StrengthIn review

Dumbbell Step-Up

A forward step onto a bench or box with a dumbbell in each hand.

This page is a working draft. A coach has not reviewed it, so read it as a starting point, not as checked instruction.

Pattern: Squat
Modality: Strength
Difficulty: Beginner
Mechanic: Unknown
Force: Unknown
Laterality: Unilateral
Impact: Low
Trains where: Gym, Home
At home: Yes

How to do it

Set up

Hold one dumbbell in each hand at your sides.
Stand facing a bench or box at or below knee height.
Put one whole foot on the step.

Do the rep

Lean forward a little and push through the whole foot on the step.
Stand up tall on the step and bring the other foot up beside it.
Lower the other foot back to the floor under control. The working foot stays on the step.

What counts as a rep

A rep counts when you stand tall on the step with the working hip and knee straight, and the other foot returns to the floor under control.

One rep starts with one foot on the step, drives up to a full stand on it, and ends when the other foot lowers back to the floor; count each side.

Breathing

Exhale as you step up; inhale as you lower.

Cues

Push through the whole foot on the step.
Knee follows the toes.
Lower slowly; do not drop to the floor.

Common mistakes

Pushing off the floor foot
What you seeThe foot on the floor bounces to start the rep.
FixKeep that foot light and let the leg on the step do the work.
The working leg must lift the body for the rep to train it.
Knee falling inward
What you seeThe knee moves inside the line of the foot.
FixPush the knee out so it stays over the toes.
A knee over the foot keeps the load on the hip and thigh muscles.

Stop the set if

Stop if you feel sharp pain.
Stop if the step moves or tips.
End the set when you cannot stand up on the step without pushing off the floor foot.

General educational content, not individual coaching or medical advice.

Muscles worked

Prime movers

Quadriceps · moderate confidence
Glutes · moderate confidence

Assisting

Adductors · moderate confidence
Hamstrings · moderate confidence
Deep core / trunk stabilizers · moderate confidence
Forearms and grip · moderate confidence

Equipment

Dumbbell + Bench or Box step

Use a stable bench or box that will not slide or tip. Start with a step at or below knee height.

In the app

You log this by hand. The camera coach does not watch this movement yet.

Tracking: Camera candidate

How this page was checked

Draft. A editorial reviewer has not signed this off yet.

Draft text is original copy for Wave 2 batch 11, adapted from existing Allena records and the owner rules approved 2026-10-12 (#340). No human review is complete.
Technique, cues, rep standard, breathing, stop cues, and error corrections need independent sources and the assigned review tier (blueprint two-source rule).
Programming roles, skill tier, failure cost, timed use, goal fit, and equipment follow the owner rules; the switch-on PR must confirm them.
Anatomy uses the CSV planning hints; the assigned review tier must confirm it.
Legacy relations and engine edges stay empty until the progression ladder lane and S2-CAT-005.
Timed use and goal fit copy ex_reverse_lunge, the closest Wave 1 record. The draft carries no Wave 1 review evidence.
Technique uses 2 dumbbell(s). Load is logged in kg with load-and-reps only; the bodyweight variant is a separate record.
The CSV says bilateral. The movement is unilateral and counts each_side, as the closest one-leg model.
The CSV bench-or-box becomes a required bench or box-step any-of group. Box is not a picker id. Home changes from no to yes because bench is a home item (rule 1).
Failure cost moderate: the user must control the stop with dumbbells or on one leg (rule 3).

All instruction and editorial text in this record is original draft copy written for Allena. Planning metadata comes from the internal Wave-2 blueprint CSV.

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