WEBVTT - How do I burn calories on a stair machine?

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<v Speaker 1>Welcome to Brainstuff from house stuff works dot com where

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<v Speaker 1>smart happens. Hi, I'm Marshall Brain with today's question, how

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<v Speaker 1>do I burn calories on a stair machine? Let's start

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<v Speaker 1>with normal stairs and understand why they burn calories, and

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<v Speaker 1>then we can look at stair machines as a special case.

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<v Speaker 1>The how stuff Works article on how horsepower works explains

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<v Speaker 1>the unit of power known as horsepower. One horse power

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<v Speaker 1>is five hundred fifty foot pounds of work per second.

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<v Speaker 1>If a horse or an engine were to raise a

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<v Speaker 1>five hundred and fifty pound load at a rate of

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<v Speaker 1>one ft per second, it would be exerting one horse

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<v Speaker 1>power of effort. So let's imagine that you're standing at

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<v Speaker 1>the bottom of the Empire State Building in New York

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<v Speaker 1>and you start climbing the stairs. Let's also imagine that

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<v Speaker 1>you a hunder of fifty pounds. If each step raises

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<v Speaker 1>you one foot, and if you walk up the stairs

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<v Speaker 1>at a rate of one step every second, then you

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<v Speaker 1>were doing a hundred fifty foot pounds of work every second,

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<v Speaker 1>or a little more than a quarter of a horse power.

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<v Speaker 1>If you were to run up the steps at a

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<v Speaker 1>rate of four steps every second, you would be doing

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<v Speaker 1>six hundred foot pounds of work every second, or one

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<v Speaker 1>point o nine horsepower. One horse power exerted over an

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<v Speaker 1>hour is equal to six hundred forty one calories. So

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<v Speaker 1>if you were to run up the stairs at a

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<v Speaker 1>rate of five hundred fifty foot pounds of work every

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<v Speaker 1>second for an hour, you would burn off six d

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<v Speaker 1>forty one calories. It's hard for human beings to maintain

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<v Speaker 1>that level of effort for an entire hour. A normal

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<v Speaker 1>human might be able to maintain a rate that burns

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<v Speaker 1>two hundred or three hundred calories per hour, which is

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<v Speaker 1>unfair when you consider that you can gain all that

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<v Speaker 1>back by eating a single candy bar on a stairm sheen.

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<v Speaker 1>It doesn't appear that you're going anywhere, but really you are.

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<v Speaker 1>Imagine that you are climbing a long ladder, but the

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<v Speaker 1>ladder is sinking in the mud as fast as you're

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<v Speaker 1>climbing it. If you were to stop climbing, you would

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<v Speaker 1>sink into the mud too, so you have to keep climbing.

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<v Speaker 1>It would appear that you're going nowhere, but in fact

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<v Speaker 1>you're climbing at the same rate that the ladder is sinking,

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<v Speaker 1>so you are doing work. The lack of movement is

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<v Speaker 1>an illusion. A stair machine creates the same kind of

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<v Speaker 1>illusion as anyone who has used one can tell you

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<v Speaker 1>you are doing work. For more on this and thousands

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<v Speaker 1>of other topics, because it how stuff works dot com.

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