Walking Knee Over Hurdle Exercise

The walking hurdle exercise targets multiple muscles at once, including the buttocks, abdominals, hips and thighs. Besides increasing strength, hurdle exercises can help boost speed, agility, power and coordination. Because the walking knee over hurdle exercise is low-impact, you can do it as part of your warmup or as your entire exercise routine.

  1. Exercise How-To

    • Place five hurdles 18 inches apart in a straight line. Stand behind the first hurdle with your arms resting at your sides. Lift your right foot and bring your knee up toward your armpit. Balance on your left leg for a few seconds, lower your foot, and step over the first hurdle. Bring your left foot up and step over the next hurdle in the same fashion. Continue stepping over the hurdles until you reach the end. Turn around and repeat the entire sequence, starting on your left foot this time.

    Variations

    • Lift your knee as high as possible as you step over the hurdles to challenge your balance and make the exercise more difficult. You can also increase the intensity by walking over the hurdles as fast as you can. Once you master the movements, try running over the hurdles. For additional variation, step backward or sideways over the hurdles. Start with placing just one foot between each hurdle. Once you feel comfortable, place two feet between each hurdle to further challenge yourself.

    Tips

    • Contract your abdominals throughout the entire exercise to help keep your spine stabilized, which promotes good posture. Do not extend your back leg as you step over each hurdle. This prevents you from completely bending the knee you are lifting and limits the fluidity of the exercise. For best results, keep your upper body and the foot you are standing on as still as possible. Refrain from swaying or tilting your body as you step.

    Warnings

    • Do the exercise without any hurdles until you feel comfortable with the motions. Lift your knees as high as possible to ensure that you clear each hurdle as you walk over it. To prevent falling, set up your hurdles on a steady, non-slip surface. Adjust the hurdles to their lowest setting, preferably below waist-height. Choose hurdles that topple easily so that you don’t injure yourself if you trip.