Legs · Bodyweight
High Knee Squat
How to do the high knee squat, 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
- Squat
- Mechanic
- Compound
How to do it
Drop into a bodyweight squat, then as you stand drive one knee up high toward your chest. Lower the leg, squat again, and drive the opposite knee up on the next rep, alternating throughout.
- 1Feel your quads and glutes power you out of the squat
- 2Feel the hip flexor lift the knee high at the top
- 3Keep your chest up and core tight the whole time
Common mistakes
- Don't let your knees cave in during the squat
- Avoid rounding your back as you stand
- Don't rush so much that the squat depth disappears
Muscles worked
The high knee squat mainly works the quads and glutes, with the hip flexors, lower abs, hamstrings, and calves assisting.
- QuadsPrimary
- GlutesPrimary
- Hip FlexorsSupport
- Lower AbsSupport
- HamstringsSupport
- CalvesSupport
- Lower BackMinor
- ObliquesMinor
- AdductorsMinor
- Tibialis AnteriorMinor
Kovo programs the high knee squat 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 quads exercises
- How to do the resistance band squat
- How to do the resistance band squat to press
- How to do the resistance band thruster
- How to do the resistance band squat walk
- How to do the barbell squat
- How to do the barbell bulgarian split squat
Last reviewed June 2026.