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Stair use is a simple, easy and effective way for people to incorporate physical activity into their daily lifestyle. Using the stairs is easily integrated into one’s daily activities and associated with various health benefits. By raising our heart rate, stair climbing helps protect against high blood pressure, weight gain and clogged arteries, lowering the risk of developing coronary heart disease, hypertension, diabetes or colon cancer. Furthermore, it also has a positive effect on muscle strength and bone density. Incidental physical activities like stair climbing are also associated with improved mental health, allowing us to better cope with everyday stress and tensions.
In partnership with the HKU University Health Services and HKU Sustainability Office, the Centre for Sports and Exercise is promoting the “Step up your Health” campaign throughout the month of May, encouraging all staff, students and HKU campus community to join us in pledging to choose the stairs over the lifts and escalators. Through the campaign we would like to raise awareness of both ecological and health-related benefits of using stairs over the lifts.
It’s Easy!!
The reason why stair climbing is so easy to adopt as a daily habit is that it fits in with modern urban life. It is a low-cost and readily accessible form of exercise, which can be done almost anywhere and anytime. With its many high buildings, the HKU campus provides many opportunities for you to build your stair climbing habit into your daily activities.
Not convinced yet?
Stair climbing….
does not require any special skills, training or sporting prowess.
is time efficient, saving us time rather than eating into it.
makes use of the world around us and does not cost anything.
can be done with just a few flights to start off with and build up over time.
doesn’t need any equipment of for you to be dressed in sports clothes.
contributes to reducing energy consumption of lifts.
Furthermore, stair climbing…
enhances heart and lung function and improves blood circulation.
reduces the risk of developing coronary heart disease, hypertension, diabetes or colon cancer.
increases body resistance, thus reduces the chance of contracting diseases.
leads to healthy bones and lowers the risk of osteoporosis.
strengthens muscles.
helps burn body fat, thereby controlling body weight.
With these many benefits, there shouldn’t anything more to hold you back and come join in and “Take the Stairs” for better health and environment.
Take the Pledge
Become an HKU Stairwalker and join us in taking the pledge for the Exercise is Medicine on Campus Month. Through our online pledge form you can take the pledge of taking at least 2 flights of stairs daily throughout the month of May. If that’s not enough of a challenge for you, feel free to pledge 5, 10 or another number of flights of stairs per day.
Help us Promote
Joining our campaign is one thing, but to really make an impact we ask you to encourage your colleagues, friends and families to also join in and “Take the Stairs”. Feel free to download and print out our posters and hang them up at your office, notice boards, cubicle, everywhere to encouraging yourself and others to “Take the Stairs” and work on a better health and environment.
Take the Challenge – HKU Vertical Walk
Step up your Health and join our challenge! As we are promoting stair climbing this month, what would the campaign be without a challenge? So, come join our HKU Vertical Walk Challenge and let’s climb up the Kadoorie Biological Sciences Building together.
On the 22nd of May we are organizing a walk up and down the Kadoorie Biological Sciences Building together. This challenge covers 9 floors with 2 flight of stairs between each floor. We invite all our Stairwalkers to come join us for the walk during lunchtime and show support for our campaign. At the end of the walk there will be enough time to share our walking experiences together and take some pictures at our “Finish Line”.