How to do the High Knees
Step by step
- Stand tall with feet hip-width apart and arms bent at your sides.
- Drive one knee up toward hip height, then quickly switch to the other.
- Stay light on the balls of your feet and keep your chest up.
- Pump your arms in rhythm with your legs.
- Take short breaks whenever you need - keep it to a manageable pace, this should warm you up, not wear you out.
The thing people get wrong
Stay tall and land softly - do not lean back or crash down hard on your heels. Lower the knee height if needed.
Coaching cue
Switch legs as fast as you can rather than reaching for height with each knee.
Make it easier or harder
- Easier: March in place lifting the knees to hip height with no hop.
- Harder: Pick up the pace and work in timed 20 second bursts.
Muscles worked
- Primary: Cardio
What to do instead
Same job, different movement — useful if you don't have the equipment or it doesn't feel right today.
Daily Coach builds this into a real weekly plan. It picks the exercises for your equipment and experience, swaps around injuries you tell it about, and tracks what you actually lifted.