Step-Ups

How to do it

1. Hold a dumbbell in each hand and stand facing a bench or box about knee height.
2. Place one whole foot on the bench.
3. Drive through that heel to stand up on the bench, keeping the other foot passive.
4. Lower yourself back down under control - do not push off the bottom foot.
5. Pushing off the floor with the trailing leg is the cheat that makes this exercise useless.

Muscles it trains

Percent of one session's target for that muscle. Anything at 100% finishes that muscle on its own.

How it compares

Compared with the Dumbbell Lunges, it loads Calves 25 points higher, Hamstrings 20 points higher, Quads 15 points higher. It needs Dumbbells + Bench where the other uses Dumbbells. Compared with the Dumbbell Front Squat, it loads Abductors (outer hip) 40 points higher, Glutes 30 points higher, Hamstrings 25 points higher. It needs Dumbbells + Bench where the other uses Dumbbells.

Other ways to train this

• Dumbbell Lunges DumbbellsIntermediate
• Barbell Reverse Lunge BarbellIntermediate
• Sumo Squat Dumbbells
• Smith Machine Split Squat Smith machine
• TRX Lunge Suspension trainer

Other exercises for the Quads

• Dumbbell Front Squat 90% DumbbellsIntermediate
• Bulgarian Split Squat 90% DumbbellsBenchIntermediate
• Dumbbell Squat 85% Dumbbells
• Sumo Goblet Squat 75% Dumbbells

Exercise illustrations and data by RepDB (repdb.co), used under licence.