Racing up the Empire State Building Run-Up in New York on February 3. The winner went up the 86 floors in 10 minutes, 7 seconds.

By LIZ ROBBINS


Eighteen years ago, Ronnie Guie considered buying a treadmill or a stair-climbing machine to stay in shape. Then one day on his lunch hour at the electric utility in New York City where he worked, two co-workers invited Mr.Guie to take a walk to the top of the 10-floor building. He was breathing heavily by the time he got there, but was hooked: he had found his workout for free.

“For me, it’s a quick fix,”he said.

At 59, Mr.Guie says he still has the same waist size (76 centimeters) and weight range (68 to 70 kilograms) that he did when he was 17, thanks to his five-day-a-week regimen. He climbs the concrete stairs usually 10 times or so in an hour, depending how much time he has.“I get the results out of it - and it’s not easy,”he said.“But I always feel great.”

Stairs are everywhere, of course, but they are rarely embraced as an option for getting into shape. They provide a workout that returns maximum value in minimum time, with low impact. And going up is much better for your knees than going down.

“Stair climbing will give you a little more bang for your buck because of the vertical component,”said Cedric Bryant, chief science officer for the American Council on Exercise. Compared with jogging or cycling at a moderate pace without much of an incline, stair climbing, Dr.Bryant said,“will be a bit more challenging and therefore allow you to burn more calories for that same amount of time.”

Once a year, Mr.Guie goes for the ultimate burn. On February 3, he and 318 other climbers competed in the 32nd annual Empire State Building Run-Up in New York, racing up 86 floors and 1,576 stairs. Taking two at a time, Mr.Guie reached the observation deck in 19 minutes 34 seconds.

The winner of the invitational race, Thomas Dold, 24, of Germany, finished in 10:07.

Tower running events, many of which benefit charities, are held in world skyscrapers, from Taipei, Taiwan, to Milan, that open stairwells just for the occasion.

Dr.Bryant said that walking up stairs at a moderate intensity should burn 5 calories a minute for a 55-kilogram person, and 9 for an 80-kilogram person. Running stairs multiplies the caloric burn and the cardiovascular benefit.

Steven Loy, professor of kinesiology at California State University, Northridge, and a consultant for StairMaster in 1993, said stair climbing could appeal to those who were not competitive.

“For people who are overweight and not as well conditioned, they may not be able to run, but they could climb stairs,”

Mr.Loy said. Mr.Loy described some drawbacks to tower running.“The lactic acid production is high,”he said.“And the higher you go, the worse you feel.”

“Personally,”he added,“it doesn’t appeal.”

Ronnie Guie has heard that before when recruiting others to take the stairs for a workout.“Believe me, I have tried,”he said.“They don’t have the discipline.”