How to step up an elevation is the best movement for pumping your buttocks at home
Miscellaneous / / May 13, 2021
The super-functional movement will increase muscle volume and build strength and balance.
What is good about stepping up an elevation
This is a functional movement that occurs all the time in everyday life - for example, when you are going up stairs or climbing a stool to grab something from the top shelf.
Despite its simplicity, steps effectively pump several muscle groups at once, and in some cases even take precedence over strength training icons such as squats and lunges.
Pump the glutes better than many other movements
The main function of the gluteus maximus muscles is to extend the hip joint, so exercises that include this action are used to pump them. For example, gluteal bridge, lifting hips with support on a bench, squats and deadlift.
In stepping, the gluteal muscles have to not only unbend the pelvis, but also participate in stabilizing the hips and knees, keeping them from excessive adduction and rotation. Due to this, the muscles receive more stress.
In the review
Gluteus Maximus Activation during Common Strength and Hypertrophy Exercises: A Systematic Review 16 scientific studies with electromyography (EMG) data have found that walking is outperforming many other movements.Whereas hip extension activates the gluteus maximus muscles only 75% of the maximum voluntary contraction (MVIC), deadlift by 61%, and squatting with weights on the back by 53%, different step options provide a load of 125%.
But it is important to note here that by performing the same hip extension or squat, in which both legs are firmly on the floor, you can take a lot of weight and load the buttocks to the fullest.
At the same time, it is not safe for even experienced athletes to step on a hill with significant weights, and beginners should not even think about it: the risk of injury is too great.
Walking is one of the best movements for pumping the buttocks when working with weights is impossible.
Loads many muscle groups
In addition to the gluteus maximus, striding also works well for the gluteus medius, quads, and hamstrings. Moreover, you canElectromyographical analysis of lower extremity muscle activation during variations of the loaded step ‑ up exercise shift the load on any muscle groups by changing the execution option.
Muscles are also included in the work. corpswhich are responsible for a sense of balance and keep your body in an upright position.
Corrects imbalances in muscle development
If the muscles on one side of the body are stronger than the other, in bilateral movements such as squats, the stronger side will take the load. Over time, when using large scales this could result in injury.
The steps are the sameGluteus Maximus Activation during Common Strength and Hypertrophy Exercises: A Systematic Review load the muscles on the left and right sides, helping to get rid of the skew.
Develop a sense of balance and reduce the risk of falls and injury
Unlike the same squatsPerformed on the spot, striding teaches the body to move forward and backward effectively while maintaining balance on one leg.
Due to functionality, movement is recommendedStep up your fitness and safety - Harvard Health perform for older people to strengthen muscles, rely less on arm support and remove the habit of scuffing feet when walking.
Stability of the hip and knee joints, a good sense of balance and the habit of correct technique in the long term can reduce the risk of injury in people of any age.
Allows you to practice without equipment and special training
In the gym, steps are done on a step platform, box or skirting board for weightlifting. But, in fact, any stable elevation can be used for the exercise - a chair, a step, a bench in a park, or a high curb.
If you don't have dumbbells, you can use a backpack full of heavy things as weight, or pick up bottles of water or sand.
In addition, the exercise can be easily scaled to suit any fitness level. Elderly, ill-prepared and very obese people can walkStep up your fitness and safety - Harvard Health on a platform 10–20 cm high, trained athletes - on a 45–50 cm box, while holding dumbbells in their hands or with a barbell on their shoulders.
Who Shouldn't Walk an Eminence
Since the height of the platform can always be adjusted to the level of the student, there are practically no contraindications for stepping.
However, if you have serious problems with a sense of balance, make sure you have something to grab onto to prevent a fall in time. Or exercise under the supervision of another person to support you when you lose your balance.
How to walk correctly
Make sure the support is stable and firm. Wobbly step platform structures and chairs with soft padding or insufficient seating will not work.
Stand in front of the support, you can put your hands on your belt or hold them loosely at your sides. Straighten your shoulders and straighten your back, tighten press.
Place your right (working) foot on a raised platform so that the entire foot is pressed against the surface, and the heel is near the edge of the platform.
Keeping your back straight, transfer your body weight to your working leg, and then rise to the platform and straighten your leg at the hip and knee joints. After that, you can place the other leg next to a full foot, on toe, or even leave it on weight.
Smoothly and under control, lower your left foot to the floor as you descend from the platform. It is allowed to both substitute the working leg to the supporting leg, and leave it on the platform for the next step.
Do a full set on the right foot, then repeat on the left.
What mistakes should be avoided
There are several common mistakes that can make your steps ineffective and even dangerous.
Slouching back
Make sure that during lifting the body does not lean towards the knee: this spoils the shape and takes the load away from the legs.
Taking off from the floor with the supporting leg
This movement takes the load off the working leg, which means it makes the exercise less effective. Make sure that only the leg on the dais is making all the effort when lifting.
The second simply rises with the body and is substituted only at the end of the phase.
Knee twist inward
By curling the knee inward during the lift, you put it in a biomechanically disadvantageous position and increase stress on the anterior cruciate ligament.
Keep your knee pointing in the same direction as your toe to help avoid trauma. You can even turn it outward a little to prevent it from rotating inward.
Extension of the leg until fully extended
By shortening the lifting phase, you reduce the load on the muscles. Straighten your knee completely, and if it does not work, choose a lower platform.
When to take the weight and how to do it
If you can easily complete 10 strides on each leg, try adding weights. Take your lungs dumbbells in 2-4 kg or bottles filled with water or sand.
If you don't lose balance and the form of the exercise does not deteriorate for 10 repetitions, you can increase the weight even more. In the case of access to dumbbells with different weights, add the load until you reach a pair with which you can only do 10-12 times.
If you feel confident, you can try walking with a barbell on your back. To get started, take an empty bar weighing 15–20 kg, or even better, a 7–8 kg bodybar.
Add pancakes as you get used to until you reach a weight that you can perform 8-12 times without turning your knees inward and leaning your body forward.
How to take steps to shift the load on different muscle groups
In one studyElectromyographical analysis of lower extremity muscle activation during variations of the loaded step ‑ up exercise tested how different versions of strides - classic, sideways (lateral), diagonal and cross - change the load on the muscles.
15 trained women performed the exercise on a 45 cm box with additional weighting (6RM), and the scientists tracked the activity of different muscle groups using EMG. Here's what they found.
Sideways (lateral)
According to the results of the study, lateral steps are recommended to be done to shift the load on the rectus femoris, one of the heads of the quadriceps, which is responsible for hip flexion.
Stand to the left of the box - right side to it. Place your right foot on a dais, transfer your body weight to the bent leg and lift up until you are fully extended.
As with classic strides, you can place your other foot next to your working one or leave it hanging. In the first case, place the foot of the working leg 10–12 cm from the edge of the support; in the second, you can place it directly on the edge, as in the video.
Diagonally
Such steps load both the straight and medial heads of the quadriceps better than the classical ones. In addition, it is recommended for good pumping of the muscles of the back of the thigh.
If you are stepping onto a box or chair, stand to the left of the support one step further from the edge. If you are climbing a stable bench, you can stand in front of it, as in the video.
Place the foot on a support so that the thigh is located diagonally from the body and perform strides, observing all technical points.
Crosswise
This is the last option that was tested in the experiment. Scientists have concluded that such strides pump the gluteus medius muscles better than others.
Stand to the left of the box with your right side facing toward it. Place your left foot on the box close to the edge. Then straighten your knee and hip as you step up the dais and place your right foot next to your left. You can also not substitute your leg, but leave it hanging.
Get down from the dais with your right foot and repeat the movement.
How else can you perform steps
The following types of strides have not been tested in experiments, but since they use additional movements, it can be assumed that they will increase the load on the muscles.
With hip flexion at the highest point
Do the classic step up with your right foot, but instead of just substituting your left, bend your hip and bring your knee forward. Climb back down from your left foot and repeat the movement.
With hip extension at the highest point
Take a step with your right leg, and at the top point, straighten your left thigh, while straining your buttocks. Climb back down from your left foot and repeat the exercise.
Lunge
Step with your right foot and bring your left knee forward, then slide down your left foot and lunge backwards with your right. Get up out of the lunge and repeat the exercise.
How to add walking steps to your workouts
If you exercise at home or outdoors, you can do this exercise every workout, combining it with squats, lunges and other pumping movements. hips and buttocks.
Do steps in 3-5 sets of 15-20 times per leg if you are working without weights, and 10-12 times if you take a weight with which you can tire the muscles enough for that number of repetitions.
If you are building muscles in the gym, you can add dumbbell and barbell strides on the day of your leg workout to diversify your program.
Since back squats, machine leg presses, and barbell hip extensions allow you to take more weight, you should not replace them with strides.
However, you can periodically add this movement to the program to "finish off" the gluteal muscles or quadriceps, restore symmetry and pump a sense of balance.
Step in three sets of 8–12 times per leg with weights that will tire your muscles sufficiently without compromising your technique.
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