High Knee Squat
The High Knee Squat is a compound movement that trains the quadriceps with help from glutes and hamstrings. This guide covers the setup, the execution, the mistakes worth fixing early, and how to program it.
The squat is the most complete lower-body movement there is. Bending at the hips, knees and ankles under load trains the quadriceps through a long range while the whole trunk works to keep you upright, which is why almost every serious program is built around some version of it.
Who it is for. Everyone from a first-week beginner to an advanced lifter, scaled by load and depth. Put it first in a session, when you are freshest.
Muscles worked
The prime mover here is the quadriceps, with glutes and hamstrings assisting — which is why this movement earns its place as more than a single-muscle exercise.
- QuadricepsPrimary
- GlutesAssisting
- HamstringsAssisting
How to do it
- Set your stance about shoulder-width, toes turned out somewhere between 15 and 30 degrees, and find a foot position where your knees track in line with your toes.
- Take the load with your bodyweight, brace your midsection as if about to be poked in the stomach, and pull your ribs down so your lower back is neither arched hard nor rounded.
- Screw your feet into the floor to build tension through the hips before the first rep, and fix your eyes on a point a few metres ahead.
- Break at the hips and knees together and descend under control, keeping your weight over the middle of your foot.
- Go down until your hip crease passes below the top of your knee, or as deep as you can reach without your lower back tucking under.
- Drive back up through the whole foot, keeping your chest and hips rising at the same rate, and stand tall without leaning back at the top.
Breathing. Take a big breath at the top, hold it through the descent and the hardest part of the drive up, then breathe out once past the sticking point.
Form cues that matter
- Spread the floor with your feet — it stops the knees caving in.
- Keep the bar or load stacked over your mid-foot the whole way down.
- Hips and shoulders rise together out of the bottom.
- Knees collapsing inward as you stand up
- Heels lifting, or the torso folding forward
Common mistakes
| The mistake | Do this instead |
|---|---|
| Knees collapsing inward as you stand up | Lighten the load and actively push your knees out over your toes; add glute and abductor work. |
| Heels lifting, or the torso folding forward | Work on ankle mobility, widen the stance slightly, and squat only as deep as you can with flat feet. |
| The lower back tucking under at the bottom ("butt wink") | Stop the descent just above the point where it happens and build depth from there over weeks. |
What makes this variation different
The High Knee Squat is a specific version of this movement, and the details in its name change how it should be performed.
- Using only your bodyweight means you can train anywhere, and it keeps the whole body involved in stabilising the movement. Progress comes from leverage, range and reps rather than from adding plates.
Sets, reps and rest
| Goal | Sets | Reps | Rest |
|---|---|---|---|
| Strength | 3-5 | 3-6 | 2-4 min |
| Muscle growth | 3-4 | 6-12 | 2-4 min |
| Endurance | 2-3 | 12-20 | 2-4 min |
- 10-20Weekly sets
- 2-0-1Tempo
- 2-4 minRest
How to progress
Add weight before you add reps. Work at the top of your rep range for two sessions in a row with clean technique, then put the smallest increment available on the High Knee Squat and build back up. Small, boring jumps beat big ones.
Variations and alternatives
If you do not have the equipment, or you simply want to rotate the stimulus, these 8 movements train the quadriceps in a similar way.
- Barbell Narrow Stance Squat — Barbell
- Barbell Front Squat — Barbell
- Lever Horizontal Leg Press — Machine
- Sled Hack Squat — Machine
- Kettlebell Goblet Squat — Kettlebell
- Back Forward Leg Swings — Bodyweight
- Balance Board (Version 2) — Bodyweight
- Barbell Bench Front Squat — Barbell
Key takeaways
- Spread the floor with your feet — it stops the knees caving in.
- Keep the bar or load stacked over your mid-foot the whole way down.
- Work in the 6-12 rep range for muscle growth, leaving a rep or two in reserve on most sets.
- Full range of motion on the High Knee Squat matters more than the weight on it.
- Progress gradually and keep technique identical as the load goes up.
Go deeper
FAQ
What muscles does the High Knee Squat work?
It works the quadriceps as the prime mover, with glutes and hamstrings assisting.
How many sets and reps should I do on the High Knee Squat?
Two to four sets is plenty. Work in the 6-12 range and focus on the quality of each rep rather than the number of them.
What can I do instead of the High Knee Squat?
Barbell Narrow Stance Squat, Barbell Front Squat and Lever Horizontal Leg Press all train the quadriceps in a similar way, so any of them works as a substitute when the equipment is taken or you want to rotate the stimulus.
What equipment do I need for the High Knee Squat?
This version uses your bodyweight. The pattern matters more than the tool, though — the alternatives above cover the same movement with whatever you have available.
Track your sets, reps and progress on the High Knee Squat — free, with every exercise in the library.