Bodyweight Step-Up
QuadsCompoundLegsBodyweightBeginner
Stepping up onto a box with one leg and lowering under control. Unloaded it is the entry point to single-leg work: it teaches you to drive with one leg and to control the descent, which is where most people fail.
How to perform
- 1.Stand facing a box that puts your thigh parallel to the floor when you place your foot on it.
- 2.Place the whole foot on the box, not just the toes.
- 3.Drive up through that heel without pushing off with the bottom leg.
- 4.Finish standing on the box with the hip extended.
- 5.Lower slowly on the same leg, touching down with the toes of the trailing foot first.
Common mistakes
- ●Pushing off with the bottom leg, which turns it into a jump
- ●Dropping on the way down
- ●Placing only the toes on the box
- ●Letting the knee cave inward on the way up
Proper technique
The bottom leg does not push: if you need it, lower the box until you do not. The descent should take longer than the ascent. The knee tracks over the foot. Once it stops being hard, that is when you pick up dumbbells.
Variants
Other exercises that work the same primary muscle.
muscle map
primary
secondary
Primary
- Quadriceps
- Gluteus maximus
Secondary
- Hamstrings
- Adductors
- Core