High-step hip primer
2 rounds: hip circles, deep squat shifts, supported high steps, and slow rock-overs.
- Slot
- Warm-up
- Focus
- Mobility
- Time
- 10 min
- Intensity
- Low intensity
- Injury risk
- Low injury risk
- Equipment
- Floor space, Wall
How to do it
Do 2 rounds of: 10 hip circles per side (stand on one leg, circle the other knee), 10 slow side-to-side shifts in a deep squat, 5 high steps per side onto a bench or low wall hold with a hand on the wall, and 5 slow rock-overs per side (foot up high, shift your weight over it, and stand up). Keep moving actively rather than sinking into positions.
Run it now
The same timer as the app: a five-second get-ready, then every round and rest counted down with a beep. Keep this page open while you train.
High-step hip primer
0:00 / 10:05
Ready
10:05
2 rounds
2 rounds: hip circles, deep squat shifts, supported high steps, and slow rock-overs.
High risk: read the protocol, stop if anything feels wrong.
- 2
- rounds
- 10:05
- total
Done.
Want this inside a plan? Take the quiz.
Seven questions about your climbing, then a plan built from your answers. Free.
Want this in a plan? Seven questions and you get a plan built around your climbing.
Take the quizWho it's for
Sessions with high steps, rock-overs or drop knees, and anyone whose hips feel locked at the start of a session. Ten minutes of active movement beats sitting in a stretch.
Common mistakes
- Sinking into the positions. Keep moving. Static holds belong at the end of a session, not the start.
- Rushing the rock-overs. Slow weight transfer over the foot. That's the movement you're priming.
- Skipping the balance hand. Use the wall for the high steps so you can focus on the hip rather than on not falling over.
- Doing one round. Two rounds. The second one always feels different from the first, which tells you the first was necessary.
How to progress
Take the supporting hand off the wall for the high steps once you can. If a particular position feels stuck week after week, that's a signal for dedicated mobility work like the wall squat or pigeon pose, not a harder warm-up.
When it fits
The training periods this exercise fits into in Blok Sessions.
Base Lots of easy climbing, good movement and aerobic fitness.
Strength Stronger fingers and pulling, with weight you control.
Power Explosive moves, momentum and coordination.
Power Endurance Keep your power through one hard move after another.
Endurance Climb longer before you pump out, by moving efficiently.
Performance Peak for a trip or a comp: focus, reading problems, trying hard.
Deload Train less, let your fingers recover, keep moving.