Do you power through your stairclimber workout with a death grip on the handrails? Boost your calorie burn and get more out of your cardio workout by learning to let go.

You see, holding on means your arms don't move. And if your arms don't move, you burn fewer calories for every minute of exercise. In addition to burning fewer calories, you're making it easier on your body to get through the workout. Isn't the purpose of working out to get stronger by stressing the body?

Why does it burn more calories?

Swinging your arms involves more muscle groups. The more muscles you have working, the more energy your body uses to do the exercise. Getting those arms into the exercise can have a significant affect on the benefits you get from your workout. This does not just apply to the stairclimber. Handrail abuse has become prevalent on elliptical trainers and treadmills, and the benefits of letting go apply. In fact, it has been shown that just walking with an exaggerated arm swing can increase caloric expenditure by 50 to 75 percent over a normal arm swing. Arm swinging has the additional bonus of toning the shoulders.

So why are there handrails at all?

They are there so that you have something to grab on to if you lose your balance or while taking a drink. If you need constant balance support, one or two hands lightly gripping the rail should be enough. Holding on with both hands, with your arms straight supporting your body weight, is just plain cheating. In effect, you are reducing your body weight so your legs have to work less. In addition to less calorie burn, you are getting less out of the exercise for your heart, lungs and leg muscles. Supporting yourself on the handrails reduces the hip, trunk and ankle muscle involvement so that they get less endurance and strength benefits.

Are there other risks of holding on?

There have been many documented cases of wrist injuries from the traditional stairclimber grip position (hands backward on the rails with elbows locked). Problems like tendonitis, carpal-tunnel syndrome and median nerve compression have been linked to handrail gripping. Leaning on your hands in the treadmill or elliptical trainer are likely to result in similar problems over time.

What is the best approach to letting go?

The first step is to try letting go while you are warming up and cooling down. The pace is slower, and you will probably feel more comfortable taking your hands off. Next, try letting go while you are in full exercise mode. Just do short periods until you get used to it. Chances are you will immediately notice that you are fatiguing quicker. This is a good sign. Remember that the benefits of exercise are linked to how much the work stresses your body, not what the display reads. If you find yourself caught up in looking at the numbers, throw a towel over the display. Use your heart rate or sense of how hard you are working to judge your pace. You'll get more out of every minute by just letting go of the handrails.

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written by Lyssa, January 15, 2008

I use a manual treadmill and can't get it to move unless I grip the handrails. ??? Any advice for me?