Replacing unilateral movements.

Training Q&A [Moderated]
1

So I did step ups at knee height last week (powerbuilding 2 day one) but the repeated impact of stepping down made my feet hurt to the point of not wanting to get out of bed (good for getting some extra sleep bad for when you need to get up to use the restroom) for the next couple days. Split squat similarly puts a lot of pressure on the back foot and I really don’t have the balance for the Bulgarian version.

Enough excuses.

I don’t have the room for properly setting up a belt squat so I am planning on paused front squats in place of the step-up/split squats for sets of 12. I’m not good at front squats and the pause will drop the weight even more. Hopefully dropping the stress to about what the step up would be. I could lower the step but that seems to negate the purpose of the movement.

I guess my question is; is this is a bad idea? Is there something better to replace them with? Just remove the slot? Suck it up and do it anyway?

2

I would just have you reduce the weight and keep the unilateral work instead of swapping it out.

-Jordan

3

I apologize I left out an important detail. I weighed in at 502 lbs this morning. The step ups and split squats were bodyweight. While reducing the weight on them is actually a goal it’s not something that’s going to happen by next week.

Maybe I could rig up some kind of vertical leg press in my rack.

4

Hey Jimmy,

Thanks for this. I would probably skip the 3rd lift altogether in place of some HIIT conditioning instead. Let us know anyway we can help!

-Jordan