Stairmaster elevation estimates?

[OlympicMtnBoy]

Ok, so I was in the gym on the stairmaster (I know, working out indoors is lame but it was my lunch break) and I was looking at the stats on the screen. How much is a floor? When I've climbed 90 floors in Stairmaster world, how many feet have I climbed? Rough estimate?

[woodchips]

9-10 feet, if you're talking about a real building. Who knows in stairmaster world?

[Sherri]

This is still real-world, but there must be some correlation.

 

"How Many Steps are in a...

• 1 mile = 2,000 – 2,500 steps

• 1 mile = 5, 280 feet

• The average step length for an adult is 2.5 feet

• Most adults walk 2 – 4 miles per hour.

• Most adults walk about about 750 – 1,500 steps in 10 minutes.

• One city block is about 200 steps.

• 10,000 steps is 4 – 5 miles.

• One flight of stairs averages 10 steps.

• Average distance, round trip, from a couch to a TV-8 steps.

• Most school tracks are _ mile=500-625 steps."

 

So, every 10 strides on the stairmaster is a story. 'bout the same as the trip from the couch to the TV, if it were uphill.

 

 

[Dechristo]

• One flight of stairs averages 10 steps.

 

This seems an arbitrary statement.

 

Steps per "story" is simply the height of "story" (total rise) divided by the height per step (riser).

[jjd]

Why not just measure the height of a step on the machine? It's probably about 7 inches.

[fern]

if you want to relate it to a real world measure of elevation gain (like hiking a steep trail) you would need to measure the vertical displacement of YOUR centre of mass per step on the machine and then multiply by the number of steps you take.

[counterfeitfake]

Does the machine not have a vertical gain stat?

 

The product manual for the Nautilus Stairmaster Stepmill 7000PT says:

 

FLOORS is the cumulative number of floors you have climbed based on an average eight-inch step and 16 steps per floor.

[jjd]

Your center of mass doesn't change on the machine.

[OlympicMtnBoy]

Finally! CFF has something useful. No, the machine at my gym does not have a vertical gain stat, and that's exactly what I was trying to figure out. It's also some version or other of the Nautilus Stairmaster so I'll assume that definition of a "floor" is the same. One floor in stairmaster world=10.66 feet, 94 floors=1000 ft. Before you go off, I KNOW it's just an estimate, it's also an indoor gym. :-p Thanks CFF.

[jjd]

That sounds close. I usually figure on 100-105 floors per 1,000, but you're right: it's a friggin' stairmaster inside a gym!

[counterfeitfake]

It also, obviously, doesn't simulate real hiking very well. But it is a good workout. Try going handrailless.

[Macson]

It also, obviously, doesn't simulate real hiking very well. But it is a good workout. Try going handrailless.

 

Is it better to use a stairmaster, or use a treadmill with a 15% incline?

[counterfeitfake]

heck if I know. probably the stairmaster.

[crackers]

stairmaster.

 

You're only level on a treadmill at "8% elevation", and there is less impact on your knees on the stairmaster to boot.

[JackY]

 

Can anyone explian the physics of how work is done on a stairmaster?

[Mrnobody]

On 6/11/2007 at 7:50 PM, JackY said:

 

Can anyone explian the physics of how work is done on a stairmaster?

Super late to the party, but if you are still interested, there's a nice video that explains a very similar thing but on an inclined treadmill. 

The concept is the same except that you are climbing stairs instead of a flat surface.
Think that staying still doesn't cost energy, and that makes you go down. Therefore staying "still" (as opposed to going down with the stairs) cannot also cost no energy, and must cost something. Turns out that something is exactly the energy required for an equivalent ascent.