Is there a conclusive answer to why I need to catch my breath after going up the stairs?

Training
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Haha. There are some folks who know to let me through first so i don’t mow them down.

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McMaster University studied this in the '90’s.

The Exercises:

  1. 10 repetitions (approximately 40 s) of single-arm curl (SAC) and single-arm overhead military press (SAMP) (70% of the one repetition maximum-1RM);
  2. 12 repetitions (approximately 50 s) of single- (SLP) and double-leg press (DLP) weight-lifting exercises (80% of 1RM);
  3. 10 minutes of horizontal treadmill walking (T10) at 2.5 mph holding a 20-pound weight in minutes 4 to 6 (T10) and 30 pounds in minutes 8 to 10 (T10);
  4. 4 minutes of treadmill walking (T4) at 3.0 mph up an 8% incline;
  5. 12 flights of stair climbing (192 steps; approximately 3 minutes) (STR) at 60 to 65 steps/minute on a Stiarmaster 6000 ergometer.

The Metrics:
Arterial blood pressure (ABP) and heart rate (HR).

The Results:
The peak systolic pressure was greatest in stair climbing (271 +/- 9.6 mm Hg) [<— holy bleep!!!]
The peak heart rate was greatest in stair climbing (151 +/- 3.2 bpm)

(BP and HR were 4% and 23% greater (respectively) than the next highest exercise.)

The Conclusion:
…climbing only three to four flights of stairs at a moderate pace (approximately 50-70 s) elicits peak circulatory demands…but at a much more rapid rate of adjustment…

Basically, climbing stairs is like going from zero straight into a Threshold interval.

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