Legs · Bodyweight
Knee - Extension
How to do the knee - extension, 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
- Extension
- Mechanic
- Isolation
How to do it
Sit or stand with your knee bent. Straighten the leg fully by contracting the front of your thigh, focusing on the last stretch into a locked-out knee. Hold briefly, then return with control and repeat on each leg.
- 1Focus on fully straightening the knee with your quad
- 2Feel the inner quad engage strongly near full lockout
- 3Keep your hip and thigh still so the work stays at the knee
Common mistakes
- Do not hyperextend the knee past neutral
- Avoid using momentum to swing the leg straight
- Do not let the knee cave inward as you extend
Muscles worked
The knee - extension mainly works the quads.
- QuadsPrimary
- GlutesMinor
Kovo programs the knee - extension 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.