Step-Up with Knee Raise
Trains the Glutes.
- Equipment
- Body only
- Mechanic
- Compound
- Force
- Push
- Level
- Beginner
How to do it
- Set a box or bench at roughly knee height. Higher demands more from the glutes and more balance.
- Stand facing it holding a dumbbell in each hand, or with bodyweight to start.
- Place one whole foot on the box, with the heel on the surface rather than hanging off the edge.
- Drive through that heel to stand up onto the box, keeping the trailing leg passive — do not push off the floor with it.
- At the top, drive the trailing knee up in front of you to hip height and pause briefly.
- Lower the trailing leg, then step back down under control with the same leg, and repeat before swapping sides.
Common mistakes
- Pushing off the floor with the trailing leg. That is the most common way this exercise gets easier without anyone noticing. The working leg should do all of it.
- Setting the box too high, so the movement becomes a lunge and a scramble. Knee height is a good starting point.
- Hopping down. Stepping down under control is a large part of the work and it is the half most often given away.
- Letting the knee collapse inward on the drive up. Single-leg work is where the gluteus medius has to hold the pelvis and the thigh in position; a knee falling inward is that failing.