Legs · Bodyweight
Front and Side Knee Drive
How to do the front and side knee drive, the muscles it works, and the mistakes to avoid. Pulled straight from the Kovo app's exercise library.
- Equipment
- Bodyweight
- Difficulty
- Beginner
- Logged as
- Reps
- Movement
- Flexion
- Mechanic
- Compound
How to do it
Stand tall on one leg and drive the opposite knee up toward your chest, then take it back down and drive the same knee out to the side toward your shoulder. Alternate between the front knee drive and the side knee drive in a continuous, controlled rhythm before switching legs. Stay tall and keep your standing leg stable throughout.
- 1Feel your hip flexors and core driving the knee up in front and out to
- 2the side
- 3Keep your standing leg stable and your chest tall
- 4Feel your obliques working as the knee drives across to the side
Common mistakes
- Don't hunch forward to meet the knee; bring the knee to you
- Avoid letting the standing knee cave or wobble
- Don't lose your balance by rushing; keep each drive controlled
Muscles worked
The front and side knee drive mainly works the hip flexors, with the lower abs, obliques, upper abs, quads, glutes, and calves assisting.
- Hip FlexorsPrimary
- Lower AbsSupport
- ObliquesSupport
- Upper AbsSupport
- QuadsSupport
- GlutesSupport
- CalvesSupport
- Lower BackMinor
- HamstringsMinor
- AdductorsMinor
- Tibialis AnteriorMinor
Kovo programs the front and side knee drive 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 hips & adductors exercises
- How to do the butterfly stretch
- How to do the external rotation
- How to do the cable hip adduction
- How to do the internal rotation
- How to do the cobra pose
- How to do the core scrunch
Last reviewed June 2026.