Step Ups Or Split Squats?

Aren't debates fun? Maybe not presidential debates since it's mainly who's got the bigger dick or brains to "run" the country but when it comes to fitness, debating on a good leg exercise can spark either something controversial or a elementary whinefest of "my dad can beat up your dad" mentality. To it's extent, both have their pros and cons and they work the leg muscles in similar but different aspects to work the lower body.

Now, when it comes to Step Ups, unless you utilize weight or some form of variation, I see it more of a conditioning type exercise because the big objective is to work the cardio effect of the exercise. Maybe not to the extreme level of high reps Bob Backlund does but Step Ups can be a continuous strength movement because you're moving the legs upward in a higher elevated capacity as opposed to walking up a flight of stairs which is only a few inches off the ground. When you're working a step around average of 12-15 inches high, you're utilizing most of the leg muscles (roughly the quads and hamstrings) and working the hips in a longer capacity. Going for high reps isn't easy but it does save pressure on the knees and you can keep going for an extended period of time depending on how many reps per leg. Some do a 3x15 per leg approach but others like myself work each leg to a minimum so we can keep going for sometimes up to a half hour or longer. 

With Split Squats, IMO, it's more of a strength based exercise because whether with bodyweight or even with dumbbells in each hand, you don't have to do a ton of reps to get the effect and it hits a lot more of the quads along with the repeated movement for the knees. You're going to be more sore from these than from Step Ups because although both are unilateral movements, SS focus more on elevating the lactic acid effect in the quad muscles. You can do high reps per leg if you wish but you're not going to feel all that great the next day and you're putting greater pressure on the knee joints than you would with Step Ups.

I utilize both in some capacity although I prefer Step Ups because it works better for my previous leg injuries. When I do Split Squats, I either use my strap to put one foot in and work a few reps that way or do them Isometrically which strengthens the joints and avoids the lactic acid buildup. Split Squats are my least favorite leg movement but I do see the value in them in some form while others are fanatical about them with a love/hate relationship. I would never do one or the other to failure because for one, that can lead to an injury, two, I want to be able to walk upright the next day and not feel like an 80 year old man wanting to die and three, I want to have that strength and lung capacity to keep going without tiring when I need to do something that's important or staying active without being in horrible discomfort. 

Both have their place whether for bodybuilding, sports training, rehab or whatever. Just be smart about how you do them and not let ego get the best of you. Trying to break records all the time will only cause pain and agony, let them be effective so you can stay strong in the long run. If you need more than a couple days to recover from either one, you're pushing too damn hard. Be objective and focus on making both work to your advantage and progress without needing to do a ton of recovery. The most I would ever do for Split Squats would be a few sets of 10-15 per leg and that's it. I'm not trying to go so hard that I can't walk right afterwards, that's just not my thing. For Step Ups, I pick a number I know I can do for an extended period of time and do that per leg and keep going, At the end, I'm able to do on average around 300-500 total in a workout, around 700 in just over 30 minutes and get in 1000 within 41-45 minutes. This works for me and it keeps me in solid condition and be able to hike, ruck, play and other things without gassing out quickly. You always should have some gas left in the tank after every workout. 

So which one should you do? I say go for both in some capacity but if you had to pick just one, do what gives you the best benefit. Either one will. Be amazingly awesome and work them legs. 

Step Ups And Their Use Over Squats

Conditioning can be done in many ways but the difference between a "gold standard" and something that you prefer over can be in a heated debate but it all boils down to what gives YOU the best benefit. For years off and on, I would do the Hindu Squat, sometimes in high numbers depending on what I was doing like doing them in the hundreds in a row or doing them in a circuit inspired by Darebee type training. It got to a point where being interested in them and benefiting from them were dwindling to just another exercise.

Doing hundreds of Squats was beneficial but as time went on, it didn't have that great of a crossover with me anymore, I still do them but no where near the amount of reps I use to do and I don't have a dogmatic approach or this NEED to do them. That doesn't mean they can't be beneficial to others and if they love doing them and it keeps them in awesome shape, that's fantastic. I love it. They're an essential exercise, that's never going to change but they're not the end all-be all to leg training. 

When I started doing Step Ups a few years ago, I just wanted to see what I can do with them, yes they're "easier" than Squats, but they became something more for me. I was falling in love with them, they kept me motivated, strong, conditioned and didn't have a soreness or weird feeling in my knees or my ankles. Doing hundreds of them was actually fun to do and I love the feeling of going up as if ascending a ladder or to a higher form of physicality. They felt far more natural than the Squats did. 500 Squats felt like a chore after a while and even felt like if I didn't do them whether high reps or not that I was disowning some physical culture god or it was an insult to wrestlers of Japan & The Middle East. I had to get out of that mindset, with the Step Ups, 500 or more reps felt amazing, euphoric, natural and it kept me going throughout the day. They filled a greater sense of purpose than the Squats ever did.

When it comes to Squatting, I would rather hold a Horse Stance or a Deep Squat for mobility than knocking out reps because for the most part that's really all they are and if I don't have the motivation to do them and they're a chore, that could spell disaster. I would also prefer Duck Walks or the Bigfoot Walk over Squats because I get more benefit out of them and they're a hell of a lot more fun to do. Squats do still serve a purpose for me to an extent because I like to do them in addition to the Step Ups like my Deck Of Cards leg workouts you've read about. That gives my legs greater sense of fitness than doing just one or the other.

In a nutshell, I do believe Step Ups are better than Squats because of certain factors but that's really an opinion, some might take offense to that but that's their issue and they can come up with all the reasons why Squats are better and the "If you ain't squatting, you ain't training" bullshit but it's not going to change what Step Ups have done for me in terms of keeping me fit and has a greater crossover in my life. Squats have their place and there's various forms of them that are great but in my opinion, the Step Ups have better carryover to certain aspects of life than Squats do. Sorry not sorry but it's true. 

Here are my reasons why Step Ups are better than Squats.....

1. Greater factor for balancing out weaknesses in the legs

2. Doing high reps and not feeling sore for a week

3. They strengthen the legs that are great for hiking, going up flights of stairs and more

4. Still get a solid amount of muscle building while developing muscular and cardiovascular endurance

5. Bob Backlund 

6. They're a unilateral strength builder 

7. They can be used for any sports conditioning program including Wrestling and MMA

8. Takes the pressure off the low back

9. Better carryover to the real world like labor work

10. Far more underrated and less appreciated. Squats have a reputation both good and bad and has greater research than the Step Ups.

Step Ups from my point of view are a backbone exercise that in comparison to the Squat, seems invisible and not seen as great while the Squat sits on a throne acting like it's hot shit. Step Ups truly are a part of Fitness Royalty and has more of a Black Sheep vibe or something living in the shadows while the Squats has the glory. When it comes down to it, these two titans should be a TAG TEAM that work together in unison, not a stigma to what's better than the other. It's like Triple H & Shawn Michaels, they're bad ass as individuals and do very well on their own level but together, they made magic and were defining factors during one of the greatest eras in pro wrestling. That's what the Step Ups & Squats should really be about, creating magic that defies the norm and whether together or on their own, they have awesome benefits. 

Yes I do love Step Ups more than Squats, I've annoyingly showed that LOL but they're both essential and have great benefits for many people and it's time we ended the bullshit about one or the other on the big picture spectrum. Do both or one or the other, it doesn't matter, what matters is what benefits YOU the most, not the societal norms claim or the dogmatic approaches with a hint of debate wars. 

Be amazingly awesome and train for you. 

Double Decker Of Insanity

 

Every now and then, there comes a time where you want to challenge yourself and see where you're at or how far you're willing to push. A few times recently, I have dug into a hole of doing leg workouts with the deck of cards of Step Ups & Hindu Squats. It started at finishing the deck of 450 and 225 respectively and then added 50 and 25 to make them an even 500 Step Ups & 250 Hindu Squats. I got pretty good at it and was able to complete this workout almost consistently. 

I ended up with a minor back injury where something went out of alignment about 10 days ago and I was having trouble doing what I normally do. During that time, I did lighter things like Isometrics, Joint Loosening, slow Bear Crawling and some light Flow work. Once I started to feel a bit better, I tested myself in doing just the Step Ups for 30 min doing 12-15 reps per leg straight through. Did this a couple times and just kept up with lighter stuff. I noticed some more improvement so I did some Hammer work and added weight to my Epic Sledgehammer and filmed doing 10 reps with 75 lbs. You can view it here. 

My improvement kept getting better so I did another Hammer workout with the 25 lber and managed a total of 300 reps. I filmed the first set which was 52 reps in 57 seconds, you can view that here. 

Today, I felt like I was at my best and wanted to really take it to another level. With the Step Ups & Hindu Squats, I did the same numbers on the cards as I normally would but I was determined to test my conditioning by doing not one but TWO DECKS IN A ROW!!! That's a total of 1000 Step Ups & 500 Hindu Squats. Some guys will do one or the other or do one exercise straight and another some time after that but I don't think (at least to my knowledge) someone has done both in the same workout using decks of cards where it was going back and forth between the two exercises. I knew that Karl Gotch was doing his "Bible" Workout with Hindu Push-Ups, Squats, Jump Squats & Half-Moon Push-ups with 2 decks in a row and although this is way harder, just doing legs is a completely different animal, not saying it's better it's just different. 

For most people, this looks insane and I got some kind of screw loose, this was one of my most insane workouts already so far this year and it's only February. This was a challenge for myself and to see how my back felt because if I sat too long, it did feel painful so I had to move around more which eased the pain and when I laid down, most of the pain went away temporarily. Didn't take one aspirin, muscle relaxer, Advil, Tylenol or anything like that. I hate meds or just over the counter meds with incredible prejudice, that's probably one of the very few things in my life I can say I truly hate. I wanted to rehab myself like I did with my leg injuries and be smart about it. Didn't push hard and listened to my body. Not many get that and go from one extreme to another without realizing the consequences.

Injuries happen, we can't 100% avoid them, but we can make adjustments and learn to be patient with ourselves to an extent. This did hurt like hell and a couple times felt debilitating but I couldn't give up on what I was doing completely, just needed to make small tweaks for the time being and now I feel like I can take on a fucking tank. The challenge really was to get strong again and this double decker workout was the finish line to that challenge. I'm proud to be able to do this and I might do it again you never know. 

If you want to go after this workout, I would suggest have some water on hand before you do it, like 20-30 minutes before you do it cause this workout will make you sweat like you just went through a damn tsunami and it will test your mental fortitude along with your cardio. Drink water after you shower and drink plenty slowly. The endorphin high is indescribable and that water will taste like the best water you've ever had. Challenge yourself, be smart about your training and keep being amazingly awesome. 

Lost Empire Herb Of The Day: Schisandra Berry

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Should You Count Your Steps Or Reps In Animal Workouts?

During workouts, we utilize a set/rep scheme to determine our fitness levels whether for strength, conditioning, endurance or how much we can handle during a certain set. In most circles, this can be good to figure out where you are and how you progress but sometimes, reps don't really seem to matter because the main focus is improving your technique, utilizing tension or using timed sets. Red Delta Project emphasizes those three methods together to help you get the most out of a workout.

When it comes to Animal Workouts, most of the time, rep counts don't really matter but more how long can you last before you start breathing hard. In many cases, a few seconds is all it takes. When I play my Animal Dice Game, it consists of using a step method to count how many times you move throughout an exercise. It can be used as a rep count as well but you don't always have to keep a record of how many steps or reps you do during rounds. In some workouts, you can time it and just play around until the time is up or you can just go until you can't move anymore; either one will get you results fast. 

For a period or ever so often, I do keep a record of how many steps/reps I do in a workout especially if the amount is doubled per animal. I kept a record for a month to see how many I can do and during that month, I recorded over 10,000 Steps/Reps of Animal Exercises. The most I ever recorded in a day was around 2000. Consider that some of those rounds have you doing up to a hundred reps or more depending on if you multiply the dice and you keep going. The highest multiplier I did during certain workouts was around 5 times of what the round called for, so if let's say I rolled a 20 for the bear crawl, I would have to take 100 steps and they can be either fast paced or just "walking" it for that amount. In most workouts, I don't do more than doubled the amount which can still kick your ass in less than a few minutes.

Considering that you don't count your reps and do timed rounds for different animals, you can still end up doing up to several hundred to a thousand or more in a workout. That can be brutal but effective training and developing levels of strength and conditioning that would just astound people. When it comes to the ADG, you never know when you'll start to fatigue, it can happen in one round or 30, you never know. I'll always say that's the beauty of it, no workout is ever the same twice and you never know what you'll have to prepare for cause it can be a breeze one minute and stupid exhausting the next. The bear crawl is considered the foundation for Animal Movements and the easiest to start with; with that in mind, if you had to do even 20 steps of the bear crawl, the next one could be 20 Frog Jumps and you can wear out your legs and be huffing and puffing like the Big Bad Wolf needing oxygen after trying to blow the brickhouse down. 

The thing to remember with this specific Animal Workout is that the more times you multiply the amount per animal, the less rounds you'll end up doing. In one sense if you just did the regular numbers and went for 15-25 rounds or rolls, doubling the amount can take you down to less than 10 and you'll be done. Doing multiple rounds or rolls with a 5 times multiplier can be considered a superhuman feat but until you actually do it, you'll never understand the feeling of it. 

One of the perks of the ADG is that you can do this with a partner and do all sorts of games like Tag, Medley, how many yards you can go for and so on. If you're playing tag, roll for an animal and whatever comes up, both parties have to do that animal. If you're doing distance like a race, roll for an animal, next roll is how long the distance is and it can be feet, yards and if you're insane, go for kilometers. Imagine the amount of reps/steps you take with those kind of games. If you were to do these games for a week, the numbers can rack up in the tens of thousands possibly, talk about being in shape or getting in shape pretty damn quick. 

So with that in mind, should you really be counting? IMO, that's up to you but it's also not entirely necessary unless you have a specific goal in mind like doing 5000 Reps in let's say ten days or you want to average out a certain amount per workout. Regardless of what you do, with consistent training using animal movements, results will come fast and you'll develop skills and other attributes that other methods are obsolete to. Get strong, be wild and be amazingly awesome.