Step Ups were first known as a fitness test during World War 2 (called the Harvard Step Test by Lucien Brouha) to test a person's cardiovascular system which also helped determine a person's recovery ability after strenuous exercise. To test this, the way it went down was a person had to step up and down within a second per leg and went at a rate of 30 reps total per minute for 5 minutes or until complete exhaustion. There were variations of this test by others but this was the biggest one known at the time.
Although many athletes have done this exercise, it has gone by the wayside because it's not a big time exercise that executes top level strength as opposed to Squats and other Leg Movements. The truth of the matter is, with the right height for a person that is congruent with a leveled step up, it can be and should regarded as a great conditioning exercise that does build muscle while acting as a phenomenal stamina builder. When this test was first issued, the subject at hand didn't factor in a person's height or the dangers of overlapping the leg's ability to stay within a level for the joints. If a person was too tall, the test would've been too easy because it wouldn't take much to step up but if a person was too short, they're overextending the hip joint and that could cause an injury to the joints along the hips and quad muscles.
To make this exercise efficient and provide a safe level of working the muscles and the hip joints, a person should have a step up that doesn't extend their knees past the navel point of the abdomen. Some people are flexible with their legs but if you're doing reps over an extended period of time, you don't want to risk the health of your joints otherwise you'll be in pain for a very long time. My step up is no more than 14 inches which is perfect for my height (5'10) and doesn't put pressure on the ankle joints and shin bones from my injuries. I have been training my wife in the step ups and for her height (4'11), 14 inch step up would be too much on her knees and ankles so we have a gym step up that is at best 10 inches which gives her a good lift but doesn't put pressure on her legs, she'll often do 50-200 reps in a workout depending on her energy levels and the workouts I put her through.
My workouts normally with step ups is 20-30 minutes non stop doing 10-20 reps per leg at a time. If I'm feeling ambitious on certain days, i'll do no more than 1000 within an hour or less. In other words I don't do workouts longer than an episode of a tv show. Most of the time, I'll just do step ups as a cardio workout and than do other stuff later in the day. To ensure I'm keeping my joints healthy to continue doing them, I would do Isometric Step Ups from time to time. This type of training has helped me do hikes without getting winded or fatigued and can easily go up flights of stairs.
Most wouldn't think Step Ups are hard and often times don't consider it much of an exercise unless there's added weight involved. There's nothing wrong with adding resistance to step ups but just doing them in and of themselves can be tough as hell especially if you're hitting the hundreds to a thousand or more. What you may not realize is that at some point during the day, a lot of us already do some form of step up whether it's going up stairs, walking up the steps of an arena, going up hill or taking up boxes to an apartment. The funny thing is, climbing up stairs and such can give you a real test to see how your conditioning is.
One of the best athletes to ever do the Step Up and has made it an exercise that holds true testament is legendary wrestling champion Bob Backlund who has gone sometimes hours doing this exercise. At a tv taping of Impact one year when he was doing an appearance, he did step ups the whole time for 2 hours that included before the fans arrived till the time they left. That is some crazy conditioning.
For most people, just a few minutes of this exercise can tell you a lot about your cardio and how fit you are. Don't underestimate it, try it out in your own workouts and see what you can do. Just do your bodyweight, don't add resistance until you have done a good number of reps within a solid time frame. Start out doing them 1-2 times a week for no more than 10 minutes, if you prefer sets and need to recover in between, do so and reduce the rest time each workout 5-10 seconds, As you get better, add reps. If you can do a total of 100 without stopping, that's a great start, 500 is pretty damn good, once you hit 1000 in under an hour, that's a sure way of saying "yep that guy's crazy" lol.
Remember, "Conditioning is your best hold."- Karl Gotch.
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