Written by Travis Halena | ACSM CPT
Fact checked by Kirsten Yovino, CPT Brookbush Institute
FACT CHECKED
The high knees exercise is one of those awesome movements that checks all the important boxes.
Packed with benefits? Check. Ultra versatile? Sure is! Simple enough to learn and follow with correct form? Another check. Able to provide you with an incredible workout? Double check!
And whether you're looking for a new dynamic warm-up exercise, a move to help keep your heart rate up between sets, or one to add to a HIIT routine, the high knees exercise won't disappoint.
Plus, it requires nothing more than your bodyweight, meaning you can pretty much do them anytime, anywhere! Keep reading so you can learn how to perform high knees correctly, along with the best variations, no matter your fitness level.
Table of Contents:
- What Is The High Knees Exercise?
- What Muscles Do High Knees Work?
- Can You Build Muscle With High Knees?
- High Knees Exercise Benefits
- How To Do The Traditional High Knees Exercise
- High Knees Modifications
- High Knee Progressions
- When to Modify High Knees
- How To Incorporate High Knees Into Your Workouts
- How To Program The High Knees Exercise
- High Knees Sample Workout
What Is The High Knees Exercise?
High knees is a simple yet dynamic bodyweight exercise that mimics sprinting form. You likely remember this from your childhood gym class days or recall seeing sprinters perform it in their training.
The traditional high knees exercise is a stationary movement in which you sprint in place while getting your knees up as high as possible.
Not only does it get your heart rate up quickly, but a high knee is also a plyometric exercise that improves your neuromuscular efficiency. This is helpful during sprinting, as your brain can call on the muscles needed to run more effectively, directly leading to improved posture and running mechanics.
As an added bonus, if you improve your sprinting mechanics and your brain connects to these muscles better, you will improve your acceleration, agility, and speed.
But perhaps the best feature of this exercise is its versatility. Performing high knees requires zero equipment, can be done anywhere, and may be placed in several different places within your workout split. They can be used as a warmup, between strength exercises, or as a high-intensity interval training type finisher.
No matter where it’s placed, high knees will do wonders for your lower body muscles, especially your hip flexors, as they are responsible for lifting your knees up.
Let’s dive deeper into what muscles the high knees exercise works.
What Muscles Do High Knees Work?
Think of a sprinter's body type. They are often lean and jacked, and while they didn't get that physique without building muscle, it's safe to say sprinting also played a role in their physique. As far as we're concerned, that's all the more reason to add high knees into your training!
The high knee exercise improves your sprinting mechanics and works your entire lower body, as well as the core and some upper body muscles.
Let’s take a closer look at the muscles worked.
Calves:
The gastrocnemius and soleus muscles are highly activated during a high knee run.
Since you are on the ball of your foot during the exercise, they are getting much more attention than regular running. This is because your calves must keep your foot in a dorsiflexed position to activate the calves.
Hamstrings:
The hamstrings play a more significant role in actual running as they work to bring your leg behind your body in preparation for propelling forward.
But this muscle group is still activated during high knees as they work with the quads to control knee extension during the lifting of the knee phase. Both groups also work to fight hyperextension in the standing leg.
Quads:
The quadriceps muscles help with knee extension and hip flexion during the high knees exercise.
Since your knee comes up higher than it does when using your normal running form, the extended range of motion means the quads will absorb more force from the knee joint so that the connective tissue, bones, and cartilage don’t break down.
Glutes:
The glutes act as the engine that drives the hip into a high knee position, and they also function to absorb force as you land. High knees will improve your stride length and sprinting mechanics, allowing your body to use your glutes more effectively to help propel you forward.
And, the stronger your glutes are, the more load they take off your low back and hamstrings, and the less likely you are to get injured while running. The takeaway here? Glute exercises and the high knees exercise are a must!
Hip flexors:
The psoas and iliacus muscles work to flex the hip. They are responsible for lifting your knee into your chest during the high knees exercise. Tight, shortened hip flexors are common for many of us due to an overall increase in sitting and lack of activity.
High knees is a fantastic hip flexor exercise to strengthen, stretch, and build coordination in these muscles and your lower body.
Abs:
Whether you are trying to target your core or abdominal muscles, the high knees exercise activates both!
Your abdominal and deep core muscles keep your torso upright and protect your spine during the high knee exercise. The oblique system transfers force from one side of the body to the other during a sprint.
High knees are a great functional way to train your core to be stronger while running, which leads to being faster and injured less.
Upper body:
During the exaggerated arm swing motion of the high knees exercise, your shoulders, lats, biceps, and pectoral muscles are all working hard.
Strength coaches often tell their athletes that if their arms stop moving, their legs will follow. So if your arms are pumping hard, they are not only getting stronger, but they're ensuring your whole body is effectively working during high knees.
Can You Build Muscle With the High Knees Exercise?
When building muscle, it’s important to remember the basics. Strength training, eating in a calorie surplus, and consuming enough protein are the pillars of building muscle.
The high knee exercise will not be at the top of the list for packing muscle on, and that’s okay. They still have some benefits that will lead to building muscle.
Improving your brain's ability to connect to the muscles working during high knees will improve sprinting mechanics and posture and allow you to feel the same muscles working during other exercises.
The mind-muscle connection is a huge piece of the building muscle puzzle, and if you can feel a muscle working better, it has a better chance of growing, as your body continues to call on it to function with increasing load.
High knees are also a fantastic option for a HIIT bodyweight workout, which do such an excellent job burning calories and fat that they help to reveal some of your muscles. The leaner you get, the more muscular you look.
So to return to the question, high knees aren't high on the list of muscle-building exercises, but their benefits will contribute to you being able to use other exercises to do so.
You will see great results if you are doing high knees with sprinter intensity, including them in either your strength training program or in an aerobic exercise routine.
4 Benefits of High Knees
Here are 4 reasons to start performing high knees.
1. Requires no equipment:
This is one of our favorite high knees exercise benefits, as you don’t need a fancy gym or equipment to do this body-weight, load-bearing exercise. You can even do them from the comfort of your living room.
2. Improves sprinting mechanics and speed:
High knees and the position they put your body in trains your body to practice a forefoot or midfoot strike instead of striking your heel when you land. This will help increase your step rate, lowering the stress and damage placed on your hips and knees during running1.
This will also increase your stride frequency, which will get your glutes firing, helping to propel you forward and increase your speed2.
3. Burns calories:
High knees can burn around eight calories per minute. In addition, not only are high knees super effective while you are doing them, but you will also continue to burn calories at an elevated rate throughout the day if you include them in your HIIT routine.
Remember that if you use these in a HIIT style workout, like Tabata, for example, you will get the amazing excess post-exercise oxygen consumption benefits. HIIT is superior to steady-state cardio for burning calories and also decreases the risk of cardiovascular disease, hypertension, and type 2 diabetes3.
4. Improves posture:
The muscles that are hard at work during the high knees exercise lead to improved posture4.
And as slouching and poor posture are prevalent issues in today’s society, it’s all the more important to find exercises to combat them.
How to Do the Traditional High Knee Exercise
It’s important to note that there are many different high knee variations. Several modifications are also available for people with specific issues (more on that shortly).
Here's how to perform the high knees exercise properly.
How to do the High Knees Exercise:
- When learning how to do high knees, start standing with your feet shoulder width to hip width apart, placing your weight on the balls of your feet while your arms remain at your sides.
- Keeping your head neutral and looking straight ahead, lift your right knee slightly above waist level while pumping your left arm forward in front of your body.
- Quickly lower your right leg and drive your left leg and left knee up just above waist level. At the same time, pump your right arm forward in front of your body as the left elbow drives slightly behind your body.
- Continue alternating sides for indicated reps or time. Continue pumping your arms to keep your momentum up.
2 Best High Knee Modifications
There are tons of great takes on the high knees exercise, including several options perfect for beginners or those dealing with injuries.
1. Marching high knee:
This beginner and joint-friendly option takes the plyometric portion out of the exercise.
Instead of running, you will always have one foot on the ground, focusing on the marching portion, as you drive your knees up toward your chest.
2. High knee march with torso twist:
A step up from the beginner march, a high knees with torso twist is still low impact while serving as a great oblique exercise. To perform, you'll keep one foot on the floor but will add a twist with the upper body across the knee that is being raised in front of you.
This will target your obliques more than the normal variation. To make this even harder, you can hold on to a medicine ball while you do it, or you can run instead of march.
High Knee March With Torso Twist Demo on YouTube
4 Best High Knee Progressions
If the traditional high knee exercise isn't enough, give these 4 advanced high knees progressions a shot!
1. Moving forward high knee run:
This will add a challenge to high knees and requires more space, so find some room!
Your steps will be shorter than standard running as you focus on getting your knees high. You will follow the same high knee exercise form, moving forward instead of in place.
Moving Forward High Knee Run Demo on YouTube
2. Prisoner high knee run:
This is the same as the traditional high knee run, but you will take your arms out of the equation by placing your hands behind your head.
With no arm drive, your hip flexors will have to work even harder to lift your legs up, making it a great core strengthener. Just remember to focus on proper form as you work through this variation.
Prisoner High Knee Run Demo on YouTube
3. Jumping high knees:
This advanced plyometric variation combines skipping and high knees.
Jump off one leg at a time as you drive the knee into your chest, and focus on vertical height instead of pumping your knees quickly. Find some space for this move!
4. Leaning against wall high knees:
This exercise simulates running up a hill and challenges your lower body through a bigger range of motion.
Lean forward at an angle, placing your hands against a wall, and perform the high knee exercise. You will use your lower body as your hands push into the wall for support.
When to Modify High Knees
The variations listed above include beginner-friendly to more advanced options. There are several reasons why you may want to avoid specific high knee exercises.
Like with weights, you don't want to start too advanced and injure yourself. If you are brand new to working out, start with a simple high knee march before progressing to running in place.
If you have bad knees, you may also want to stick to the high knee march or march with a twist, so the extra stress of plyometric exercises doesn't aggravate your knees.
Another option if you have tight ankles is to perform high knees while lying on your back. Lay on the ground and alternate bringing one knee into your chest so you can still train your hip flexors. With some ankle mobility exercises, you should be able to progress to standing high knees quickly.
How to Program High Knees Into Your Workout Routine
For some inspiration on how to best use high knees, check out our suggestions for how to incorporate them into your routine.
- Warm Up: High knees are a great way to get your blood pumping and heart rate up before a workout, particularly on leg day. Try 45 seconds on and 15 seconds off for 5 minutes. This can be at a more moderate intensity until your body is awake and ready to rock.
- Between Strength Exercises: Sitting around resting between exercises is excellent for improving muscular strength, but if you need to keep your heart rate up or are trying to burn extra calories, add some high knees! Try to perform 20-30 seconds of high knees between each set.
- Circuits: High knees are a fantastic addition if you love full-body circuits. Try performing a push exercise, then a pull exercise, and then high knees for 20-30 seconds. Repeat for as many rounds as necessary for that day.
- Workout Finisher: High knees can be an excellent HIIT finisher to cap off your workout. Try one round of Tabata alternating high knees and push-ups for 4 minutes. Repeat for 3-4 rounds.
High Knees Sample Workouts
Here are three different workouts showcasing how you can integrate high knees into your program.
Important note: Any exercises grouped together in the workouts below should be treated as supersets. This means you should perform one exercise and move immediately to the next one. Once one set is complete, rest briefly, and repeat again until the specified number of sets are complete.
HIIT Finisher High Knees Workout:
For this routine, rest 45 seconds between each round, performing a total of 5 rounds.
- 10 Push-Ups
- 10 Squats
- 30 Seconds High Knees
- Rest 45 seconds
- Repeat for 5 rounds
Upper body high knee workout:
|
Exercise |
Sets |
Reps |
|
Cable Face Pulls |
2 |
20 |
|
Single Arm DB Rows |
3 |
8 |
|
Chin Ups |
2 |
10 |
|
DB Incline Bench Press |
3 |
8 |
|
DB Lateral Raises |
3 |
15 |
Lower body high knees workout:
|
Exercise |
Sets |
Reps |
|
High Knee Warm Up |
2 |
1 minute |
|
Barbell Back Squat |
4 |
6 |
|
Jumping High Knees |
2 |
10/leg |
|
DB Romanian Deadlift |
3 |
8 |
|
High Knee Sprint Against Wall |
1 |
1 minute |
|
Walking Lunges |
3 |
8/leg |
|
Glute Ham Raise |
3 |
10 |
|
Tabata Finisher: |
4 minutes total |
20 seconds on |
High Knees: A versatile exercise perfect for any program
You now have plenty of examples showing how to include high knees in your workouts. A move that's great for your lower and upper body, this full-body exercise will also improve your conditioning, while helping you shed body fat.
And with so many modifications and progressions, there are virtually no excuses for not doing it. There is a variation for everyone, and the benefits are amazing.
Get out there and get those knees up!
Looking for additional ways to include high knees in a HIIT routine? Check out our HIIT For Beginners and HIIT For Women articles for high knees inspiration, along with some more great HIIT moves and routines!
References:
- Heiderscheit BC, Chumanov ES, Michalski MP, Wille CM, Ryan MB. Effects of step rate manipulation on joint mechanics during running. Medicine and science in sports and exercise. 2011;43(2):296-302. doi:10.1249/MSS.0b013e3181ebedf4
- Dorn TW, Schache AG, Pandy MG. Muscular strategy shift in human running: dependence of running speed on hip and ankle muscle performance. Journal of Experimental Biology. 2012;215(11):1944-1956. doi:10.1242/jeb.064527
- Karlsen T, Aamot IL, Haykowsky M, Rognmo Ø. High Intensity Interval Training for Maximizing Health Outcomes. Progress in Cardiovascular Diseases. 2017;60(1):67-77. doi:10.1016/j.pcad.2017.03.006
- Cho M. Effects of running in place accompanied by abdominal drawing-in on the posture of healthy adults. Journal of Physical Therapy Science. 2015;27(5):1613-1616. doi:10.1589/jpts.27.1613
Travis Halena
Author