Circular Stair Climber

I find few things more boring than seeing a row of people working out on stair climbers while reading or gazing into space, oblivious to each other and the rest of the gym – maybe being one of them is more boring. Enter the circular stair climber to liven things up.

Imagine walking on the inside of a tire between the sidewall and tread causing the tire to angle up 45 degrees from the floor. This light weight stair climber has a similar cone section shape and “climbing” in it causes it to follow a circular path. Thus as you exercise, you move around and have a changing field of vision.

By stepping towards the center of the “tread”, raising up the stair climber, lifting one leg and then the other over its top to walk on the other edge, you begin circling in the other direction, tracing a figure eight. Rolling friction and therefore difficulty can be adjusted by releasing some air from its thin, wide tire or pumping air back by the action of climbing the steps.