This article was written by one of The Food Medic team; personal trainer and fitness writer – Adam Willis
Step-ups aren’t likely a new exercise to you, but are you regularly doing them?
For many people, the answer is no.
For some reason step-ups have gotten lost in the exercise pool when it comes to single leg work, with people favouring split squat variations, lunge variations, and single leg romanian deadlift variations instead. Now, these are all great exercises and should feature in your training phases at times, but don’t forget to give step-ups some love as well.
And here’s why:
- they help strengthen the quads, hamstrings, glutes and adductors
- they help work on imbalances between legs
- they help challenge and develop stabilisation when on one leg
A lot of people think of step-ups as just another quad-dominant focused single leg exercise, and they are, they’re a great option for strengthening the quads. However, the step-up, and its variations, are rarely thought of in regard to being great at building and strengthening the glutes, but boy are they.
When it comes to glute training a lot of love is given to the hip thrust and glute bridge. They’re often thought of as the Holy Grail of glute training. However, recent research suggests that potentially, due to their stability requirement, that step-ups, lateral step-ups, diagonal step-ups, and crossover step-ups may elicit higher levels of glute maximus activation than the far more popular hip thrust and glute bridge.
You can read the research article here.
This research shows us that there may be a more effective way to train the glutes. One that doesn’t require the awkward, and sometimes painful, challenge of trying to balance a heavy barbell on your hips.
Step-ups could very well be the “secret sauce” when it comes to your glute training.
But before we dive into the key technique points for each of the 4 step-up variations sighted in the research paper, there are 3 technique points that are worth noting which are applicable to all 4 variations.
First…
what step height should you use?
People often go too high with the step they use and end up compensating or creating momentum to complete the reps because of it. You want to use a step height that allows you to use the active hip extension range that you are capable of. Whilst this is somewhat individual, a rough guideline would be for those under 5’10” tall, you likely want to use a step height of 12”-15”, for those taller, an 18”-20” step
Secondly…
you want to minimise any assistance from the foot on the floor.
Probably the most common step-up issue is people pushing off with their foot on the floor, reducing the focus and amount of work the lead leg [the one you’re training] must do. To reduce the likelihood of this happening, keep the big toe of the foot on the floor always lifted off the ground.
Thirdly…
ensure you’re loading the lead leg and not rocking back and forth to generate momentum.
To ensure you’re loading the lead leg and preventing momentum from being created through rocking back and forth, lean your torso forward 10-15 degrees at the start of rep one. As you stand up during the rep your torso will become tall, then as you initiate the lowering phase push your hips back and allow your torso to lean forward again. Once your foot touches down on the ground keep that 10-15 degree lean you created on your decent and go into the next rep.
The key technique details
These are for each of the 4 step-up variations sighted in the research paper linked above.
- stand facing your step
- place your lead leg on the step and lean your torso forward 10-15 degrees.
- initiate the rep by driving downward with the lead leg, imagining you’re trying to drive it through the step.
- once stood tall at the top, initiate a controlled lowering back to the floor by pushing your hips back, leaning your torso forward and lowering the foot back down to the floor.
- stand to the side of your step
- place your lead leg on the step and lean your torso forward 10-15 degrees
- initiate the rep by driving downward with the lead leg, imagining you’re trying to drive it through the step
- once stood tall at the top, initiate a controlled lowering back to the floor by pushing your hips back and to the side, leaning your torso forward and lowering the foot back down to the floor
- stand facing your step, but off-set to the side of the steps centre line
- take a diagonal step forward and place your lead leg on the step and lean your torso forward 10-15 degrees towards your foot
- initiate the rep by driving downward with the lead leg, imagining you’re trying to drive it through the step
- once stood tall at the top, initiate a controlled lowering back to the floor by pushing your hips back and reaching your hips and leg back diagonally to the start position, leaning your torso forward and lowering the foot back down to the floor
- stand facing your step, but off-set to the side of the box
- take your outside leg and step it over the inside leg, placing your foot on the step.
- lean your torso forward 10-15 degrees
- initiate the rep by driving downward with the lead leg, imagining you’re trying to drive it through the step
- once stood tall at the top, initiate a controlled lowering back to the floor by pushing your hips back and reaching your non-working leg back to the start position behind the working leg, leaning your torso forward and lowering the foot back down to the floor
So, if you’re wanting to strengthen and grow your glutes over the coming months, add one of the above step-up variations into your next 4-6 week training phase and look to progress the weight you can lift for it.
If you’re new to step-ups, or can struggle at times with balance, start with the “standard” step-up.
If you’re familiar with the “standard” step-up, and your balance is good, look to challenge the movement pattern more than you have before by working with either the lateral step-up, the diagonal step-up or the crossover step-up.
Time to build those glutes.
Step to it.
Step-ups: a more effective way to build your glutes was last modified: May 3rd, 2022 by
