5 Reasons It May Be Difficult to Climb Stairs

Walking up stairs is part of daily life for many people. While some can bound up a flight two steps at a time with minimal effort, others may struggle with the first step.

Grayson Wickham, DPT, CSCS, founder of Movement Vault, weighs in on why you might be struggling to walk up stairs and offers tips and exercises to make it easier.

1. Weakness in the Lower Body

The old saying "weak in the knees" is a reality for many people who struggle with climbing stairs. According to Dr. Wickham, you need a baseline amount of leg strength to walk up stairs. And if you don't have it, getting up and down the stairs may not happen very easily, if at all.

Fix It

Wickham recommends focusing on incorporating squat variations such as back squats, front squats, goblet squats, and even body-weight squats to improve quadriceps strength.

For glute strength, include exercises such as glute bridges and variations on traditional dead lifts like single-leg dead lifts, Romanian dead lifts, and with or without weight. You can improve calf strength with exercises like calf raises or tiptoe walks, Wickham says.

Aim for 5 to 15 reps per set, with the last reps in the set being relatively difficult to perform.

"You will typically use a heavier weight when focusing on improving muscular strength," Wickham says.

Body-Weight Squat‌

1. Stand with your feet hip-width apart.
2. Extend your arms in front of you and slowly bend your knees as you push your hips back to squat down. Focus on lowering your body as if you were going to sit in a chair.
3. Squat until your thighs are parallel with the floor, or as low as you can go comfortably while maintaining good form. Your knees should be over your toes and your gaze should be straight ahead.
4. Pause at the bottom of the squat.
5. On an exhale, reverse the motion by pressing through your heels to return to standing. As you stand, lower your arms back to your thighs.

Glute Bridge‌

1. Lie on your back, with your arms at your sides, feet flat on the floor, and knees bent.
2. On an exhale, squeeze your glutes, press into your heels and push up your hips.
3. Raise your hips until you form a diagonal line from your knees to hips to chest.
4. Pause.
5. Reverse the motion and return to the starting position.

Calf Raise‌

1. Stand on the balls of your feet at the edge of a step or other raised platform.
2. Lower your heels a few inches.
3. Press evenly through the balls of your feet and raise up as high as possible. Avoid putting all of your weight on the outside of the balls of your feet and make sure to keep your weight distributed through the balls of your feet.
4. Pause.
5. Lower your heels so your calves feel a stretch.
6. Pause.
7. Return to the middle position and repeat.

2. Exhaustion or Fatigue

It makes perfect sense that lower-body muscles should be strong to help you climb a flight of stairs. But even if yours are in good shape, you also need to have enough endurance to make it to the top. Being chronically fatigued is often determined by your cardiovascular system, not your muscles.

Fix It

If your fatigue seems like something more than just being out of shape, or if you haven’t exercised in a while, talk to a healthcare professional before starting or adding to your exercise routine.

3. Mobility Issues

"Having tight hip flexor muscles prevents your hips from properly extending, which makes it difficult to complete a full step up," Wickham says.

He adds that having a limited range of motion in the ankle is caused in part by having tight calf muscles, which restrict your ability to get your foot in the right position to step up.

Fix It

Half-Kneeling Ankle Stretch‌

1. Get into a half-kneeling position, with your right leg bent in front at 90 degrees and your left leg behind you with your knee, your shin, and the top of your foot resting on the floor.
2. Keep your torso upright and lean forward. Your right knee will go forward while your heel remains in contact with the floor. You should feel a stretch in your calf of the front leg.
3. Return your knee to the starting position and repeat.
4. Do 10 reps on each leg.

Half-Kneeling Hip Flexor Stretch‌

1. Get into a half-kneeling position, with your right leg bent in front at 90 degrees and your left leg behind you with your knee, your shin, and the top of your foot resting on the floor.
2. Keep your torso upright and press your hips forward, raising your left arm overhead. You should feel this stretch along the front of your left hip.
3. Hold for 15 seconds, then switch sides.

4. Joint Pain

Some joint pain can result from tight muscles and joints, which can lead to discomfort and injury. When one or more of your joints can't do their job properly, another joint has to take over a job that it wasn’t designed for, Wickham says. For example, if you have poor ankle mobility, your knee will compensate. "This results in poor movement at the knee, which leads to knee joint wear and tear and, eventually, knee pain and injury," he says.

Fix It

If pain prevents you from walking upstairs, Wickham says that you first need to address the reasons for the pain. "Often, this pain or injury is due to tight muscles and joints,” he says. In this case, you need to improve your hip and ankle mobility using the half-kneeling exercises above.

Wickham says that walking sideways up stairs is a movement modification that can also help when dealing with pain or injury in the short term, since it puts less stress and demand on your knees and hips.

If you have pain or an injury caused by a traumatic event such as a fall or accident, he says that you may need to see a healthcare professional such as a physical therapist rather than doing unmonitored exercises.

5. Balance Issues or Fear of Falling

"Those issues can create difficulty performing movements that require single-leg movement and balance such as walking up stairs," he says. This can make walking up stairs dangerous since it can increase your risk of falling.

Fix It

"Any exercise or movement performed in a slow and controlled manner, while concentrating on the areas that are moving, will improve your coordination and balance," says Wickham. The key, he says, is focusing on the specific muscles and joints that are moving while performing an exercise.

Wickham recommends performing the exercises in a quiet area away from distraction. Coordination and balance exercises include hip and ankle circles (full range of motion), single-leg marches, single-leg balance, and single-leg dead lifts.

Single-Leg March‌

1. Get into a glute bridge position: Lie on your back with your arms at your sides, feet flat on the ground, and knees bent. Squeeze your glutes, press into your heels, and push up your hips.
2. Raise your right leg off the floor and bring it toward your chest. Keep your left heel on the floor.
3. Return your right leg to the floor and bring your left leg toward your chest. Keep your right heel on the floor.
4. Return your left foot to the floor and continue marching by alternating legs.
5. March 20 times total, 10 each leg.

The Takeaway

• Climbing stairs requires a combination of muscular strength in the lower body, cardiovascular endurance, good mobility, and a keen sense of balance.
• Strengthening the muscles in your lower body, getting more cardiovascular exercise, stretching tight muscles, addressing chronic health issues, and performing balance exercises can help improve your ability to make it safely up a flight of stairs.
• If climbing stairs is a new struggle for you, talk to your healthcare provider about possible underlying health problems and develop a plan on how to exercise safely to help boost your strength and endurance.