STAIRS: Tips to help going up or down.

Trouble going up or down stairs is a common complaint for those older or suffering from injury. This is an especially acute issue for anyone who has difficulty walking or who experiences knee problems. Interestingly, the process to assist in traversing stairs is completely different for going down stairs than for going up.

The dynamics of climbing up stairs versus descending down.

  • Going up stairs: Requires primarily core strength.
  • Stepping down stairs: This is the more risky of the two and the more difficult by far for the knees.

Tips for climbing up stairs:

​Isn't leg strength important? Leg strength is a part of the equation but I have found that core strength is actually much more significant. The legs are made so much stronger when the core is actively involved. It makes the difference between night and day.
If climbing stairs is difficult: I suffered from a lower back injury 10 years ago. For one of the classes I was teaching I had to climb a long outdoor staircase to get from the parking lot to the facility's front door. I discovered then that the only way I could do that without experiencing back pain was to engage my core heartily. Here are two suggestions:

  1. Pelvic Floor Muscles: Before your first step, tighten the pelvic floor muscles by practicing the Kegel contraction. Imagine stopping the flow of urine as we do when providing a urine sample. That image causes the contraction of the bladder control muscles automatically which in turn stabilizes the tailbone. It is the deepest core contraction available to us and is the best at providing the strength to aggressively use our legs to climb. When I was injured, I found that when I engaged my pelvic floor muscles that climbing stairs was so little effort it was startling.
  2. Engage the abdominals: Just pulling the belly in is the answer to a host of difficulties that challenge us as we age. And it really is that easy. Just prior to the climb, pull the abdomen in and keep pulling it in. Every time your legs feel weak, pull the belly in. 
A rule of thumb:
​If something hurts, pull your belly in till it doesn't.

Going down stairs seems like it should be easy. But it's not.

The number one goal for anyone who has trouble going down stairs should be to increase the flexibility of your knees right before attempting it.

The process is similar to rolling through your feet as you walk. It requires flexibility in the knees and ankles, especially the knees.

It is all about the knees. If your knees are stiff then going down stairs is much harder, even dangerous. Our knees are stiff when they have been injured, when we have been inactive for a while and whenever we are tense or anxious. Knee problems are very common. There are approximately 1 million total knee replacements performed in the United States. By 2030 that number is expected to jump to 3.5 million. Sports injuries in youth are one cause. But we also tend to hold tension in the knees for various reasons. It is common for example to "lock your knees".

When your knees are stiff and you are trying to step down what happens is the whole body is thrown off balance. It feels very precarious and indeed makes us a lot more likely to fall. Here are 3 suggestions. Try each to see which helps you the most. At the very least, train yourself to do the 3rd one before going down stairs.

  • Knee Warmup: The best approach of all is to warm your knee joints up ahead of time either sitting or standing using the knee circling exercises highlighted in Building Better Balance. (See the link below.)
  • Standing Circles: Do standing knee circles at the top of the stairs. Make sure to hold onto something with one hand while holding the knees with the other.
  • Get your knees working first: Stand on the top stair and gently bend and straighten both knees several times before stepping down.
Flexibility in the ankle and foot joints is also important. Circle the ankles, flex and point the feet and in particular get the ball joints of the feet moving. To do that place one foot behind the other and lift the heel up and down repeatedly to stretch the joints. Keep the ball of the foot on the floor. Make sure you are holding onto something while practicing.
Abdominals help greatly in this process.

The mechanics of stepping down stairs:

The role of the back knee: In order to descend stably the back knee must bend. For the knee to bend the ankle must too. Some guidelines:

When stepping down with the right foot first:
  • Bend your left knee.
  • Let your left ankle release so your left heel can lift up.
  • Pull your abdomen in before taking a step.
  • Step down with your right foot.
  • Reverse.
  • Try to keep your toes pointing forward with your feet in parallel position as normal. One way to sidestep knee stiffness is to turn the back leg out as you descend. This can become a bad habit. Better to increase knee flexibility so turning out is unnecessary.

Practice. Practice. Practice.
Always keep your hands free and hold on to the banister.
Bend knee, lift heel, pull in belly and step down with the other foot.

Fitness Tips: Repeated stair climbing is a great strengthener and really valuable for anyone but especially for those older.
​
  • Set up the scene for practice.
  • At first use only 2 or 3 stairs to practice.
  • When practicing climbing up, at the top, back down to repeat.
  • When practicing going down stairs, at the bottom turn around and climb back up.
  • Look straight ahead instead of down at the stairs.
  • Hold onto something stable for the entire time, preferably with both hands on bannisters on both sides.
  • Keep your hands free of packages or pocketbooks whenever you go up or down stairs. (Use a cross body bag for your purse. It is much better for the spine and allows you to keep both hands free.)
  • When going up stairs start with your stronger leg. When going down stairs, begin with the weaker one.
  • Practice going up or down stairs using the correct method over and over. It really does take practice.
Published January 31, 2022.