Fitness stairs move city dwellers – Piikinmäki, Central sports park and Riutta stairs in a test

The fitness ladder boom took off around Finland a few years ago. Riihimäki also has three fitness stairs. Climbing them while walking or running improves oxygen uptake and especially exercises the large muscles of the lower body.

Ari-Pekka Miettinen, 59, is a preschool teacher at Jukola school in Patastenmäki and an active fitness enthusiast. He evaluates the fitness stairs of Piikinmäki, Keskuseruhilpuisto and Riuta.

It is easy to start from the stairs of Piikinmäki

Piikinmäki used to have a baseball field, and the name figure at the foot of the stairs tells about this history. Piikinmäki's 53-step fitness stairs were completed last October. You can get to the top of the hill either by stairs or by road.

"The stairs are short, flat and pleasant to walk on. They have a good rhythm, rise angle and suitably deep steps. The stairs are so wide that an exerciser can go up one side and down the other at the same time. There are handrails on both sides, which are good to hold on to, especially when coming down. These are easy steps", Miettinen assesses.

At the top of the stairs on top of the hill, you can sit on a bench to catch your breath and walk down the road if you don't want to go down the stairs. Or vice versa. The route is easy, and it is also suitable for children, seniors and people with knee problems.

Functional Central Sports Park

We move on to the fitness stairs of the Central Sports Park, which are favorites of Miettinen and many others. The 163-step staircase seems to go towards the sky.

"I try to visit here once a week. I warm up by walking a quarter of a mile from home, and I run up the stairs ten times. These are suitable for my condition. I really like the versatile outdoor gym that came near the stairs last fall. I exercise my upper body and arms in it, while the stairs take care of my leg muscles."

A 75-year-old lady meets me on the stairs, who says that she takes the fitness stairs three times a week and always walks them three times.

"These have a lot of visitors, sports clubs, older people and also families with children. Many people walk the one kilometer outdoor route of the sports park, come to the stairs to walk and continue jogging again. At the top of the stairs, a spacious cityscape opens up."

Miettinen praises that running for fitness stairs quickly gets you sweaty and gives a workout to your leg muscles. You can go up the stairs in many ways, and sometimes they also organize guided fitness.

"I like these stairs the most because they have three steps and landings between them. I often change my step rhythm on different stairs. For example, the first step jumps every other step or side jumps from left to right. I jog the next stage by stepping on each step and lifting my knee up. I run the last bit as hard as I can and get my heart rate up at the end. Down I walk.”

Riuta's stairs are for those in good shape

Riutta is a versatile outdoor recreation area for the whole family, with, among other things, an outdoor trail, nature trails, a 19-hole Frisbee golf course, mountain biking trails, fixed crosswalks and a long, 141-step fitness staircase. The journey from the parking lot to the stairs is quite long and hilly.

"There was a short but steep ski slope here 25 years ago. The fitness stairs were built ten years ago. Active athletes and fitness enthusiasts visit here. I rarely go here, and I certainly don't run up these ten times", laughs Miettinen.

He praises the rhythm of the stairs as good steps. The step height changes after the first resting place when the hill gets steeper.

"The rise angle is not constant, but the angle and the size of the step vary. There is a sitting platform in the middle of the stairs. Near the top of the stairs is the start of the Frisbee golf fairway, and sometimes you have to watch out for pucks that have gone in the wrong direction."

Miettinen cycles to Riuta's stairs a couple of times in the summer, and climbs the stairs twice.

"I'm looking for breathing here, and I'm taking the calves right from the buttocks. You also have to tense your muscles when coming down. These stairs are only suitable for the physically fit."

Reija Ypyä