maratoolAnkle On The Knee
How to do the ankle on the knee
- From a lying position, bend your knees and keep your feet on the floor.
- Place your ankle of one foot on your opposite knee.
- Grasp the thigh or knee of the bottom leg and pull both of your legs into the chest. Relax your neck and shoulders. Hold for 10-20 seconds and then switch sides.
Muscles worked
The muscle under tension is the gluteus maximus, which is the strongest hip extensor you have and drives the pelvis forward at the top of the movement.
A stretch loads it at the far end of the range it normally works in, so the position you hold is itself the resistance.
Every exercise for:Glutes
How this movement works
Nothing travels once you are in position. The muscle holds a length under tension instead of working through a range, so effort is measured in seconds rather than repetitions — and the honest progression is more time in a good position, not a deeper one forced early.
It is filed under stretching, so the target is range of motion rather than force — a position you can settle into and breathe in, held long enough for the tissue to give.
What you need
These train the glutes too, using equipment this one does not:
- Barbell Glute Bridgebarbell
- Body Leg Liftsbody only
- Downward Facing Balanceexercise ball
- Flutter Kicksbench + body only
- Hip Extension with Bandsband
Difficulty
Listed at beginner level: the pattern is simple enough to pick up without coaching, and a position that goes wrong mid-set is obvious enough to correct on the next repetition.
Of the 24 glutes exercises in this database, 13 are listed at beginner level.
Photos: free-exercise-db — public domain (Unlicense) Full attribution →
ⓘ Informational only — not a substitute for professional fitness or medical advice.