Stair climber machines are extremely popular with some kinds of trainers, such as athletes or recreational users, who like to benefit from some of the specific types of exercise that these kinds of workouts provide. Stair climbers can aid in helping individuals to practice anaerobic conditioning. Anaerobic conditioning is something that athletes and others do to help them really improve their body responses and allow them to respond to extreme athletic challenges.

Anaerobic exercise is an intense, advanced kind of exercise that triggers a change in the body's metabolism. Lower intensity forms of exercise are called aerobic exercise. Anaerobic exercise causes the body to use oxygen in a different way. Anaerobic exercises include high intensity work on a stair climber or other machine. Some muscle sets called "fast twitch muscles" also use anaerobic methods, so that agility training drills and similar exercises may also fall into the category of anaerobic exercise.

When an individual uses the stair climber for an extended period of time, it puts an enormous demand on the lower body muscles, as well as the cardiovascular system. The heart and cardiovascular system need to provide for moving the entire body against gravity, and the leg muscles need to keep up. The result is that, at some point, an anaerobic method kicks in. This makes the body more able to handle the general demands of an anaerobic exercise, which is why it is called anaerobic conditioning.

Some of those who rely on stair climbers or physical sets of stairs for anaerobic conditioning like to do specific exercises like stair lunges, which may be relatively stationary. Others just run up groups of stairs or measure their progress by distance. Either way, these exercises will help the body to become accustomed to anaerobic metabolism and strengthen all of the leg and foot muscles that propel the body.

Advanced challenges provide even more conditioning with stair climbers or flights of stairs. One way to ramp up a stair climbing exercise is with additional weight. Users carry additional weight in the form of dumbbells or barbells, other free weights, or a weighted vest or other worn weight.

In addition, there are activities known as plyometrics or "explosive" body responses, where individuals might practice quick lunges, cross-overs, or other fast actions to help boost muscle power. Plyometrics trains the body to exert force as fast as possible, and can be really helpful in many forms of athletic competition, from team sports to track and field.

Experts recommend a proper warm-up and stretching routine for all of these types of demanding and intense exercise that fall into the category of anaerobic conditioning. The stair climbing machine provides a handy and convenient way to work out on stairs when access to a larger building is not available. Think about creative ways to add these exercises to an existing fitness routine.