Legs · Bodyweight
High Knee on a Padded Stool
How to do the high knee on a padded stool, 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 facing a padded stool and place one foot on top. Drive the opposite knee up powerfully toward your chest, then switch feet and repeat, staying light and quick while keeping your chest up.
- 1Hip flexors snapping the knee up fast
- 2Quads and glutes of the planted leg driving the work
- 3Core staying tight as the knee comes up
Common mistakes
- Slouching or leaning back as the knee drives
- Stomping down heavily instead of staying light
- Letting the planted knee cave inward
Muscles worked
The high knee on a padded stool mainly works the hip flexors and quads, with the lower abs, glutes, upper abs, obliques, and calves assisting.
- Hip FlexorsPrimary
- QuadsPrimary
- Lower AbsSupport
- GlutesSupport
- Upper AbsSupport
- ObliquesSupport
- CalvesSupport
- Lower BackMinor
- HamstringsMinor
- AdductorsMinor
- Tibialis AnteriorMinor
Kovo programs the high knee on a padded stool 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.