Legs · Bodyweight
Knee Drive
How to do the 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 and drive one knee up toward your chest in an explosive, controlled motion, then lower it and switch legs. Keep your torso upright and pump your arms in time with each drive to build rhythm and power through the hips.
- 1Hip flexor pulling the knee up fast and high
- 2Standing-leg glute and calf staying tall and stable
- 3Core bracing to keep your torso upright as the knee drives
Common mistakes
- Leaning back or rounding forward as the knee comes up
- Letting the standing knee buckle inward
- Swinging the leg loosely instead of driving with intent
Muscles worked
The knee drive mainly works the hip flexors, with the lower abs, quads, upper abs, obliques, glutes, and calves assisting.
- Hip FlexorsPrimary
- Lower AbsSupport
- QuadsSupport
- Upper AbsSupport
- ObliquesSupport
- GlutesSupport
- CalvesSupport
- Lower BackMinor
- HamstringsMinor
- Front DeltsMinor
- Tibialis AnteriorMinor
Kovo programs the 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.