Step-ups are a straightforward bodyweight exercise that offers significant benefits for anyone looking to enhance their fitness routine.
When aiming to infuse some serious resistance into your lower-body workouts, step-ups are a reliable choice. They effectively engage the muscles in your glutes, hamstrings, and quadriceps. All that’s required is a sturdy step stool or a staircase step, and you’re set to go. The effectiveness of step-ups is so notable that mastering them can be quite impressive. According to Steven Pungello, a chiropractor at Full Stride Spine & Sport who specializes in treating runners and athletes, performing a specific number of step-ups within 60 seconds after the age of 60 indicates exceptional lower-body power.
Pungello emphasizes that step-ups provide an excellent opportunity to test your strength and power, focusing on one leg at a time.
Why Step-Ups Are a Powerful Move After 60
“One leg might be weaker than the other, and in a squat movement pattern, the stronger leg can compensate. Step-ups are a fantastic way to identify and address any imbalances between your two sides,” he explains.
According to Pungello, step-ups are an excellent way to put your power and strength to the test, one leg at a time.
“One leg might be weaker than the other, and in a squat movement pattern the other leg can compensate. This is a great test to expose a deficit between your two sides,” he shares.
This bodyweight move mainly trains your quads and glutes. It’s also a solid challenge for your ankle mobility and cardiovascular system when performing it at a more rapid pace, to ensure you have the endurance needed to tackle a full flight of stairs.
How to Do It
- Begin by standing tall, facing a workout bench or low step.
- Hold an optional dumbbell in each hand.
- Place your left foot firmly onto the surface, keeping your core engaged and chest tall.
- Press through your left heel to lift your body until your left leg is straight and you’re standing on the surface.
- Use control to lower back to the start position.
- Repeat on the other side.
Here’s What Your Results Mean
Pungello breaks down exactly what to do to ace this step-up test and challenge your lower-body power.
“To do this test, find a step and lead with the same leg on each attempt going up and down (right leg up, left leg up, right leg down, left leg down),” he instructs. “Do this for 60 seconds each side and record your number. Completing over 25 reps would be considered elite, but anything over 20 would still be good. Additionally, testing your heart rate after can be another good metric to track.”
The Importance of Preserving Lower as You Age
Power and strength tend to quickly decline as you age. Power is basically how well you’re able to use your strength. So, as you grow older, you can preserve your strength through regular workouts, but not many take things a step further to perform more explosive exercises.
“Many people over 60 just do slow and steady exercise but also need to incorporate faster, more explosive movements to accomplish activities like climbing stairs,” Pungello says. “Similar to riding a bike, walking up stairs faster is actually easier. If you go slow, there is more time on one leg where you are unbalanced and have a high potential to fall. Having the endurance/power in your legs to get up stairs or hills decreases the risk of falling and helps to improve cardiovascular fitness.