The short answer
Incline walking or Stair climber (StairMaster)?
The stair climber is the pick for the most work in 20 minutes, as long as stairs do not bother your knees. Walk on an incline the day after legs, when stairs make a knee ache, or when the session runs to 40 minutes and up. The calorie gap between them is small. The Compendium gives 9.3 METs for the stair climber and 8.8 for walking at 11 to 20% grade, about 342 against 323 kcal per half hour at 70 kg. Gripping the rails costs more than that.
Side by side
| Question | Incline walking | Stair climber (StairMaster) |
|---|---|---|
| What it is | Walking on a treadmill set to a grade, usually 5 to 15%, at a pace you can hold without holding on. | Climbing a revolving staircase at a set step rate, one stair after another, for minutes at a time. |
| Equipment | A treadmill that inclines, or a long steady hill | A stair climber machine |
| Energy cost (2024 Compendium) | 7.0 METs at 6 to 10% grade, brisk; 8.8 METs at 11 to 20%, slower (codes 17035, 17036) | 9.3 METs, stair treadmill, general (code 02065) |
| 30 minutes at 70 kg (154 lb) | About 257 kcal at 6 to 10%, 323 kcal at 11 to 20% | About 342 kcal |
| 30 minutes at 90 kg (198 lb) | About 331 kcal at 6 to 10%, 416 kcal at 11 to 20% | About 439 kcal |
| How you raise the effort | Grade and speed, in small steps | Step rate only, because the step height on a revolving staircase is fixed |
| Knee demand | Close to walking at low grades, and you choose the grade | A loaded step-up every stride. Climbing stairs peaked at 316% of body weight at the knee, level walking at 261% |
| The day after leg day | Usually fine at 6 to 10% | Hard going, since it repeats the step-up work your legs just did |
| Glutes | Glute activity rose several-fold walking up a 9 degree (about 16%) grade compared with flat walking | Each stride is a small step-up, but nobody has measured the glutes on it the same way. Neither replaces strength work |
| Holding the rails | Gripping cut oxygen use by 15 to 21% at the same speed and grade | Leaning on the rails takes your weight off the legs in the same way |
Choose the incline walking when
- You trained legs hard in the last two days and still want 30 to 45 minutes of cardio.
- Stairs at home or at work already make a knee ache.
- You like long, steady sessions. Most people can keep a treadmill walk going far longer than a stair climber.
- You are new to cardio or have a lot of weight to carry, and want to raise the load 1% of grade at a time.
- You want some glute work from your cardio. A steep, hands-off incline is the one with measured glute data.
Choose the stair climber (stairmaster) when
- You have 20 minutes and want the most work you can fit into them.
- You can climb at a slow step rate for 10 minutes without touching the rails.
- Your goal is a hike, a stair race or a job that keeps you climbing.
- Your knees are happy on stairs and the treadmills are all taken.
Using both in one week
Three cardio slots a week might be one 20 minute stair session and two incline walks of 35 to 45 minutes at 8 to 12%. The stair climber belongs on a day with no lower body strength work, 15 to 20 minutes after an easy warm-up. Incline walking takes the day after legs and the longer, easier sessions.
From flat walking to 20 minutes on the stairs, hands off
- Walk 30 minutes on the flat at 5 to 5.5 km/h (3.1 to 3.4 mph), arms swinging free.
- Add 2% of grade each week, same speed, until you reach 8 to 10%.
- Hold 12% at about 4.8 km/h (3 mph) for 30 minutes, hands off. That is the popular 12-3-30 session, about 8.8 METs.
- Once or twice a week, add 5 minutes on the stair climber after a walk, at a step rate slow enough to climb without the rails.
- Add 2 to 3 minutes per session until the stair block reaches 20 minutes.
- Only then raise the step rate, one level at a time, when 20 minutes feels steady.
The numbers
- Stair climber, 30 min, 70 kg
- About 342 kcal9.3 METs (code 02065) x 3.5 x 70 / 200 = 11.4 kcal a minute, x 30. At 90 kg: 439 kcal.
- Incline walk at 11 to 20%, 30 min, 70 kg
- About 323 kcal8.8 METs (code 17036) x 3.5 x 70 / 200 = 10.8 kcal a minute, x 30. At 90 kg: 416 kcal.
- Holding the rails
- 15 to 21% less oxygenSame speed and grade, rails gripped versus arms swinging, 10 adults on a treadmill (2006).
- Knee load climbing stairs
- 316% of body weightPeak force measured by instrumented knee implants. Level walking reached 261%, going down stairs 346% (Kutzner 2010).
Mistakes that cost the most
- Gripping the treadmill rails. In the study it cut oxygen use by 15 to 21%, and the console does not know you are holding on.
- Leaning on the stair climber's console. Your arms then carry weight your legs should be lifting.
- Starting at 15% and top speed in week one. Calves and shins take a few weeks to adapt to a steep grade.
- Using the stair climber the morning after heavy squats and calling it recovery.
Questions people ask
StairMaster or incline treadmill for fat loss?
The stair climber burns a little more per minute, 9.3 against 8.8 METs at a steep grade, or 342 against 323 kcal per half hour at 70 kg. Next to your weekly total and what you eat, that 19 kcal is small. Pick the one you will actually do three or four times a week for 30 minutes or more, hands off the rails.
StairMaster or incline treadmill after leg day?
The incline treadmill. A walk at 6 to 10% still counts as vigorous cardio at 7.0 METs, and your sore thighs are spared lifting your whole weight up one stair after another.
Is incline walking or the StairMaster better for knees?
Usually incline walking, since you can start almost flat and add 1% at a time. Knee implants fitted with sensors recorded 316% of body weight climbing stairs and 261% walking on the level. The stair machine does have one thing over real stairs: you never walk down it, and going down stairs loaded the knee most of all, at 346%.
How many calories does the 12-3-30 workout burn?
12% grade at 4.8 km/h (3 mph) for 30 minutes sits in the Compendium's 11 to 20% grade code at 8.8 METs: about 323 kcal at 70 kg and 416 at 90 kg, hands off. Gripping the rails took 15 to 21% off oxygen use in a treadmill study, which would bring 323 down to roughly 255 to 275.
Sources
- 2024 Adult Compendium of Physical Activities: A third update of the energy costs of human activitiesJournal of Sport and Health Science, 2024
- 2024 Adult CompendiumCompendium of Physical Activities (pacompendium.com), 2024
- The effect of handrail support on oxygen uptake during steady-state treadmill exerciseJournal of Cardiopulmonary Rehabilitation, 2006
- Loading of the knee joint during activities of daily living measured in vivo in five subjectsJournal of Biomechanics, 2010
- The effects of grade and speed on leg muscle activations during walkingGait and Posture, 2012
Figures on this page come from the studies above or from the arithmetic shown. Read how claims are reviewed and updated in How the guides are written.