Is it faster to jog up the stairs or take them two at a time?

Check your subscription status, update your details and more. Is it faster to jog up the stairs or take them two at a time? This question was posed as part of New Scientist’s Last Word series, in which readers give scientific answers to each other’s questions.

Here’s what our readers had to say **Is it faster to jog up the stairs or take them two at a time?** Two at a time, definitely. I say this with personal experience from years in an office 135 stairs up. Humans have evolved to scramble up brief steep slopes with long strides.

Jogging was created to improve fitness, not speed. Not just for adding pull on the way up, but for maintaining momentum on turns in the staircase. I could do only one at a time, but a friend with longer legs could do two at a time on the way down, too.

I could jump the last three steps to each turn landing, though. Receive a weekly dose of discovery in your inbox. We'll also keep you up to date with _New Scientist_ events and special offers. ### Why don’t dogs look up when a low-flying plane passes overhead? part 5 Regulars ### Are humans the only animals that cry?

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