High Knee Raise: Strengthen Your Hip Flexors and Core

A lot of people believe that the best way to lose weight, burn fat, and get in shape is to go to the gym. After all, gyms are packed with loads of different tools and machines that are tailor-made for fitness and working out.

However, going to the gym is not always convenient. Not only do you have to find time to exercise, but you also need to find time to commute to the gym. As such, a 40-minute workout can end up taking closer to two hours.

That’s not a problem if you have time to burn, but if your life is already pretty busy, finding two hours to work out can be a problem. That’s why so many people struggle to maintain a regular workout schedule.

The good news is that, despite what you may have heard, you don’t need to go to a gym to get fit and lose weight. That’s not to say that going to a gym is in any way bad – it certainly isn’t. But, gym-based workouts are not for everyone, and there are alternatives.

For example, you can work out at home using calisthenic exercises. With no equipment required, and no need to waste time traveling to a gym, there are fewer barriers to working out consistently. When it comes to achieving good training results, consistency is KING!

High knee raises, the topic of this article, is a simple yet effective way to increase your heart rate, burn calories and fat, and tone your legs. Best of all, you can do them in the comfort of your own home.

We reveal how to do this super-convenient exercise and provide you with seven great variations and alternatives.

High Knee Raise – Muscles Worked

High knee raises are a total body exercise. As well as placing a significant demand on your major muscles, they also affect your cardiovascular system, which is the collective term for your heart, lungs, and blood vessels.

That said, it’s your legs that do most of the work during high knees, and that’s where you’ll mostly feel this exercise.

The main muscles trained during high knees are:

Quadriceps – located on the front of your thighs, the quads are responsible for knee extension and hip flexion. There are four quad muscles: the rectus femoris, vastus lateralis, vastus medialis, and vastus intermedius.

Hamstrings – the hamstrings oppose your quads and are responsible for knee flexion and hip extension. The three hamstring muscles are the biceps femoris, semimembranosus, and semitendinosus.  

Gluteus maximus – called the glutes for short, this is the largest and most powerful muscle in the human body. Its main function is the extension of the hip.

Abductors – the abductors are located on the outside of your hip and thigh. They are responsible for drawing your femur out and away from the midline of your body. The abductor muscles include gluteus minimus, gluteus medius, and the tensor fascia latae. During high knee raises, the abductors work to prevent your knees from falling inward.

Adductors – located on the inside of your thighs, the adductors draw your femur in toward the midline of your body. The three adductors are longus, brevis, and magnus. During high knee raises, the abductors work to prevent your knees from falling outward.

Hip flexors – the hip flexors help raise your knees and include the iliacus, psoas major, and rectus femoris, which is one of the quadriceps.

Triceps surae – this is the collective name for your calf muscles. The two muscles that make up your calves are the gastrocnemius and the soleus. These muscles extend your ankle as you push off your toes in a movement called plantar flexion.

Core – the core refers to the muscles of your midsection. These muscles include the rectus abdominis, obliques, transverse abdominis, and erector spinae. Together, these muscles contract to stabilize your spine and prevent unwanted movement during high knee raises.

Your upper body is also involved in high knee raises, albeit to a much lesser degree, as they have minimal resistance work against. This includes your deltoids, pectoralis major, and latissimus dorsi. However, you may not feel these muscles doing much work during high knee raises.

How to Do High Knee Raises

Get more from high knee raises while keeping your risk of injury to a minimum by following these guidelines:

1. Stand with your feet together and arms by your sides. Brace your core to engage your abs and pull your shoulders down and back into good posture. Look straight ahead.
2. Bend one leg and lift your knee up until your thigh is roughly level with the floor. Simultaneously drive your opposite arm forward and the other arm backward. Use an exaggerated range of movement to maximize upper body engagement.
3. Lower your leg and then change sides, establishing a brisk but controlled rhythm.
4. Take care NOT to lower your chest to your knees but, instead, lift your legs up higher.
5. After a few seconds, increase the intensity by transitioning into running high knee raises, so both feet leave the floor briefly.
6. Stay on the spot, or, if you prefer, you can travel forward, backward, or side to side.

High Knee Raise Benefits and Drawbacks

Not sure if high knee raises are the right exercise for you? Consider these benefits and then decide!

• Anywhere, anytime – you don’t need any equipment to do high knee raises. In fact, you hardly need any space, either. As such, they’re the perfect excuse-free workout for home exercisers.
• Great for HIIT – if you want to burn fat in double-quick time, High-Intensity Interval Training (HIIT) is the way to go. With HIIT, you alternate between short but intense bouts of exercise and even shorter, incomplete rests. High knee raises are excellent for HIIT and can also be used for circuit training, Tabatas, PHA training, and other high-octane workouts.
• Low-skill, high-effect – despite their simplicity, high knee raises are an intense and effective exercise. You don’t need a high degree of athleticism to do them. As such, they’re suitable for all levels of exerciser, from beginner to advanced.
• Scalable – you can vary the intensity of high knee raises by adjusting your speed or range of motion. For some people, the low-impact variation will be sufficient. For others, high knee raises will resemble sprinting on the spot. You can instantly adjust the exercise to suit your current fitness levels.
• Improve hip mobility – high knee raises involve a large range of motion. Doing high knee raises will stretch your glutes and hamstrings while mobilizing your hips. This should increase the functional range of motion of your hip joints.

While high knee raises are a mostly beneficial exercise, there are also a few drawbacks to consider:

• High-impact stress – the high-impact version of high knee raises puts a lot of stress on your feet, ankles, knees, hips, and spine. This shouldn’t be a problem for people with healthy joints but could cause painfor anyone with preexisting joint issues. That’s especially true for older exercisers and anyone who’s overweight. If this exercise causes pain, you can avoid overloading your joints by sticking to low-impact high knee raises.
• Repetitive – high knee raises can get pretty boring if you do them for more than a minute or so. While you CAN travel forward, backward, and side to side, there really aren’t any other variations you can use to make this exercise more interesting. As such, it’s best done in short bouts, e.g., 30-60 seconds as part of a circuit, rather than long non-stop periods of training.

7 High Knee Raise Variations and Alternatives

High knee raises are a highly effective cardio and conditioning exercise, but that doesn’t mean you need to do it all the time. There are several variations and alternatives you can use to keep your workouts productive and interesting:

1. Jump rope

Jumping rope is one of the best low-tech conditioning exercises you can do. Like high knee raises, this exercise works all your major muscles and has the potential to burn tons of calories. On the downside, you’ll need a rope, and using one requires some skill and practice. That said, most people can learn to jump rope pretty quickly.

Read also: You can learn more about jumping rope in our in-depth guide.

2. Jumping jacks

Like high knee raises, jumping jacks are a low-tech but high-effect cardio and conditioning exercise. With their lateral arm and leg movements, they’re an excellent partner for high knee raises, which involve a sagittal plane motion.

How to do it:

1. Stand with your feet together and your arms by your sides. Brace your core and pull your shoulders down and back.
2. Lightly jump your feet apart to about shoulder-width, simultaneously raising your arms to shoulder height or above.
3. Jump your feet back together and snap your arms back down to your sides.
4. Stay light on your feet – try to minimize the impact by bending your knees slightly.

3. Mountain climbers

Mountain climbers involve a similar movement to high knee raises but instead of doing it standing, you are down on all fours. This puts more weight on your arms and increases core activation. However, a quick set of mountain climbers will increase your heart rate just as effectively as high knee raises.

How to do it:

1. Adopt the push-up position with your arms and legs straight. Brace your core and look straight down at the floor.
2. Bend one leg and pull your knee into your chest.
3. Drive that leg back and simultaneously pull your opposite knee in.
4. Continue pumping your legs for the required duration or number of reps.

4. Step-ups

One of the only downsides of high knee raises is that they’re a high-impact exercise that can be hard on your joints. Step-ups are done more slowly and with a more controlled movement and involve no impact at all. As such, if you are overweight or have joint issues, step-ups may be a better choice.

How to do it:

1. Stand facing a sturdy platform, such as a step, box, or bench. The higher the platform, the more challenging the exercise will be.
2. Bend one leg and place your foot flat on the top of your platform.
3. Drive down with your front leg and step up and onto the platform.
4. Step back down with the same leading leg and repeat.
5. You can do all your reps on one side before switching or use an alternating leg action as preferred.

5. Shadowboxing

Shadow boxing is a fun way to burn calories and improve your fitness. Additionally, shadow boxing will tone your entire body, including your core. Do three to five rounds of one to three minutes for a short but effective mini-workout.

How to do it:

1. Raise your hands, so they’re in front of your face. Adopt an athletic, side-on stance with your knees slightly bent and your weight on the balls of your feet.
2. Start slowly and throw punches with both hands, taking care not to snap your arms straight, which could injure your shoulders or elbows.
3. Increase your speed and start to move your feet, imagining that you are trying to outmaneuver an opponent.
4. Make sure you punch equally with both arms and practice throwing punches from different angles and to different heights, i.e., go for the head and the body.

6. Ali shuffles

The Ali shuffle is another boxing-inspired conditioning exercise. Just like high knee raises, you can do this move anywhere and anytime. However, it involves a little less impact, so it should be easier on your joints.

How to do it:

1. Stand with your feet together and your arms by your sides.
2. Jump one foot forward and the other backward, so you land in a short split stance.
3. Jump again, bringing your front foot back and your rear foot forward. Keep your feet close to the floor and focus on landing lightly.
4. Once you are happy with the leg movement, you can raise your arms to the side like jumping jacks or swing your arms forward and backward.

7. Burpees

Burpees – you’ll either love them or hate them! The burpee is one of the most demanding bodyweight-only conditioning exercises because they involve virtually every muscle in your body. Like high knee raises, all you need for burpees is a little space.

How to do it:

1. Stand with your feet together and your arms by your sides.
2. Squat down and place your hands flat on the floor just outside your feet.
3. Jump your legs back and into the push-up position.
4. Bend your arms and perform one complete perfect push-up.
5. Jump your feet back up to your hands and then leap into the air.
6. Land on slightly bent knees and repeat.

Read more about burpees, including several equally effective variations and alternatives, here.

High Knee – Wrapping Up

When it comes to working out, whatever you do, you need to do it consistently. Even the best program won’t be effective if you only do it sporadically. That’s why home bodyweight workouts are so valuable. They’re much more convenient as you can do them whenever you want.

That’s not to say going to the gym is a waste of time. In fact, gyms are arguably the best place to have a comprehensive, demanding workout. However, it’s not the only place you can train; ultimately, convenience and consistency are more important than using state-of-the-art workout equipment.

So, get your cardio and fat-burning fix anywhere and anytime with high knee raises and the other equally accessible exercises in this article. Lack of time doesn’t have to be a barrier to working out.

---