Are Stair Steppers Good To Use in a HIIT Routine?

High-Intensity Interval Training (HIIT) is all the rage with calorie-burning studios and there are a whole plethora of machines and boot camps making the round for the purpose of making our hearts race and our bodies sweat. 

If you’re looking for ideal machines for your workout then you want to find a good balance between safety and quantity of muscles engaged by the cardiovascular action used in the HIIT routine. 

For that purpose home gym machines such as stair mills, stair climbers, stair steppers and the like are all various twists on the same premise and general motion. 

Stair steppers are wonderfully far on the safe side of the spectrum where you are at minimal risk of tripping and stumbling. 

Mini Steppers – Safety in HIIT

With the emphasis on working out as hard as you can, it’s easy to make a misstep when pushing yourself to the limit. 

This is a big reason why exercise bikes, ellipticals, and stair steppers are all popular to use in HIIT routines as they all allow you to really push yourself to the limit while your feet stay safely on the footpads of the machine.

It’s also worth recognizing the benefits of impact reduction these machines have for those concerned about their joint health. 

The guided machine motion that these pieces of equipment keep your legs from going through the regular impact and stress of running on a treadmill, a stairwell or sprinting outside. 

While a little bit of joint impact isn’t bad for most people, these reduced impact exercise machines offer a safe and less painful machine workout for people recovering from leg injuries or concerned about potential joint damage accrued of using HIIT routines for a long period of time.

The Tradeoff

These styles of machines are great for the above reasons, but they do suffer in some aspects as compared to traditional mills. 

When running on a treadmill or Stairmaster you will engage more muscle groups that will extend up into your core as you are forced to balance while going through your exercise routine which is great if you want to tone every muscle in your body simultaneously. 

But this lack of additional engaged muscles doesn’t stop ellipticals from being one of the most popular machines to perform HIIT routines on. 

These guided motion machine benefits of being much easier to use because they don’t engage the core because you don’t have to actually have to balance while using them.

And when it comes to engaging muscle groups the stair stepper is better than the elliptical while still being of similar levels of safety. 

The difficulty of the upward climbing motion will get your heart rate up faster and easier than most machines and the movement actually engages a large array of muscles throughout your legs. 

Stair steppers are actually wonderful for engaging the glutes, hamstrings, quads, and calves all at the same time for an all-around amazing leg sculpting workout to enjoy the benefits of while also benefiting from the usual calorie burning and cardiovascular health improvements offered by High-Intensity Interval Training.

Try the BH Fitness LK700S Stepper that provides all you need from toning the legs to strengthening the core. 

HIIT Training For the Home Gym

For those looking to get the fat-burning benefits of HIIT training inside their own home, these styles of machines are also great for having a small profile compared to treadmills and ellipticals.

Stair steppers are easy to set in the corner of a room dedicated to your own home gym and some even include an even smaller profile by allowing the legs folding up into the machine. 

Or for those who are looking for the absolute bare minimum profile from their workout machines they can find it in the mini stair stepper which many versions can even be stored underneath your bed or tucked away in a closet or under a desk.

So the big take-home here is that stair stepper exercise equipment is that they are completely viable options for HIIT routines, striking a fair balance between ellipticals and stairwells. 

There are variants that offer all the modern features and safety you’d want and if you need a more economical option or are limited on space for your home exercise then there are affordable and amazing space-saving mini stair steppers that have some models as cheap as just a single month’s gym membership making them a cheap alternative for cardio friends who want to cut the gym out of their budget but can’t afford a full-size cardio machine for their home.

When you’re ready to get started, visit Fitness Expo – Mississippi today.