Every Wednesday, STACK features an Exercise of the Week to help you improve your overall sports performance—including strength, speed, size and flexibility. This week we highlight Step-Ups With Hold, a multi-joint lower body exercise that develops strength in the quads and glutes.
Who’s Doing It
Heather Mitts
Muscular Benefits
Increases quad and glute strength
Increases core muscle strength to stabilize the hips and spine
Develops range of motion, movement coordination and ankle stability
Sports Performance Benefits
Improves powerful leg drive for increased jumping ability, explosive speed and lower body power
Develops functional single-leg strength—i.e., in a way similar to game-time use
Improves single-leg balance, which is critical for changing direction
Dumbbell Step-Ups Description
Holding dumbbells on shoulders, assume athletic stance in front of knee-high box
Step onto box with right foot
Explosively extend right hip and knee to raise body onto box
Drive up with left knee so thigh is parallel to floor; hold for two seconds
Return left foot to ground; repeat for specified reps
