Power Stairs

How to do it

1. Stand facing the steps with the implement in front of you, its handles at about knee height.
2. Hinge down with a flat back and take the handles.
3. Drive the hips through and stand up, lifting the implement, and swing it up onto the first step.
4. Step up beside it, take the handles again, and lift it onto the next step.
5. Keep the back flat on every pick and drive each lift from the hips.
6. Continue to the top, then walk down and reset.

Common mistakes

• Lifting with the back. Every pick is a hinge with a flat back and the hips do the lifting; a stoop on the first step is a stoop on every step.
• Swinging the implement wide. It goes straight up onto the step in front; a swing to the side loads the trunk sideways.
• Rushing the steps. Each lift is set up; grabbing at the handles from a poor position is where the back rounds.
• Placing the implement too close to the step edge. It sits fully on the step so it cannot tip back onto you.

Muscles worked

Primary

• Hamstrings

Secondary

• Adductors
• Calves
• Glutes
• Spinal Erectors
• Quads
• Shoulders
• Traps