Open Exercise

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Catalogue

High Knees

oec:high-knees

A dynamic cardiovascular drill where you run in place while rapidly driving alternating knees toward hip height.

Generated by gemini-3.8-flash from the sources below. No person has checked this record. Don't rely on it for safety.

Also called: High Knee Run, Running in Place with High Knees, Running in place

How to do it

Setup

  1. Stand tall with your feet hip-width apart and your arms relaxed at your sides.
  2. Engage your core and maintain an upright posture with a slight forward lean from the ankles.

Movement

  1. Drive one knee upward toward hip height while balancing on the ball of the opposite foot.
  2. Quickly lower the lifted leg and drive the opposite knee up, pumping your arms in rhythm with the opposing legs.
  3. Continue alternating legs at a fast, explosive pace, landing softly on the balls of your feet.

Breathing

Breathe continuously and rhythmically throughout the movement without holding your breath.

Cues

  • Knees to hips
  • Stay light on the balls of your feet
  • Pump your arms

Common faults

Leaning backward significantly to lift the knees higher.
Keep your core braced and maintain an upright torso with a slight forward tilt.
Landing flat-footed or heavily on the heels.
Stay springy on the forefoot to absorb impact and maintain rapid turnover.
Insufficient knee lift that degrades into basic running in place.
Actively flex the hip to bring the thigh roughly parallel to the ground on each stride.

Safety

  • Ensure a non-slip, level surface to minimize impact stress on joints.

Muscles

  • Iliopsoas prime mover
  • Rectus femoris prime mover
  • Gastrocnemius synergist
  • Soleus synergist
  • Gluteus maximus synergist
  • Hamstrings synergist
  • Rectus abdominis stabilizer

Joints

  • Hip: Flexion, Extension
  • Knee: Flexion, Extension
  • Ankle: Plantarflexion, Dorsiflexion

Details

Movement
Gait
Modality
Conditioning, Cardio, Plyometric, Calisthenics
Mechanics
compound
Force
push
Laterality
alternating
Kinetic chain
closed
Level
beginner
Equipment
None
Record
Duration; or Repetitions
Load
none

Related

Sources

This record: CC-BY-SA-4.0.

Data

high-knees.json