BACKGROUND: This study examined the effect of 4 weeks of a brief vigorous stair climbing exercise on cardiorespiratory fitness (CRF) and body composition in overweight or obese women. METHODS: Twenty-six participants (age 25.4 +/- 4.9 years; body mass index (BMI) 25.3 +/- 1.8 kg/m2) were randomly assigned to either a stair climbing exercise group (n = 13) or a non-exercising control group (n = 13). The stair climbing exercise group performed 20 sessions (supervised, five sessions/week over 4 weeks) of brief intermittent stair climbing exercise consisting of a 3 minute warm-up followed by three bouts of 20 seconds of stair climbing (>= 80% of age-predicted maximum heart rate) interspersed with 2 minute recovery periods (total exercise duration = 10 minutes/session). Peak oxygen uptake (VO2peak) was measured using a graded maximal treadmill test with the use of a standard open-circuit spirometry technique. Body composition was assessed with bioelectrical impedance analysis. RESULTS: All participants except one, who left the study due to coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) infection, completed the study with 100% attendance rates. There were significant interaction effects (group x time) on body weight, BMI, waist circumference, and CRF such that the stair climbing exercise group had significant (p <= 0.01) reductions in body weight (66.5 +/- 4.6 to 65.2 +/- 4.6 kg), BMI (24.8 +/- 1.2 to 24.4 +/- 1.1 kg/m2), and waist circumference (78.0 +/- 3.7 to 76.5 +/- 4.1 cm) and improvements in VO2peak (31.6 +/- 2.5 to 34.9 +/- 2.6 mL/kg/min) compared with controls. CONCLUSION: Short bouts of vigorous stair climbing is a feasible and time-efficient exercise strategy for improving CRF in previously sedentary, overweight, or obese young women.

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