This article is a transcribed edited summary of a video Bob and Brad recorded in May of 2024. For the original video go to https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s5qERHI9iWQ&t=310s
Mike: Today we're going to discuss why the step-up is the most important exercise you aren't doing.
Brad: Absolutely. And we're also going to discuss the glute maximus muscle, a muscle that contributes to more than just strengthening the hip. It contributes to the leg balance, endurance, and all the way into the trunk and the core. Alright, here is a brief summary. We're going to first educate you on how this muscle can affect you with back pain, hip, knee, and ankle pain. Very quickly, we're going to show you how to do the exercise with a step-up. For some people who are not comfortable with a step up, there are some nice options for you as well.
Mike: So the glute is an important muscle to keep your femur, the long bone in your leg, in the place where it needs to be. Oftentimes, if it is weak, it can lead to internal rotation of sorts, meaning your leg goes in.
Mike: If your leg starts deviating in like this with standing and walking, over time you're going to start developing hip pain first. It could possibly be knee pain. You could see my knee is caving in. And it even affects the arch in your feet. If you're in like this, your arches are going to get weaker. It can cause foot problems. Now if you look at this as well, if you get to an extremely shifted position, notice my pelvis is shifting.
Mike: This is going to start causing lower back pain as well. So a good thing to do is strengthen this glute max muscle to fire properly, which can help prevent any of these issues from happening.
Brad: Right, let's get to it.
Mike: So according to a study, the step-up exercise is the best exercise to activate your gluteus maximus muscle. Now this study also looked at other common exercises, including hip thrusts, lunges, deadlifts, and squats. They all activate the glutes as well, but this one really isolates the glute max the best.
Mike: In the study, they did forward step-ups or lateral step-ups. It didn't matter. They still activated the glutes properly. So Brad, how should they perform this exercise?
Brad: Well, that's a good question, Mike. There are a couple of big common mistakes when you do step-ups. If you're using a stare or steps like this, watch what happens to the knee right here. Oftentimes people will not pay attention and inward motion, kind of a circular motion will happen with the knee.
Brad: That's hard on the knee joint. It's hard on the hip. So make sure the knee stays over your toes, and you're very aware of good alignment that way.
Brad: The second thing is people will go up and compensate, we call it, going forward like this, and then going up. And then you're not going to get the isolation of the glute Maximus.
Brad: Good tall posture, up all the way until you get straight leg and down slow. Make sure you go down slow, up slow. Maximum strengthening will occur.
Mike: You really want to focus on the front leg in the exercise. You can push off from the back leg. However, you're not going to get as much glute activation. You're focusing on the leg that is forward. Slow controlled movements are best. And in the study, they said if you need to use rails for support, you certainly can. Also two to three sets of 10 reps on each leg.
Brad: That's right. Alright, now if you're uncomfortable doing steps or for some reason it's not working for you, you're a beginner, this is going to be some options to work that glute maximus. This is from Rick Olderman. He's an expert in the field, and these are some exercises he actually refined and tuned in for great gluteus maximus strength.
Mike: So the first one we're going to do, you have to be able to get on your hands and knees. Brad will show a variation if you're uncomfortable in this position. So once you're on all fours, you're going to lift one leg up. You're not going to go all the way up towards the ceiling. Just kind of pick somewhere in between. Now, to activate your glute more, you can rotate your leg like this, and you're just going to do little oscillations. You're not going to pump through the full range of motion. Just pick a spot and do 30 repetitions. If you need to do 10, rest, go back up, do 10, that's perfectly fine. Once you do one side, make sure to switch again, do on the other side.
Brad: Okay, let's go to the next one. Okay, I do want to clarify, when you do that on your hands and knees, you know, do it on the floor. The bed doesn't work so well. We just show it here because this is convenient.
Mike: This is our bed.
Brad: My wife always wants to clarify that for the audience. So that's important. Now, what you're going to do is put your hands on a countertop or a stable surface. This is if you don't want to get on your hands and knees. We do the same thing. You're slightly bent forward, straight back, head up, bend the knee at 90 degrees or close to it, and then you simply do the same motion. So you're not going through a full range, it's in the intermediate range. And do your 10 up to 30 pumps, and then turn and work the other leg. Now again, if you want to isolate the glute even more, rotate that femur so the foot goes down as I'm demonstrating, and you'll feel it more intensely on that glute max.
Brad: All right, Mike, if people want to do some other information, you know, look for other fantastic videos, what are they going to do?
Mike: You can check out our video "Best 5 Glute Medius Strength Exercises." So that's a different glute muscle.
Brad: There you go. Obviously it's done by one of the best fitness, healthy, fit, and pain-free video makers in the world Bob, Brad, and Mike. There you go. We're done babbling. We do have a tendency to babble on, and that's what we're doing now. So click off anytime you want.
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