Lunges and stepups are good exercises for working the leg and butt muscles.
Lunges require you to take a "giant step" forward and back, alternating legs. If you do these with dumbbells or kettlebells in the hands, you call them weighted lunges.
Stepups require you to repeatedly step up and down from a step or box, alternating legs. This exercise combines elements of strength and cardio training.
Like the weighted lunge, the dumbbell stepup described here adds weights to stepups to increase the intensity and workload. Depending on how much weight you add, the number of steps you do, and the height of the step, this can be a demanding, advanced exercise. Here is how to do the weighted stepup.
The Weighted Dumbbell Stepup
- Start slowly. Choose a step or box at the gym or at home and practice doing stepups. Step sessions are common at many gyms in aerobics classes.
- Start with 3 sets of 3 minutes; that is, step up and down, alternating legs for three minutes at brisk pace, rest for one minute, repeat for the next set of 3 minutes and repeat again. Adjust pace and rest time to suit fitness.
- Once you have developed some fitness, you can progress to adding dumbbells. Start by holding a light dumbbell in each hand -- even a pound or kilo to start with will do.
- Practice stepping up with a dumbbell in each hand.
- Progress further by adding extra weight.
- Finally, when you're comfortable with a good solid session of steps with dumbbells, you can progress even further to box or bench steps, which are higher than standard steps. Find these at you gym or use something suitable at home. Adjust time and rest intervals to suit you fitness level.
Stepup Safety Warning
You need to be very sure that the platform you are using for the stepups is solid and well anchored so that it won't slip or slide or collapse, causing you injury.
Don't overdo this exercise, especially if you develop soreness in the knee joints or if you are prone to do so. Two to three sessions each week should be sufficient.
That's it. This can be a powerful, yet simple exercise for combining strength, muscle and cardio building.
