Time to work out your legs and butt! Incorporate this effective exercise into your workout plan if you want to see progress quickly. This is how you do the Step Up exercise and this is what matters!
What are Step Ups? Yes, that's what I was wondering until recently. Step ups are a complex exercise that works the entire leg muscles, as well as parts of the core muscles.
However, the focus is mainly on the buttocks and back of the thighs.
You can do step ups in the comfort of your living room or in the park with the help of a bench. Your butt and thighs will thank you for it.
So, if you've always wanted to work out your legs and butt but still don't have a favorite exercise, then the Step Up exercise is suitable for you.
Table of contents
Are step ups effective?
The Step Ups fitness exercise strengthens your entire lower body. First and foremost, you effectively strengthen your thigh muscles, leg biceps, large pomus muscle, but also the back extensor. Your sense of balance also benefits from this simple exercise.
You can do this exercise whenever you want. You don't need a gym and hardly any equipment. Just a wooden box, a sturdy coffee table, a stool or an armchair will do.
You can easily adapt this exercise to your fitness level. The lower the object you climb on, the easier the exercise. If you exercise regularly, you can also use an ordinary dining room chair.
Because you have such flexibility in where you work out, step ups can be very effective and easily incorporated into your daily routine.
How to perform the Step Up exercise correctly?
If you're looking for a new exercise for your legs and butt, you've come to the right place. Step ups will make your thighs glow.
You can also adapt the exercise perfectly to your fitness level. Either you step up to something higher or you take dumbbells or kettlebells in your hands.
- Equipment needed: yes, weight bench, stool, seat
- Difficulty: easy
- Suitable for beginners: yes
- Designations: Step ups, stair climber, stair climber, step ups
- Muscle groups used: Thighs and buttocks
Front and Side Step Ups
Basically, a distinction is made between front step ups and side step ups. In Front Step Ups, the entire movement is towards the front. You stand in front of the object and make the movement towards the object.
The side step ups are the lateral version. You stand sideways to the object and lift the leg that is directly next to the elevation. Unlike the front variant, however, the second leg remains in the air here.
Step Up execution for beginners
- Stand upright in front of the object. Your feet are about hip-width apart.
- Your abdominal muscles are tense, your upper body is straight.
- Now place one foot on the object.
- Make sure that the sole of the foot rests completely on the elevation - including the heel!
- The other leg is still stretched out on the floor.
- Now push yourself upwards. The force for this comes from the leg standing on the elevation.
- Bring the other leg up and place it briefly on the object.
- Return to the starting position and now start with the other leg.
TipYou can rest your arms on your hips or keep them stretched out beside your body. Try out what you find easier.
As a beginner you do 8 repetitions and 3 passes. Once with the right leg up and once with the left leg - that's one repetition.
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Step Up execution for advanced
You find the exercise too easy? No problem. Of course, you can also make the Step Up exercise more difficult. For this you take a dumbbell or kettlebell in each hand. If you have weight cuffs for your legs, you can also put them on.
But please do not overdo it. Start with little weight. Even 0.5 kg per side makes the exercise many times harder.
The rest of the motion sequence remains the same.
If you're not a fan of weights, you can just do more reps. After 30 reps per leg, you'll definitely feel a decent pull in your thighs.
But there is another variant, which makes the exercise a little more difficult for you.
- Stand upright in front of the object. Your feet are about hip-width apart.
- Your abdominal muscles are tense, your upper body is straight.
- Now place one foot on the object. Your leg should be approximately at a right angle.
- Make sure that the sole of the foot rests completely on the elevation.
- The other leg is still stretched out on the floor.
- Now press up over the leg standing on the elevation.
- Do not place the other leg on the object, but bring it directly up so that the knee forms a right angle.
- Return to the starting position and now start with the other leg.
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What you need to pay attention to in the design of stair climbers
There are a few things you should keep in mind when performing the Step Up exercise. Only if you do the exercise correctly, it will be effective.
Do not jump
Particularly motivated athletes tend to jump on the table, bench or the selected object or get on their knees and climb up with momentum. However, this is not desired in this exercise!
For optimal execution, you must always press up with the front leg.
The correct height of the object
The height of the object you use for your step ups should be high enough so that the thigh you put on is parallel to the floor.
In other words: form a 90° angle. As a beginner you can start with lower objects, but your goal should always be to get to the right angle.
In addition, the object should be stable and sturdy enough. It should withstand your body weight plus additional weight.
For sports beginners, however, a small elevation such as stairs or a stepper is sufficient in the beginning.
The back
A typical beginner's mistake is bending the upper body. This causes the upper body to move forward when there is a lack of body tension, resulting in a hunched back.
Therefore, make sure that you keep your back straight. To do this, tense your abdominal muscles. This will automatically straighten your back.
The heel and knee
During the Step Up exercise, make sure that you place your foot completely on the object. If your heel is over the platform, you may slip and injure yourself.
The tops of the feet, the knee and the hip should always point straight forward.
Not to the right and not to the left.
In addition, you also tend to push your knee over the tips of your toes. You should avoid this at all costs. This creates unnecessary pressure on the knee and can lead to knee problems.
The descent
It is important that you do not perform the exercise as fast as possible, but slowly and in a controlled manner. Especially when descending, you should pay attention.
Descending too quickly in an uncontrolled manner can result in ankle injuries.
Which muscles does the Step Up exercise train?
Legs and buttocks, that much is clear. But there is much more to it. If you want to know exactly which muscles are trained during the exercise, then you should read the next lines with a lot of attention.
The primary muscles used in the Step Up exercise are
- Large gluteal muscle (Musculus Gluteus Maximus)
- Four-headed thigh muscle (Musculus Quadriceps Femoris)
- Leg biceps (Biceps femoris muscle)
Along the way, however, more muscles are in use. These include the back extensor, adductors, calves and abdominal muscles.
They help you to keep your balance and push yourself upwards. If your core muscles - the abdominal and back muscles - are too weak, you will most likely fall into a hollow back.
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What alternative exercises are there?
Step ups are very effective. However, the quickest way to notice a training success is to alternate between the exercises. We now present a few alternatives that also target the thighs and buttocks.
If you are very motivated and want to pay special attention to these muscle groups, combine them together.
Bulgarian Squat
The Bulgarian squat also uses an armchair or coffee table. Instead of climbing onto the object, however, you simply place one leg on it. With the front leg you bend your knees until the leg forms a right angle.
You will strengthen your thighs and your sense of balance with this exercise. Check out the tutorial: "How to succeed Bulgarian squats“
Walking Lunges
Bulgarian Squats too gross for you as a beginner? Then Walking Lunges are for you. You don't even need an exercise mat for this simple exercise. You can do them in any living room - provided you have at least 3 meters of space in one direction.
Curious? Here are the instructions: "With walking lunges to the crack butt“
Pistol Squat
If you really want to know, start with this Pistol Squats to practice. In this exercise you go with only one leg in the squat position - the second leg is extended forward. Mega exhausting and guaranteed not feasible for sports beginners!
Box Jumps
If you find ordinary step ups too boring, you should go one step further and try box jumps. For this you need much more than just an armchair or a coffee table. You jump with full force on the box or the chosen object.
This exercise is not suitable for beginners!
We recommend you to go to a gym or to look for a suitable object outdoors. You can read the detailed instructions here: "How to do Box Jumps correctly“
Why you should definitely include step ups in your training plan
Step ups are one of the complex exercises. These provide you with the best training results in terms of muscle building, performance and fat burning.
Unlike traditional complex exercises, the Step Up exercise also effectively involves the back of the thighs. This exercise brings you quickly forward in the training. You quickly build muscle mass and can thus improve your leg stability.
But even better, with the Step Up exercise, you'll finally get your taum booty. Although squats are usually recommended as the top butt exercise, step ups are even more effective in terms of glutes.
So it definitely pays to incorporate this exercise into your training schedule on a regular basis.
Our conclusion
The Step Up exercise should not be missing in any training plan. It strengthens the legs, trains the buttocks and improves balance. This all speaks in favor of doing step ups regularly. There are no excuses, because you don't even have to leave the living room.
So, let's go! Have fun with the training!
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