# Why do we stop taking stairs quickly. **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [May 11, 2011, 10:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-we-stop-taking-stairs-quickly/581497 "2011-05-11T10:13:23Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![SeaDragonTattoo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/df705f/32.png) [@SeaDragonTattoo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SeaDragonTattoo)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2011, 1:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-we-stop-taking-stairs-quickly/581497/61 "2011-05-12T01:56:10Z")
I’m short, so taking stairs more than one at a time is not comfortable. I walk up escalator stairs and those are barely comfortable for my short legs. I live on the 4th floor of a walk-up. The inside front stairs are original to the building and are very comfortable to jog up and down. I generally don’t, though, because they are noisy and creaky and crackly. The faster you go, the louder they are and I prefer not to be rude to neighbors. The outside back stairs are part of a newer decking structure, and I find them very narrow. I hate going up them, and have to use them to go down at least once or twice a week to take out trash. I’ve caught my heel a couple of times, and prefer to go at a bit of an angle so my whole foot is on the step. It’s awkward and I have to hang on to the rail. I’m 40, so maybe it’s a getting older thing, but I was never one to bound up and down stairs due to my stubby legs anyway. 3 times out of 5 I’m carrying something up or down the stairs, whether it’s laundry or groceries. I’m not inclined to trot the stairs when I have a 20-pound load to carry, too. I also use the El every day, and will take an escalator if there’s one at a given station, but I always walk up it. I find the stairs at the El stations very comfortable to walk on, and will trot down them regularly, though with my hand skimming the railing. The thought of disabling myself by falling down stairs, when I live in a walk-up that would result in my needing assistance during recovery is far more overriding to my decision to be careful than my need to end the stair experience a few seconds faster. ---
**Author:** ![digs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/digs/32/14889_2.png) [@digs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/digs)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2011, 2:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-we-stop-taking-stairs-quickly/581497/62 "2011-05-12T02:14:15Z")
> [@Hbns](#): > > \*–Quote: > –Originally Posted by Hambil > –I think this is the key, though I would put it differently. I would say that your sense of wonder declines as you age, because you’ve seen more. As a kid, there is always something exciting at the top of the steps (at the end of any ‘journey’ really); steps are just in the way of getting to what you want. > > –As we get older we realize that the stuff at the top of the stairs is the same stuff that was there yesterday, and the day before, and the day before that…\* > > Interesting, the journey has always been the exciting part for me. May just be me, vacation trips usually consist of pointing the car or motorcycle in a direction. A destination or two in mind but mostly just exploring until it is time to head back. And that’s why I’d rather go on vacation with _ **Hbns** _ than _ **Hambil** _ (who I’m imagining would be like my dad: “We’re stopping at every Stuckey’s, but only at Stuckey’s, for a ten-minute potty break. And I’m not buying you kids a Pecan Log.”) ---
**Author:** ![Pasta](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ecccb3/32.png) [@Pasta](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pasta)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2011, 2:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-we-stop-taking-stairs-quickly/581497/63 "2011-05-12T02:16:20Z")
FWIW - It’s decorum for me. I almost always run up stairs because people are rarely in stairwells anyway. But, the next step in the progression would be running the 300 yards, say, from my building to another building to pick up some paperwork or whatever. I would much rather run that distance (it would be nice to move around a bit, and it would take much less time), but doing so would make people think you’re a nut. ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2011, 3:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-we-stop-taking-stairs-quickly/581497/64 "2011-05-12T03:21:30Z")
> [@Patty\_O\_Furniture](#): > > I’ve noticed it in many Asian cities. Bangkok especially. People get onto the escalator and just stop dead in their tracks. This looks even sillier when it’s a moving sidewalk, like those at the airport. It’s as if they forgot where they’re going and won’t bother to start thinking about it again until they reach the landing. I don’t consider myself a speed freak but it just feels like a waste of my time. It is difficult to get the wife to walk down an escalator. But what’s worse is being behind a group of schoolgirls. They’re notorious for stopping right there where the escalator ends. They’ll stand there chattering away about where to go while everyone behind piles into them. ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2011, 6:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-we-stop-taking-stairs-quickly/581497/65 "2011-05-12T06:14:34Z")
When I was younger I used to take stairs two steps at a time. Now I’m 65, and plod up steps for several possible reasons: Painful knees. Diminished strength in general. Cardiovascular problems (aortic stenosis and peripheral vascular disease). Increased bodily weight. Balance issues. Bifocals. Lower back spasms. Greater potential injury if I fall. General laziness. No place I need to rush to. Possible cats on steps. ---
**Author:** ![cjepson](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a9adbd/32.png) [@cjepson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cjepson)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2011, 2:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-we-stop-taking-stairs-quickly/581497/66 "2011-05-12T14:50:32Z")
> [@Anachronism](#): > > To me it feels like moving up the stairs quickly uses less total energy (Obviously higher intensity but for a much shorter time). When I walk up I just feel like I’m slogging forever. Since I’m the first to mention it in all these posts it must be just me :o No, this makes sense to me. There’s something about jogging up stairs that feels more efficient, or something, than step-lift-step-lift. ---
**Author:** ![Rachellelogram](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rachellelogram/32/8689_2.png) [@Rachellelogram](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rachellelogram)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2011, 4:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-we-stop-taking-stairs-quickly/581497/67 "2011-05-12T16:03:34Z")
What’s the rush? My day is not made significantly better or worse by getting to my cubicle 10 seconds faster. Take it slow. ---
**Author:** ![Patty\_O\_Furniture](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/96bed5/32.png) [@Patty\_O\_Furniture](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Patty_O_Furniture)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2011, 4:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-we-stop-taking-stairs-quickly/581497/68 "2011-05-12T16:09:15Z")
That’s what I say to myself whenever I see people dashing up the subway escalator on the way to work each morning. “Gee, I wish _I_ had a job I loved that much.” ---
**Author:** ![glilly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/48db29/32.png) [@glilly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/glilly)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2011, 10:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-we-stop-taking-stairs-quickly/581497/69 "2011-05-12T22:26:49Z")
I used to BOUND up stairs. Now (age 40) I merely run up. Though in shape I feel twinges in my knees when bounding up that don’t hurt but feel like they are indications of eminent catastrophic failure. I also feel that the associated pounding is obnoxious, whereas that didn’t bother my younger self. I agree with a previous poster that running up stairs feels like it takes less energy than walking each stair. ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Strangelove](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr.strangelove/32/6613_2.png) [@Dr.Strangelove](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Strangelove)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2011, 10:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-we-stop-taking-stairs-quickly/581497/70 "2011-05-12T22:39:56Z")
> [@glilly](#): > > I also feel that the associated pounding is obnoxious, whereas that didn’t bother my younger self. It is obnoxious, so I make a concerted effort to make gentle footfalls. Some people make an astonishing amount of noise just walking normally–I have no idea how these people haven’t destroyed their joints yet just from all the shock. Personally, on carpet, my shoes make less noise than the rustle of my pants. On hard surfaces I make gentle taps. I am occasionally tempted by shoes such as Vibram Five Fingers, so that I can make even less noise, but I am hitting diminishing returns. ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2011, 2:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-we-stop-taking-stairs-quickly/581497/71 "2011-05-13T02:25:01Z")
I live on the sixth floor and always take the stairs if my arms are not full of stuff. But I’ll be damend if I’m going to run up them. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-we-stop-taking-stairs-quickly/581497.md?page=3)