🔎The lateral step down can be useful both as an assessment of lower quarter control and as a prehab/rehab exercise.

🧠In the traditional test, the individual places their hands on their hips and stands at the edge of a 20cm step. Then, they bend the affected knee until the heel on the other limb contacts the floor. Finally, they return to the start position and perform a total of five repetitions.

👉Whether you are performing this as a test or an exercise, here are the items that would indicate a potential control issue:

1️⃣Arm Strategy: removal of hand from waist

2️⃣Trunk Alignment: leaning in any direction

3️⃣Pelvis: loss of horizontal plane

4️⃣Knee: center of tibia medial to 2nd toe

5️⃣Stance: patient steps onto non-test limb

✅If you want to test your control, simply have someone record your movement and review the results using the criteria above. If an issue is detected, this test can then be used as an exercise on your leg training day.

📚Reference: Rabin A, et al. Factors Associated With Visually-Assessed Quality of Movement During a Lateral Step Down Test Among Individuals With Patellofemoral Pain. Journal of Orthopaedic & Sports Physical Therapy. 2014.