How To Do Elevated Squat with a Knee Lift

By: Chris Freytag, CPT


Chris Freytag demonstrating a Elevated Squat with a Knee Lift

Elevated Squat With Knee Lift is a low impact exercise that strengthens your leg muscles, tones your back side and gets your heart rate up for a calorie burn. If you learn how to do Elevated Squat With Knee Lift you will be training your body to do a single leg squat with a little assistance from the other leg. This is a great move to work you into a single leg squat. This move is also satisfying because it gives you all the strength benefits of a traditional squat or lunge with some bonus movement to keep it interesting and give you a bonus calorie burn.

When you learn how to do Elevated Squat With Knee Lift you can start by practicing it on the floor with no elevation. Focus on keeping all the weight of the body in the leg that doesn’t move. As you lift and lower the right leg, you should feel the use of the rear end on the left side. Do several and then switch. Once you are comfortable with the exercise, take it to an elevated surface such as a bench or step. This will make it more and more like a single leg squat.

Body weight moves like Elevated Squat With Knee lift are excellent ways to increase strength in your lower body and provide you with functional training. Think of all the ways your use your legs. Outside of every day walking or jogging you squat to pick things up. You step up into a vehicle. You hold extra weight in your arms (like groceries or a baby) and then have to carry it all around with your legs. In addition, the lower body muscles are bigger so by strengthening them you are increasing your metabolism and burning more calories when you work.

Elevated squat with knee lift should be a quiet exercise. When your foot comes back to the floor you should not hear it. Control the movement with the stationary leg and with the core body muscles.

Here are the steps to performing Elevated Squat With Knee Lift:

1) Start in squat position with left leg on the step and right leg on floor.

2) Push up through left leg and lift right knee to side. Hold a moment and slowly lower back to start position. Repeat for desired number of reps and switch sides.

Targets: glutes, quads, hamstrings

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