[The effect of an on the job training program -- stairclimbing -- on the physical working capacity of employees (author's transl)].

Following medical screening and physical fitness testing (W170) 52 voltuntary employees in a 31-story administration building were formed into matched pairs and randomly allocated into intervention (stairclimbing) and control (lift) groups. The intervention group was asked to climb at least 25 floors/workday or 125 floors/week. the control group was asked to use only the lift. The intervention time was 10 weeks. The physiological measurements were made before and after the intervention. The number of stairs climbed was recorded daily in a diary. The heart rate was recorded continuously over one workday before and during the interventions. The average quantity of training in the final intervention group (n = 19) was 29.9 floors/workday or 36,790 kpm/week and in the control group 4.6 and 5980 correspondingly. The average training frequency was 4.3 in intervention and 1.4 climbs/workday in the control group. The average number of continuous floors used during climbing was 7.0 in intervention and 3.4 in control group. The average number of minutes on heart rate level of 130-159 beats/min during one workday was 7.8 in intervention and 1.6 in control group. The W170 (W/kg) increased 17.8% and the predicted VO2max (ml/min/kg) 15.1% in intervention group. The difference between the intervention group and the control group was significant (p less than 0.01). It was concluded, that stairclimbing is a suitable on the job physical activity program for middle-aged, untrained men.