How To Get The Most Out Of Your Exercise Step

Who doesn’t want to get the most out of their workouts? Whether you want to start training again after some time off or make cardio workouts more effective, I’m sure you want to reap the benefits of regular sweat sessions!

There are a few budget-friendly pieces of equipment that can help you to add some extra intensity to your workouts. One of these is pretty underrated — an exercise step!

Jump to:

• Using an exercise step
• Adjusting the height
• Best exercises to do with a step
• Exercise step benefits
• Adding an exercise step to your workouts

If your goal is to tone your butt and thighs, an exercise step is a piece of equipment you might not have thought to include. A step can help add a degree of difficulty to exercises, making your body work just a little harder. 

Find out how to get the most out of your exercise step and step-up your results!

Using an exercise step

You have probably seen an exercise step in the gym or in one of my workout videos! 

Exercise steps (also known as step platforms or aerobic steps) can be used for all sorts of cardio and strengthening exercises, using your own bodyweight, dumbbells or weights. You might have memories of them from old step aerobics classes — believe me, there is a good reason they are still around! 

If you want to add some variety to squats and push-ups, a step is a great way to do this!
 
Before using an exercise step for the first time, there are a couple of safety measures to note. Make sure you set the exercise step height to an appropriate level. 

Adjusting the height of an exercise step

There are slightly different ways to adjust the height of an exercise step, depending on the type you have. 

My exercise step is similar to the one pictured, which means you simply add risers to the bottom to give you more height. The one I use has a simple click-in system, where you move the fitting to adjust the height. Other step designs use a stacking system with pre-set raisers to adjust the exercise step to the height you want. 

The height you select for your exercise step should feel comfortable for you. It will also vary depending on which exercise you are doing. For example, if you’re doing a snap push-up, you might want the step on the lowest setting. If you’re using the step for mountain climbers, you might need a little more height. 

Here’s a simple way to remember which height is best: for lower-body exercises, the higher the step, the more difficult they are. For upper body exercises (such as an incline push-up) having the step higher makes the move easier.  

Step exercise moves 

If you’re ready to put your exercise step into action, then you need to know what moves to start out with!

You might have seen a couple of videos on my social media where I used my exercise step. Adding a little height to some of your exercises can help increase the intensity, making sure you are working hard and getting results from every workout. 

These are some of my favourite step exercises:

• Split squat
• Step tap
• Snap push-up
• Reverse lunge and knee-up
• Step-up

Benefits of using an exercise step

There are many benefits of adding an exercise step to your training schedule. 

Some of the benefits of using an exercise step include:

• Improved balance and coordination. Moving your upper and lower body together as you step up and down requires coordination and balance. 
• Exercise steps are great for toning. Stepping up and down work your leg muscles and activate your glutes. Adding hand weights helps increase the intensity. 
• Increased cardiovascular health. Adding an exercise step to the exercises above increases the intensity and can help get your heart rate up. 

You can also use a step to modify exercises. For example, adding a step to push-ups on your knees is a great way to build strength for a push-up. 

Adding an exercise step to your workouts

One of the other great reasons to use an exercise step is it can add some variety to your workouts! When you mix-up your training routine, it stops boredom from setting in. Plus, you get to try new things and see how your body adjusts to more difficult workouts — a great reason to give something new a try!

Do you use an exercise step at home, or for your gym workouts? Let me know your thoughts in the comments!