Step up, then drop into a deep reverse lunge.
Stay on one leg the whole flow, controlling both the step up and the deep lunge.
This combo keeps one leg working through two ranges back to back, the step up loads your quads driving you onto the box, then stepping off into a deficit reverse lunge stretches those same quads and your glutes through a deeper range than a floor lunge ever allows. Because you never swap legs mid flow, the working side gets zero rest between patterns. It earns its place for single-leg strength, balance, and exposing exactly which leg has been coasting.
Your front foot stays up on the box while the back foot drops to the floor, so your hips travel lower than in a normal reverse lunge. That extra depth is where the growth stimulus lives.
Knee height or a bit below is plenty. High enough to create a real deficit on the lunge, low enough that you can step up without hauling yourself with the back leg.
You can, but chaining them keeps one leg under continuous tension and hammers your balance in a way separate sets don't. It's more work per rep from the same box and zero equipment.
