5 Ways to Get a Crazy Good Step Riser Workout at Home
When it comes to home fitness equipment, the BodyRock Step Riser is a classic piece of gear that has recently enjoyed a resurgence thanks in part to the new Apple TV series ‘Physical’ starting actress Rose Byrne as an 80’s era fitness instructor breaking into the VHS tape fitness market. With all of the new fitness technology like Mirror, Peloton and other expensive gadgets, it’s easy to forget about the old school Step, but it’s remained a classic for a reason - there is so much you can do with it to get a great workout at home and it’s extremely light weight and simple to use.
You’ll find Step-Risers in every gym worth its salt, but the cardio benefits are just the beginning. The Step Riser is also an amazing strength-training tool, too.
It's easy enough to use, its adjustable, and you can use it to get in your daily step count in which is crucially important for weight loss and maintenance. The Step Riser will also help in building a strong lower body, toned legs and tight thighs.
Here are five ways to get the biggest workout bang using the BodyRock Step Riser - which just happens to be 50% with the code STEP50 - limited stock available.
1. Focus on building lower-body lean muscle strength.
Every step up on the Step Riser works your calves, glutes, quads, and hamstrings, so it's one of the best pieces of gear to tone and torch your lower body. Posture and proper form is key to getting the most engagement in your legs and lower body. Make sure that you keep your back upright and core flexed so that the lower half of your body absorbs the force of each rep. Avoid rounding your back and hunching over to get optimal results. don't hunch over if you want the best results.
The Core Bonus
Most of the stepping exercises that you can do on the Step Riser also work to shred your core, even if you are focusing on your legs and lower body. Make sure that your core is engaged when you are working out with the Step Riser to get these Bonus Core gains. 
Experiment with your Foot Work to Tone Different Areas
The way that your foot lands on the step will actually determine if you are firing up more muscles in your booty or your thighs during your Step Riser workouts. People tend to overwork their quads climbing stairs, but if you land with your heel placement directly on the Step Riser vs. letting it hang partially off the edge as you step, you can actually shift more of the targeted toning action to your hamstrings. Experiment with your foot placement to unlock different muscle groups in your lower body. Pay attention to where you feel the burn to master hitting exactly the areas that you want to sculpt.
Another tip for targeting your quads is to land and push off with the ball of your foot. 
Step Up That Booty Toning
Stacking up the Risers that come with your Step Riser to their maximum height is an effective way to target toning on the back of your legs. To hammer your glutes, step up and press through your heel and squeeze your butt as you stand upright on the top of the Step Riser.
Add Resistance for an Increased Burn & Faster Results
You can hold a pair of Dumbbells (currently 30% off) in your hands to ignite the Step-Riser burn and take your workout to the next level. Strength and Resistance training is not just about classic lifting - anytime you add resistance to an exercise, you have optimized that exercise to burn more calories and build lean muscle tone by turning it into strength training. Dumbbells work with the step, but adding hands-free resistance is what we recommend as the best way to add resistance. Keeping your hands free, means that you can maintain your balance and agility much easier. It also means that you can grab weights or other gear in your hands if you want that option. The best way to optimize any activity with hands free resistance training is with the BodyRock weighted vest (currently buy 1 get 1 free). Our vest has been specifically designed to fit a woman’s body, and it’s a fitness game changer that you can wear walking, hiking, biking, doing cardio or any other activity - even mowing the lawn or cleaning the house.
The Step Riser on it’s own will burn calories and improve muscular endurance, but adding the BodyRock Vest or Dumbbells will build lean muscles in the same way that traditional resistance training moves like weighted squats, deadlifts and weighted lunges do. The Step Riser is an excellent way to boost your leg day training.
The Perfect Home Workout Bench
The Step Riser isn’t just for stepping. You can use it as a gym bench for chest presses, chest flys, tricep dips, pushup walk overs, in and out ab crunches and jack knifes - the amount of exercises that you can use the Step Riser for is almost limitless. You can also do inverted shoulder presses simply by stacking one side of Risers higher than the other and leaning the top Step on an angle. Having a stable workout Bench option at home means that you can really open up the number and types of exercises that you can do at home. 
2. Use the Step Riser as an effective weight-loss tool.
A Step Riser workout is an efficient means of torching calories and losing weight because it primarily employs the largest, most metabolically active muscles in your body (quads, hamstrings, glutes, core). At BodyRock we refer to these muscles as the body’s fat burning furnace. Working these larger muscle groups will mean that you are burning more calories after your workout ends. When you train your larger muscles, you are not just toning those muscles and strengthening them, but you are also speeding up your metabolism. This ‘after burn’ effect is amped up even further when you add resistance with the weighted vest. This heart-rate boosting cardio combined with the lower-body focused strength training means that you'll burn more calories during and after your Step Riser workout than you would by doing moderate, steady-state cardio. If you are going to move, it makes zero sense not to add resistance to amplify the burn and get results faster.
If weight loss is your primary goal, try a HIIT-style Step Riser workout. You don't have to Step for long to see significant results from your efforts. A study in the British Journal of Sports Medicine determined that short bursts of Step climbing (starting with just 1 x 2 minute sessions and gradually increasing to five) 5 days per week for 8 weeks had the effect of increasing the women in the study’s cardio output capacity by a staggering 17%. 
3. Do a Step Riser workout to Relive Back Pain
Using the Step Riser is a lower-impact way to exercise, so it's a great choice if you have back problems and can't use a treadmill. Research has shown that Step Risers are a useful fitness tool to help relieve lower back pain because it's so effective at engaging the glute muscles, which work to support and take the pressure off your back. 
4. Step to improve Posture and Core Strength
If you find yourself leaning forward when walking up a flight of stairs, you're likely going to have the similar poor form and posture while working out with the Step Riser. If you have developed the habit of hunching over at your desk or when walking, you aren’t doing your body a good service. The Step Riser is an excellent tool for improving your posture. Focus on keeping your shoulders back and proud with your back straight. Because your Step Riser doesn’t have rails or handles like a stair case or Step machine at the gym, you will by default burn more calories because you can’t cheat and offload your Bodyweight on a grip or support. By leveraging your Bodyweight with each rep, it forces the body to further engage your core muscles and can give you a solid core workout almost without you noticing. A stronger, more toned core is on everyone’s fitness wish list, and the Step Riser delivers this as an added benefit. You will make core strength gains with every step, which not only helps to keep improving your posture, but also helps to prevent uncomfortable back pain.
5. Do a Step Riser workout if you're sick of other Cardio.
There is a lot of truth to the expression ‘variety is the spice of life’. Cardio burnout and boredom is very real, so try switching it up by adding a Step Riser to your routine. If your nickname for the treadmill has become the dreadmill lately, it’s time to try something different.
You'll be amazed by the lean muscle gains and cardio burn from this old school gear, plus it will open up other exercises that were previously too difficult to stage at home. It’s not just a Step Riser, it’s a bench, and a stable platform for doing a wide variety of home based exercises that require an elevated surface off of the floor.