Coach Rozy Wednesday Exercise of the WEAK: Standing Knee Drive with Resistance Band
Coach Rozy Wednesday Exercise of the WEAK:
Standing Knee Drive with Resistance Band
by Nate Christensen – Coach Rozy Intern
The movements involved with knee drives can be found in nearly every sport which involves running or kicking. By driving your knees up with more force and strength, you will increase overall speed and power of kicks in sports such as soccer. To increase the power and strength of the knee drive movement of a sprint or kick, you can simply add resistance to that same movement.
There are several variations of resisted knee drives. They can be done using different types of resistance based on what you have available. This could be an adjustable cable machine or resistance band. They can also be varied by the angle your body is in during the exercise. Today, we will be focusing on knee drive in the upright, standing, position using a resistance band. This is a great exercise to increase strength and power in your hip flexors, hamstrings, and core stability.
The Exercise:
- Find a resistance band in which you can properly and explosively drive your knee forward repeatedly.
- Anchor your resistance band to a post, hook, or any other support that won’t move and is less than 2 feet off the ground.
- Start with your right leg. Put the resistance band around the ankle and face directly away from the band’s anchor.
- Assume a starting position by getting in an athletic split stance as if you were to take off sprinting.
- Put the leg that is not being resisted slightly in front of the resisted leg with both knees slightly bent and torso leaning slightly forward.
- Simultaneously, drive the resisted knee upward while simulating running motion with your arms and fully extending the un-resisted leg upward.
- Control the knee down back to the starting position for each repetition. Don’t let the band violently pull it back.
We recommend doing 3 sets of 10 repetitions for each leg.
Note: Remember to be explosive in the knee drive to help develop power while maintaining a stable core.
