs, however, I do one of two things: I either maintain the same leisurely pace, climbing two stairs a second, or if I'm in a hurry I take two stairs at a time, and because I'm basically running my pace is also faster and I cover maybe 6 or 8 stairs a second. But I have noticed that some people, particularly women, hurry up stairs taking one step at a time but stepping quickly, but walking at a moderate pace (generally slower than myself) before the stairs and resuming that moderate walking pace after the stairs. What I'm wondering is, why?
Is it for fitness? Then why not run when not on the stairs? Is it that they try to maintain a fixed speed instead of a fixed cadence? Is it just a cultural habit? Is it because a quick-single-stair-stepping manner is the optimum when descending stairs, and they somehow don't make the distinction between descending and ascending? Is it so that they climb the entire stairs before their muscles stop working anaerobically? If anyone does this, I am interested to learn the reasons.
Is it for fitness? Then why not run when not on the stairs? Is it that they try to maintain a fixed speed instead of a fixed cadence? Is it just a cultural habit? Is it because a quick-single-stair-stepping manner is the optimum when descending stairs, and they somehow don't make the distinction between descending and ascending? Is it so that they climb the entire stairs before their muscles stop working anaerobically? If anyone does this, I am interested to learn the reasons.