I know I have posted before about Step Ups. I like Step Ups for endurance and strength. They're not a magical exercise, no exercise is. But if You like them and they feel good I think they have some good benefits. I know the title is," For Endurance" but here are some variations and insights from my experiences with them.

First variations, You can use a small step or a bench. My opinion is the smaller the step the more You work endurance. Vise versa, the bigger the step the more You work strength. I could be wrong about this but I feel even when You're working strength with these You still get Your heart rate up.

As to what steps can be used, any. I use my basement steps which I believe are 8 inches high and sometimes a flat bench. I personally wouldn't go high than a weight bench because of my knees. If You use Your basement steps You can hold onto the railing, I do this. Variations of Step Ups can be changed by height( as You know), amount of reps each leg, or amount of steps used. If You think of anymore please share. This all keeps them interesting for me. If You want ideas let me know.

Now for the endurance part. A couple things I have been doing is using four steps at a time, doing them four 10 to 12 minutes, or 40 seconds in between my sets. For the four steps I hold on to the railing and go 4 steps up, than down, and repeat. On days I feel like a little cardio I'll go for time. Mostly on lower body day I like to do Step Ups for 40 seconds in between sets. I like this because there is no wasted time in between sets, it gets the heart rate up, and a nice sweat going on. Another note, is these Step Ups can be done as fast as You want. If all You can do is walk up and down than I believe You still can get some benefit. By the end of some of the workouts I tried with these I'm not moving so fast, Lol.