The Play: Step-Ups
The Purpose: To increase strength in your hip extensor muscles, such as the glutes, in order to improve acceleration and overall speed.
Pre-Snap Read: This exercise is a great way for you to work on your game at home. All you need is a stair or a very sturdy box.
Performance: Place your right foot on the step or stair, with your left foot staying planted and stationary below. Make sure your right leg on the box or stair forms a right angle at your knee, with your thigh parallel to the box. If your thigh is at an angle, your knee is either too high or too low, and you won’t get the full benefit from this exercise. At this point you are ready to Step-Up, but before you do, make sure you keep your left down leg knee stays straight and locked. You want to make sure your right leg is doing all the work. To ensure this, your left toe should be pointing up a bit, with your weight on your heel, so you are forced to use only the right leg to extend up. Now, Step-up. Repeat this 4-8 times and then switch legs.
Post Drill Analysis: Was your step-up leg at a right angle and the thigh parallel? Was your toe up on the plant leg? If you feel that your Step-Up was too easy and you just glided up effortlessly, chances are one or both of these were the cause.
Making an Impact as a Female Sports Performance Coach
[…] Step-ups are another great movement for the glutes and hamstring muscles. This can be done on a box or bench, which should be about knee height. The weight can be placed on your back utilizing a bar or you can hold dumbbells in each hand. The key to this movement is to utilize the force from the leg on the box to propel the body up. The most common mistake is that an athlete tends to push off the foot that is on the ground. To avoid this, keep the toe up off the ground, with the knee locked and straight at all times while having the foot on the ground,. Do not bend the knee at all with this leg and do not push off at the ankle. This will make the leg up on the box perform all the work to lift the body up. […]