Legs · Bodyweight
Circles Knee Stretch
How to do the circles knee stretch, the muscles it works, and the mistakes to avoid. Pulled straight from the Kovo app's exercise library.
- Equipment
- Bodyweight
- Difficulty
- Beginner
- Logged as
- time
- Movement
- Rotation
- Mechanic
- Isolation
How to do it
Stand with your feet together and hands on your knees, knees slightly bent. Trace slow circles with your knees, rotating them together in one direction, then reverse. This loosens the knees, ankles, and calves through a gentle range.
- 1Feel a gentle loosening around your knees and ankles
- 2Keep the circles slow and smooth through a comfortable range
- 3Let your calves and lower legs ease into the rotation
Common mistakes
- Do not force the knees into a painful range
- Avoid rushing the circles or bouncing
- Do not lock your knees out at any point in the circle
Muscles worked
The circles knee stretch mainly works the calves, with the tibialis anterior assisting.
- CalvesPrimary
- Tibialis AnteriorSupport
- QuadsMinor
- HamstringsMinor
Kovo programs the circles knee stretch for you and tracks it every session.
We build your whole program, drop the right lifts into each workout, and adjust your weights as you get stronger. Free on iOS and Android.
More calves & shins exercises
- How to do the ankle cars
- How to do the ankle circles
- How to do the ankle rocks
- How to do the resistance band ankle mobilization
- How to do the calf press
- How to do the calf raises with hold
Last reviewed June 2026.