As reported by iTWire, a Swiss study on improving cardiovascular health of employees found that simply taking the stairs instead of elevators at work improves health and fitness.

Seventy-seven employees from the University of Geneva with a sedentary lifestyle (defined as less than two hours of exercise or sport each week, and less than 10 flights of stair-climbing a day) were recruited to the study. Over 12 weeks, subjects were asked to use stairs exclusively instead of elevators at work.

The results were impressive -

[participants in the study] showed a statistically significant decline in waist circumference (-1.8%), weight (-0.7%), fat mass (-1.7%), diastolic blood pressure (-2.3%) and LDL cholesterol (-3.9%).

It was estimated that the participants had reduced their chance of premature death by 15%, and this was achieved without expensive gym memberships or waking at dawn to go jogging. Keep this in mind the next time you need to use the elevator – taking the stairs instead could save your life!