Exercise Library / High Knees
High Knees
On-the-spot cardio that fires your hip flexors and gets the heart rate flying.
Muscles worked
Primary Hip Flexors
Tap a muscle to explore it on the interactive muscle map.
How to do it
- Stay tall — run on the spot with your chest proud.
- Drive each knee up to hip height.
- Pump your arms like a sprinter, elbows at 90°.
- Land lightly on the balls of your feet.
- Find a rhythm you can hold — quick, springy contacts.
Common mistakes
- Leaning back. Tipping the torso back to lift the knees strains the lower back and kills your rhythm.
- Low, lazy knees. If the knees never reach hip height it becomes a jog on the spot — far less hip-flexor and core work.
- Heavy, flat-footed landings. Slamming the heels down sends impact through the joints instead of loading the springy calf muscles.
What the camera coach watches
These are the exact checks FitFormBuddy runs on every rep of high knees — and what it says when you drift:
- Torso staying upright“stay tall — run on the spot”
Get real-time form cues on this exercise
FitFormBuddy watches through your camera and coaches you mid-set — reps counted, mistakes called out as they happen.
