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WELLNESS > WORKOUT >

20 Minute StairMaster
HIIT Workout

Work up a sweat with this quick and effective 20 minute

StairMaster HIIT workout! Your legs will be burning and
your heart will be pumping.

I have a love/hate relationship with the StairMaster. It’s

HARD and takes a lot of energy, but it’s also one of my
favorite machines at the gym because you can work your
backside while getting your cardio in and you don’t have
to stay on the machine forever in order to work up a
good sweat. I usually only do like 20-30 mins on the
stairmaster before I’m in need a serious water break…
especially if I’m doing intervals like the ones in this
workout.

And don’t let the short time fool you. 20 minutes on the
StairMaster is no joke, I don’t care what level you’re
using! I should note that this is an advanced HIIT
workout. You can easily modify the workout to meet your
fitness level.

I know it’s holiday weekend, but here’s a quick

stairmaster workout — just in case you have time to pop
in to the gym for a quickie. If you do end up trying this
workout, let me know in the comment section or on
social media. I can’t wait to hear what you think of it!

OUR LATEST RECIPES

00:34

20 Minute Stair Master

HIIT Workout
Level refers to the level on the stairmaster machine,
which goes from 1-20.

Save

Benefits of the
StairMaster
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Climbing stairs is known to be one of the most effective

cardio (and strength building workouts) you can do for
several reasons:

1. Stair climbing engages the body’s largest muscle

groups to lift your body weight up, step after step,
so you burn more calories than you would
exercising on a flat surface.
2. Stair climbing raises your heart rate immediately so
with a 20 minute workout you’ll likely spend 19
minutes with an elevated heart rate. Perfect for
maximizing your cardio benefits.
3. Stair climbing requires more balance and strength
than other cardio modalities. The act of maintaining
your balance while stair-stepping engages core
muscles and increases core muscle strength.
4. You’re toning and sculpting your lower body (glutes,
hamstrings, quads and calves) while getting a cardio
workout at the same time. More bang for your
workout buck!
5. Using the stairmaster is better on your knees,
because with “real” stairs you have to go up to the
top and then back down. Descending stairs is
considerably harder on your knees than climbing up
because your muscles and connective tissues are
being used as “brakes” to fight the effect of gravity,
and you are hitting each step with more impact.
With the stairmaster machine, you get all the
benefits of climbing while avoiding the negative
elements of descending.

(source )

Question for you – Do you love or hate the stairmaster?

SEPTEMBER 2, 2016 • BY BRIT TANY MULLINS

Maple Cinnamon Breakfast Trail Mix

Healthy S’mores Dip

meet brittany
Hey there, I’m Brittany, the creator of Eating
Bird Food, holistic nutritionist, health coach
and personal trainer. Whether it’s for my m e a l
p l a n ss, my favorite re c i p e s or just because you
want to feel good, I’m so happy you’re here.

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53 comments

C.J. Mosley Jersey:

It’s a shame you don’t have a donate button! I’d
definitely donate to this superb blog!
I guess for now i’ll settle for book-marking and adding
your
RSS feed to my Google account. I look forward to
fresh updates and will talk about this
site with my Facebook group. Talk soon!

R E P LY

Chris Mosely:
That intensity level on isn’t really HIT. It’s too low. It’s
just IT (Interval Training). If you’re really doing HIT, you
would have to rest after about 20 seconds or so, you
wouldn’t be able to continue at such a high level of
intensity for more than 20 seconds. It’s supposed to
be flat out!

R E P LY

H:
Just so you know- beans/legumes are pretty high in
carbs, but they also have a lot of fiber – because of
that fiber content, beans have a slower impact on
your blood sugar than other high carb foods. This
means they satisfy you and can help stabilize your
blood sugar.

(they also have phytonutrients, in addition to protein)

I’m sure you already know all that- I just had to point
out that beans can be a good part of diets too

R E P LY

Shannon:
What do you do for your strength training?

R E P LY

Eating Bird Food:

I switch up what I do for strength
training. At the time I wrote this post I
was following the Body For Life training
program. Now I am doing an outdoor
bootcamp and using the Tone It Up
workouts for my strength training.

R E P LY

Chloe:
I have a burning question about HIIT. I’ve been trying
to get into it, and I’ve been doing a ton of research, so
this may seem pretty darn silly but…
Do you manually change the levels on the
stairmaster? Or can you program it? Let me link an
image to the stairmaster I have at my gym.. (LA
Fitness)

http://static.productreview.com.au/pr.products/62810_sta

R E P LY

Eating Bird Food:

That’s the same stairmaster that I have
at my gym and I haven’t found a way to
program it so I just change the levels
myself. I do think there is a interval
setting though – maybe you could try
that out.

R E P LY

Linz:
Do you think you can do this HIIT work-out on the
stairmill, too? I love the stairmill, not the stair
stepper…

R E P LY

Eating Bird Food:

Oh yea, this workout is actually for the
stairmill. At my gym it’s called the Stair
Master.

R E P LY

Eva:
I could not agree more with HIIT. I have been doing
this for years and and I ONLY do cardio for 20
minutes (unless I am teaching Zumba which is 60
minutes, but even then I try to vary up the routines
from slow(er) to fast) and I get the best results from
20 minutes of intense interval training. Not many of
my friends who are newly on the fitness bandwagon
can understand how I stay in shape with only 20
minutes of cardio that I have been doing for years.
Even on days I do Zumba, which like I said are 60
minutes, I will weigh more the next few days. But the
second I do 20 minute intervals, I see a drop in the
scale. I love teaching Zumba so I won’t give that up,
but just to further emphasize and encourage you that
this works! Thanks for posting this and best of luck! Ps
– your meals look fantastic!

R E P LY

janetha @ meals & moves:

If there is one thing I love, it is acronyms. You go, lady!

R E P LY

LauraJayne:
I haven’t tried HIIT (or know much about it), so I’m
interested to see how you like it! I have such a “tried &
true” eating routine, that I usually don’t like to switch
things up – I’m a creature of habit, but I’ve been
wanting to work on strength – and maybe I’ll need to
mix things up to see any progress! Can’t wait to hear
more!

R E P LY

natalie (the sweets life):

i’ve been doing more HIIT via insanity workout videos
and LOVE it!
….just like I love BFD

R E P LY

Sarah:
I love HIIT! I have a few videos featuring different
ways to do / use them. Let me know if you ever have
any questions. Also, my favorite book for dieting of
ALL time is the eat clean recharged with Tosca Reno –
although I think she just issues another new version
but still the Eat Clean Diet is what I follow typically.

R E P LY

Eating Bird Food:

I’ll have to check out your videos Sarah. I
like Tosca’s Eat Clean plan as well – I
think I have at least 3 of her books.

R E P LY

Danielle:
I would love to see some of your meals that you make
that follow BFL. Only because you don’t eat a lot of
meat and it would be interesting to see how you eat
enough protein. I tried doing BFL before but eating
chicken/beef so much didn’t interest me and I ran out
of ideas pretty quickly Do you think you would do
this ?

R E P LY

Danielle:
i think lunches are the most difficult for
me. I am always left feeling so famished
if I don’t stuff my face

R E P LY

Eating Bird Food:

If I come up with any BFL appropriate
meals I’ll be sure to post them.

R E P LY

Gabriela @ Une Vie Saine:

I actually purchased the BFL book not too long ago,
and was toying with the idea of following just the
workout part and upping the protein just like you, but
decided to hold off for a bit until all my vacations this
month were over. I’m not sure if I’ll actually do it, but I
really do love the program’s balance when it comes to
exercise- some cardio is absolutely necessary to
maintain a healthy heart, but strength training pays
off way more in the long run! I’m interested to hear
what you think of the plan as you continue doing it!

R E P LY

Eating Bird Food:

I’ll definitely let you know how it goes for
me Gabriela! Let me know if you decide
to give it a try.

R E P LY

Clare @ Fitting It All In:

I’m so excited to hear how BFL is for you. I did just the
weights part a few summers ago and definitely got
stronger.

As for HIIT, how is it different than just regular

intervals? I run intervals all the time!

R E P LY

Eating Bird Food:

The only difference is the intensity in
which they are performed. HIIT you go at
your maximum pace/exertion.

R E P LY

Steph @ StephSnacks:
I think that it’s great you’re trying a new type of
workout and adjusting your diet in different ways
(although, as you mentioned, you already eat quite
healthy!). I myself have been on the look out for new
workout moves as well as cutting back on my carbs a
bit.. while it’s slightly challenging, I also feel better

R E P LY

Heather @ girlyeverafter:
I did HIIT when I had a gym member ship and it was
rally intense. Great workout, but I hit a wall so I
started mixing up my cardio/weights and got better
results that way.

R E P LY

Holly @ Rust Belt Runner:

I’m kinda in the midst of BFL right now. I posted about
it a while back on my blog. You can find the post
under “BFL” in the word cloud if you are interested.

Anway, I am into it more for the strength training as

you mentioned, I’ve never been good at that. The eats
have kinda gone by the waste-side. Hmm. Although I’ll
say my diet pre-BFL was not much different than the
BFL diet. I am trying to drink more water though, that
has been the other big change for me since BFL.

I WANT ABS TOO! I think they are starting to make an

appearance

R E P LY

Mary:
Holly- I tried finding the BFL post but
couldn’t….help! I’d love to read it!

R E P LY

Eating Bird Food:

Here’s a link to her BFL posts Mary
http://www.rustbeltrunner.com/search/label/BFL

R E P LY

lisa @ early morning run:

I love having breakfast for dinner. Actually, breakfast
for lunch, too! It’s good any time!

R E P LY

Jennifer:
If you are interested in HIIT then you should check out
BodyRockTV.com. Zuzanna will walk you through a
HIIT workout that will leave your muscles burning and
your lungs gasping for air. The best part is she posts a
video of the workout so you don’t have to wonder
what exercise she is talking about as well as a photo
break down of the whole workout.

R E P LY

Eating Bird Food:

YES!! I have tried a workout from
BodyRockTV before. Zuzanna is
awesome and super intense.

R E P LY

char @ char on a mission:

I do enjoy HIIT training, but never do it enough!! I like
to incorporate it with muscular training, like switching
leg lunge jumps, or squat jumps, stair jumps, etc. I’m
glad you’re feeling the burn. I haven’t had a good burn
since last Monday, so I think I, too, need to step it up
a notch!

R E P LY

Valerie:
I love BFL, so far. I am on week 4 day 4 and it has
been going great. I actually really enjoy HIIT and have
been doing my HIIT sessions on the elliptical.

R E P LY

Tiff @ Love Sweat and Beers:

Good luck with the new plan! I agree, Morning Star
patties are the best – I love spicy black bean!

R E P LY

Alayna @ Thyme Bombe:

I’m really interested to see hao you like BFL. I’ve been
wanting to start it too for the same reason, abs!

R E P LY

Eating Bird Food:

I know! I really want abs and after seeing
Janetha’s and Sarah’s progress with ab
definition after following the program, I
knew BFL would help.

R E P LY