Knee Raise

The Knee Raise is a standing core exercise that strengthens the lower abdominals and hip flexors while improving balance and posture. By lifting one knee toward the chest at a time, you engage deep core stabilizers to maintain an upright position without the need for equipment.

Exercise movement reviewed by:Cody Lockling, MS, CSCS
How Iridium Programs This

Iridium evaluates your 7-day training history to ensure hip flexor fatigue from recent lower-body sessions won't limit your abdominal training performance. Because this is a bodyweight movement, the AI tracks your performance relative to your current body weight to calculate accurate progressive overload targets.

Form Cues

Do
  • Stand tall with your chest lifted
  • Brace your core muscles tightly
  • Lift your knee above hip height
  • Exhale sharply as you raise the leg
  • Lower the foot with control
Don't
  • Don't lean your torso backward
  • Don't swing the leg using momentum
  • Don't round your shoulders forward
  • Don't let your standing leg buckle

Common Mistakes

  • Leaning back to compensate
  • Using momentum to swing leg
  • Not lifting knee high enough
  • Arching the lower back
  • Rushing the tempo

Muscles Worked

This exercise primarily targets the lower region of the rectus abdominis and the deep hip flexors (iliopsoas). It also serves as a functional stability movement, engaging the glutes and core stabilizers to maintain balance on the standing leg.

Primary

Lower Abs

Secondary

Hip Flexors

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