Legs · Bodyweight
High Knee to Butt Kick
How to do the high knee to butt kick, 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
- Flexion
- Mechanic
- Compound
How to do it
Jog in place and alternate two movements: drive one knee up toward your chest, then on the next step kick that heel back toward your glute. Stay light on the balls of your feet and keep a quick, rhythmic pace.
- 1Hip flexors snapping the knee up high
- 2Hamstrings firing as you kick the heel back
- 3A quick, springy bounce off the balls of your feet
Common mistakes
- Leaning back or slouching as you drive the knees
- Landing flat or heavy on your heels
- Letting the pace get sloppy and slow
Muscles worked
The high knee to butt kick mainly works the hip flexors, with the quads, hamstrings, calves, lower abs, and glutes assisting.
- Hip FlexorsPrimary
- QuadsSupport
- HamstringsSupport
- CalvesSupport
- Lower AbsSupport
- GlutesSupport
- Upper AbsMinor
- ObliquesMinor
- Tibialis AnteriorMinor
Kovo programs the high knee to butt kick 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.