Action 91: Take the stairs

Lifts have their place. I don't just mean in lift shafts. I mean, sometimes, taking the lift rather than the stairs is the most sensible option. I always take the lift in Ikea Coventry, its 5 big flights of stairs to climb up otherwise. So I get the lift, get my full English breakfast, get the lift down. OK, it doesn't sound the healthiest start to the day, but sometimes I walk to Ikea. Or sometimes I do get the first bus after 9.30, with all the over 60s on it, because they have their free bus passes.

Anyway, lifts serve a purpose. They can take us up many many floors. Or they can help us move heavy items. Definitely the lift in our local Safeways was only good for moving heavy items - if you didn't have a trolley, it was always quicker to take the stairs. So while Mum pushed the button and waited to get up to the car park, my brothers and I would race up the stairs, sit on the bench and pretend to fall asleep by the time Mum came out the lift. Never say the Knock brothers weren't cool kids.

Here are six reasons to take the stairs:

• It's a little bit of physical exertion that adds up to give you a healthier, longer life
• If everyone starts taking the stairs, it stops energy being wasted on lifts full of people who really don't need to use them
• Stairs tend to be more open spaces then lifts, and especially if you're going to the office, to sit at a crammed desk for hours on end, surely you want to make the most of the open spaces around you
• Lifts can break, and you can get stuck in them. That doesn't happen with stairs.
• If you see someone on the stairs you don't want to talk to at that particular time, you can (safely) speed past them. If you're in a lift with that person, you can't escape so quickly
• Led Zeppelin wrote a song called 'Stairway to Heaven'. And Robin the Frog from The Muppets sang 'Halfway Down The Stairs'. I can't think of any great songs about lifts.