Single-Leg Step-Down
Single-leg lowering off a box, tapping the floor with the free foot before driving back up to the top.
How to do it
- Stand on a box or step about eight inches high with one foot along its edge.
- Set the free foot just off the edge, level your hips and rest your hands at your waist.
- Bend the standing knee slowly and lower the free foot toward the floor.
- Tap the floor lightly with your heel or toe without shifting any weight onto it.
- Drive back up through the standing leg until that knee is straight.
- Complete your reps, then step off and repeat on the other leg.
Key technique cue
Knee over the second toe, hips level; lower slowly and only tap the floor.
Common mistakes
- ✕ Letting the standing knee cave inward, which is the exact fault the drill is meant to correct.
- ✕ Hiking the hip on the free-leg side, which offloads the glutes and hides the control problem.
- ✕ Dropping fast instead of lowering, which skips the eccentric work the exercise exists for.
- ✕ Taking weight on the tapping foot, which turns it into a two-legged squat.
Benefits
- ✓ Builds eccentric quadriceps strength and knee control for landing and deceleration.
- ✓ Trains the glutes to keep the pelvis level in single-leg stance.
- ✓ Reveals left-to-right asymmetries that bilateral squats mask.
Progression: from easier to harder
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Step 1 -
Step 2 You are here - Single-Leg Step-Down
About the exercise
The single-leg step-down is an eccentric knee-control drill. You stand on a box on one leg, lower the free foot toward the floor by bending the standing knee, tap lightly and drive back up without transferring weight. The stance quadriceps do the braking, the glutes keep the pelvis level, and the trunk holds its line. Keep the knee tracking over the second toe and the pelvis from dropping to the side.
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