Can’t Do a Step-Up? Here’s What Your Body Is Trying to Tell You

You may not even notice how many times per day you step up — until it suddenly becomes difficult.

If you find yourself opting for the elevator over the stairs, or if your favorite stair-climbing workout becomes impossible, it’s important to listen to your body and address any muscular and structural issues that can cause joint pain and more.

Here’s why step-ups may feel challenging and what you can to do to fix them.

What’s Really Holding You Back From Step-Ups

“The main factors that can contribute to someone not being able to perform a step-up include having pain or an injury, limited mobility, and limited strength,” says Grayson Wickham, DPT, CSCS, of Lux Physical Therapy and founder of Movement Vault in New York City.

You need to have adequate strength in your quads, glutes, and, to a lesser extent, calves, Dr. Wickham notes. “If one or more of these muscle groups is lacking the strength needed, you will not be able to perform the step-up properly,” he says.

Stiff joints that can’t go through their full range of motion may also limit your ability to perform step-ups. “You need a specific amount of mobility in your ankle, knee, and hip,” says Wickham. “If you don’t have the range of motion necessary in these joints and are unable to get into the proper position, you simply will not be able to perform the step-up.”

By looking at your form during the step-up exercise, you can determine the cause of your inability as well as the best way to get stronger. Below, Wickham explains how to interpret those clues and what to do to regain your ability to step up.

1. Your Quads and Glutes Are Weak

If your knee buckles, gives way, or shifts to one side or the other during your step-ups, it’s likely your issue is due to lack of muscular strength. In order to perform the exercise properly, you need stability in your knees and hips and strength in the muscles that support those joints — specifically, your quads and glutes.

Fix It

“This exercise increases the activation of your lateral gluteal muscles, helping stabilize your hip and knee,” Wickham says. “Focus on keeping your knee tracking over the middle of your foot the entire time. It should not move to the inside.”

Exercise to Try: Step-Up With a Band‌

1. Place a light resistance band just above your right knee, and secure the other end of the band around a sturdy object to your left.
2. Place a low step in front of you, and step up with the right leg.
3. The band will exert force that pulls your knee inward, but resist and push your knee outward while stepping up.
4. Make sure your knee tracks over the middle of your foot.
5. Perform two sets of 20 reps.

If you have pain while doing this exercise, instead do a Romanian deadlift to target your glutes and hamstrings. Once your muscle strength improves, you can return to the banded step-up.

Exercise to Try: Romanian Deadlift‌

1. Stand with your feet shoulder-width apart while holding dumbbells at your sides.
2. Perform a hip hinge, sending your hips back behind you as your torso folds forward.
3. Keep your back straight and your core engaged as you slowly lower the weights to the ground.
4. Once your chest is parallel to the floor, reverse the movement and return to standing in a slow and controlled movement.

Exercise to Try: Lunge‌

1. Start in a standing position, then step a few feet forward with your left foot.
2. Bend both knees to 90 degrees, with your back knee hovering just above the ground and your front knee directly over your ankle.
3. You can keep your hands on your hips or let them hang by your sides.
4. Hold for a beat before pushing off your front foot, returning back to standing, and repeating on the other leg.

Lunges, either with or without weights, are another excellent exercise to strengthen the muscles surrounding your knees, Wickham says.

Even better, perform all three of these exercises above to strengthen the muscles supporting your knees and hips.

2. You Lack Hip Mobility

If you find yourself leading the movement with your head and thrusting your upper body forward in an attempt to get on top of the step, take a step back and reassess your hip mobility.

“Leaning your upper body forward is a compensation for lack of hip or ankle mobility and leg strength, specifically quadriceps and gluteus muscles,” Wickham says. “Focus on keeping your upper body relatively upright, limiting the amount that your upper body flexes forward.”

Fix It

If you’re performing step-ups during a workout and feel yourself leaning forward, decrease the height of the step or box until your hip mobility improves and you can step up while keeping your torso upright. In the meantime, Wickham recommends a hip flexion end-range stretch exercise to improve hip mobility.

Exercise to Try: ‌Hip Flexion End-Range Stretch‌

1. Lie on your back inside of a doorway or a piece of gym equipment, such as a power rack.
2. Place the foot that’s closest to the wall on the wall.
3. Flex your hip as much as possible, bringing your thigh toward your stomach.
4. While leaving your foot on the wall, move your body and hips closer to the wall to increase the stretch and hip flexion. You should now be in a maximal hip flexion stretch.
5. Contract your glutes and push your foot into the wall as hard as possible and hold for 20 seconds.
6. Relax after 20 seconds.
7. Then, while staying in the stretch, try to lift your foot away from the wall and hold for 20 seconds.
8. Repeat the above for at least three rounds per side.

3. You Have Ankle Mobility Issues

Fix It

Exercise to Try: ‌Ankle Mobility Stretch‌

1. Start in a half-kneeling position, with your back knee on the ground.
2. While keeping your heel on the ground, let your knee move forward as much as possible until you feel a stretch in the back of your lower leg and ankle. Make sure that your knee tracks over the middle of your foot.
3. Contract your calf muscles by pressing your foot down into the ground (as if you’re pressing on a gas pedal) and hold for 20 seconds. Relax after this contraction.
4. While staying in the stretch, perform the opposite contraction by trying to lift your foot up off of the ground. Hold for 20 seconds.
5. Repeat the above for at least three rounds per side.

4. The Step Is Too High

Step-ups are a great exercise to strengthen your legs, but make sure you are doing them correctly. “A big mistake that I see often is people using a step, box, or bench that is too high for them,” Wickham says. “The higher the step is, the more mobility someone will need to perform the step-up correctly.”

Fix It

Technique to Try: If you feel yourself leaning forward or your legs buckling, you need to make adjustments. “The fix is to choose a step or box you can step up onto in a controlled manner while keeping your chest up,” explains Wickham. “You will most likely need a smaller step than you think.”

Consider working with a certified personal trainer to figure out the appropriate step height for your mobility and strength level. And don’t let your ego get in the way: You’ll still get a fantastic workout without putting unnecessary stress on your knees and hips, he adds.

Step-Ups and Knee Pain: When to See a Doctor

If you’re experiencing a lot of knee pain when doing step-ups, stop and get checked out by a doctor to rule out injuries. “This pain could be caused from a damaged meniscus or other ligaments in and around the knee,” Wickham says.

The Takeaway

• Step-ups may feel unexpectedly difficult due to limited strength, joint mobility issues, or underlying injuries.
• Strong glutes and quads and proper knee and hip alignment are essential to performing step-ups safely and effectively.
• Improving your hip and ankle mobility may help correct common imbalances like leaning forward or lifting your heel.
• If step-ups cause persistent knee pain, stop immediately and consult your doctor to rule out injury or arthritis or to build a training plan tailored to you.