The secret weapon for heart health and living longer could be climbing a few flights of stairs every day. Here’s how

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Choosing the stairs over the elevator has been considered sage fitness advice for years, but a new study published proves backs up this health tip in the journal Atherosclerosis looked at exactly how many flights of stairs you need to climb daily to better your heart health. The short answer? Climbing just five flights per day could reduce your risk of cardiovascular disease by 20%. 

“Researchers discovered a 19% relative risk reduction of heart disease in participants who regularly climbed five flights of stairs per day,” says Dr. Yvonne Covin, an internal medicine doctor. “Unfortunately, those who had initially climbed stairs but later stopped experienced a 32% higher risk of heart disease compared to those who did not exercise at all.”