What is the difference between the Patrick, Poliquin and Peterson Steps?

All three are knee-forward step-downs in which the free leg reaches ahead to a heel tap, and the difference is the working foot. In the Patrick Step that heel stays flat on a flat step, the Poliquin Step raises it on a slanted surface, and in the Peterson Step the heel lifts off the step so the knee travels further forward.

Is it bad for my knees to go past my toes?

No, not for a healthy knee working at a height it is used to. Forward knee travel puts more work on the quads and the front of the knee, which is the purpose of the drill, so add height and reps gradually and keep every rep pain-free.

What if my heel lifts before my knee gets past my toes?

That usually means your ankle runs out of bend first, so lower the step and stop each rep where the heel still stays flat. When healthy adults had their ankle bend experimentally limited during a forward step-down, they bent the knee less and made up for it with more hip bend, hip drop and inward hip movement. Calf stretching and the Tibialis Raise can help you earn more range over time.

Does the Patrick Step target the VMO?

It works the vastus medialis along with the rest of the quadriceps, and many people feel it most just above the inner knee. No exercise isolates one part of the quadriceps, though, so treat it as a quad and knee-tolerance drill rather than a VMO isolation move.

How high should the step be?

Start low enough that you can tap the free heel down with the working heel flat and no knee pain, which for many people is the lowest setting of an aerobic step or even the floor. Raise it only once 10 to 15 controlled reps per leg feel easy.

Patrick Step

What Is the Patrick Step?

Patrick Step is a compound exercise that primarily targets the quads and also engages the glutes and calves. It is a beginner-level, single-leg knee drill done from an aerobic step: you balance on one leg, bend that knee forward past the toes while the heel stays flat, and reach the other leg forward until its heel lightly touches the floor in front of the step.

The exercise comes from coach Ben Patrick's ATG ("Knees Over Toes") system, which uses it as the first rung of its reverse step-up family and programs it for high reps with no added load. Its job is to build strength and tolerance with the knee traveling well in front of the toes, the position that walking downstairs, stepping off a curb and slowing down from a run all put the knee in. Because the working heel never leaves the step, the ankle has to bend as far as it can, so the drill trains ankle mobility as well as the thigh.

Three knee drills from this family are often confused online, and in all three the free leg reaches forward to a heel tap. What separates them is the working foot. In the Patrick Step the heel stays flat on a flat step, so ankle mobility limits how far the knee can travel. The Poliquin Step sets the working heel on a slanted surface so the knee can move forward with less ankle bend, and the Peterson Step lets the working heel rise off the step so the knee travels further still.

With the torso upright and the knee moving forward rather than the hips moving back, most of the work lands on the quadriceps of the standing leg, while the glutes and outer hip keep the pelvis level and the calf controls the shin as it tips forward. It suits beginners, runners and court athletes who want sturdier knees, and anyone who finds stairs hard on the way down. If a low step is still too much, start from the floor with a partial range or hold a wall for balance, and if the heel lifts early, work on ankle range with the Knee-to-Box Calf Stretch and Tibialis Raise.

Muscles Worked

MuscleActivation

Vastus Lateralis: Primary
Vastus Medialis: Primary
Rectus Femoris: High
Gluteus Medius: Medium
Soleus: Medium
Adductor Magnus: Low
Gastrocnemius (Lateral Head): Low
Gastrocnemius (Medial Head): Low
Gluteus Maximus: Low
External Oblique: Minimal

Instructions

Set an aerobic step at a low height and stand on it with both feet hip-width apart, hands on your hips and torso tall.
Shift your weight onto the working leg and keep that whole foot, heel included, flat on the step.
Lift the other foot and hold that leg straight out in front of you, just past the front edge of the step, with the toes pulled up.
Bend the working knee and let it travel forward over and past your toes, keeping the heel down, as your body lowers under control.
Keep your hips level and facing forward and your torso upright while the straight free leg reaches forward and down.
Lightly touch the free heel to the floor in front of the step without shifting any weight onto it.
Press through the whole working foot to straighten the knee and return to standing tall on the step, free leg still off the floor.
Complete all reps on one side, then switch legs.

Common Mistakes

Lifting the working heel
Letting the heel rise off the step turns the drill into a different variation and hides the ankle stiffness the Patrick Step is meant to work on, so lower only as far as the heel stays flat.
Pushing off the tapping heel
Putting weight through the free heel or bouncing off the floor takes the load off the working leg, so the touch should be a light tap and nothing more.
Sitting the hips back
Hinging at the hips and leaning forward shifts the work to the hip and cuts the forward knee travel the exercise is built around.
Dropping or twisting the hips
Letting the free-side hip sag or rotating the pelvis toward the reaching leg reduces control of the working leg, so keep both hips level and facing forward.
Letting the knee cave in
The working knee should travel forward over the middle toes rather than collapsing toward the other leg as you lower.
Starting with too high a step
A step taller than you can control without pain forces the heel up or the hips back, so start low and add height only when every rep is smooth.

Injuries

Patrick Step is a low risk exercise when performed with proper technique. It uses body weight from a low step, and the free foot stays close to the floor the whole time, so a loss of balance usually ends with a foot on the ground rather than a fall.

The load sits on the front of the working knee, where the patellar tendon and the joint behind the kneecap work hardest as the knee moves past the toes. In a lab study of 20 healthy adults, a forward step-down, the same front heel-tap pattern, produced more stress behind the kneecap than forward or lateral step-ups done to the same 45-degree knee bend. That is the point of the drill rather than a reason to avoid it, but people with kneecap pain or patellar tendon pain should start with a lower step and a smaller range. The calf and Achilles tendon are also stretched under load as the shin travels forward, so anyone with Achilles pain should keep the range small at first.

To make it easier, lower the step, work from the floor with a partial range, or hold a wall or rail for balance. The Poliquin Step eases the ankle demand by raising the heel on a slant. To make it harder, raise the step a little at a time, slow the lowering, or move on to the Peterson Step, which lets the heel rise so the knee travels further.

Stop if you feel sharp pain at the front of the knee, pain that builds from rep to rep, or pain in the Achilles tendon. A burn in the front of the thigh is normal; pain in the joint is not. Work at the height and range that stays pain-free and build from there.

Overview

Primary Focus: Quads
Equipment: Body weight and step platform
Modality: Strength
Difficulty: Beginner

Alternative Exercises

Other Names for the Patrick Step

The Patrick Step is also known as:

Patrick Step-Up

Frequently Asked Questions

Q: What is the difference between the Patrick, Poliquin and Peterson Steps?: All three are knee-forward step-downs in which the free leg reaches ahead to a heel tap, and the difference is the working foot. In the Patrick Step that heel stays flat on a flat step, the Poliquin Step raises it on a slanted surface, and in the Peterson Step the heel lifts off the step so the knee travels further forward.
Q: Is it bad for my knees to go past my toes?: No, not for a healthy knee working at a height it is used to. Forward knee travel puts more work on the quads and the front of the knee, which is the purpose of the drill, so add height and reps gradually and keep every rep pain-free.
Q: What if my heel lifts before my knee gets past my toes?: That usually means your ankle runs out of bend first, so lower the step and stop each rep where the heel still stays flat. When healthy adults had their ankle bend experimentally limited during a forward step-down, they bent the knee less and made up for it with more hip bend, hip drop and inward hip movement. Calf stretching and the Tibialis Raise can help you earn more range over time.
Q: Does the Patrick Step target the VMO?: It works the vastus medialis along with the rest of the quadriceps, and many people feel it most just above the inner knee. No exercise isolates one part of the quadriceps, though, so treat it as a quad and knee-tolerance drill rather than a VMO isolation move.
Q: How high should the step be?: Start low enough that you can tap the free heel down with the working heel flat and no knee pain, which for many people is the lowest setting of an aerobic step or even the floor. Raise it only once 10 to 15 controlled reps per leg feel easy.