How to Do Donkey Kicks: Form, Tips and Glute Activation

The donkey kick looks easy: you're on your forearms and knees, kicking one leg back behind you. Done with your abs braced and the leg stopping at hip height, it's a useful glute exercise you can do without any equipment.

If you kick too high, the leg goes up past your hips, your lower back arches to get it there, and you feel it in your back instead of your glute. The fix is to stop at about hip height, keep both hips level and move only at the hip.

This guide covers how to do donkey kicks on your forearms, the mistakes that move the work into your lower back, easier and harder options, and how to pair them with fire hydrants in a glute warm-up.

Muscles Worked

Primary muscles: the glutes and the transverse abdominis. The glutes of the kicking leg drive the leg back by straightening the hip, and they control the leg as the knee comes back in under you. The transverse abdominis, the deep belly muscle that wraps around your trunk, braces so your back stays flat while the leg moves.

Secondary muscles: the hamstrings and the rectus abdominis. The hamstrings, on the back of the same thigh, help straighten the hip as the leg reaches back. The rectus abdominis, the front ab muscle, holds your ribs and pelvis steady so your lower back does not arch.

Why the height limit matters: as the leg rises past hip height, the lower back tends to arch and the pelvis tips to make up the height, so the extra height comes from your back rather than your hip. Kick back only until the leg is about level with your hips and in line with your back, with both hips level and facing the floor.

How to Do Donkey Kicks (Step-by-Step)

1. Get on your forearms and knees. Kneel on a mat with your forearms flat on the floor, elbows directly under your shoulders and hands resting together or flat. Set your knees about hip-width apart, under or a little behind your hips, with your toes on the floor. Look at the floor just ahead of your hands to keep your head in line with your spine.

   Tip: stay balanced by pressing your forearms and your kneeling knee firmly into the floor.

2. Brace your core. Tighten your abs like someone is about to poke your stomach, so your back is flat from your shoulders to your hips. This prevents your lower back from arching when you kick, which is what causes people to feel it in their back instead of their glute.

   Tip: move only at the hip and keep your back still.

3. Kick one leg back. Keep one knee down and kick the other leg back and slightly up, letting the knee straighten as it goes, until the leg is long and about level with your hips. A soft bend at the knee is fine; there is no need to snap it straight. Stop before your lower back arches or the working hip rolls up toward the ceiling.

   Tip: keep both hips level and facing the floor.

4. Squeeze at the top. Pause briefly and squeeze the glute of the kicking leg. You should feel it in that glute and in your deep belly muscles bracing your back, not in your lower back. If you feel it in your lower back, you've kicked too high or your abs have relaxed.
5. Bring the knee back in. Bend the knee and bring it back in under your hip until it lightly touches or nearly touches the floor, then kick again. Take about a second to kick back, pause briefly, and take about a second to bring the knee in, with no swinging. Breathe out as you kick back and in as you bring the knee in. Complete all reps on one side before switching.

Common Mistakes (and How to Fix Them)

Watch for these form errors:

• Kicking the leg above hip height. A higher kick looks like more work, but past hip height the extra height comes from your lower back, not your hip. Stop when the leg is about level with your hips and in line with your back.
• Arching the lower back. This usually comes with a high kick: when people try to kick higher, the lower back arches to make up the height. Fix: kick a little lower and brace your abs harder.
• Rolling the working hip up. As the leg kicks back, the working hip wants to roll up toward the ceiling and your body shifts toward the other side. Keep both hips level and facing the floor, with your weight centered over your forearms and kneeling knee.
• Swinging the leg. Using momentum instead of muscle makes the rep easier and skips the pause at the top. Kick back in about a second, pause briefly, and bring the knee back in under control.
• Letting the back sag between reps. When the knee comes back in, it's easy to relax your abs and let your back drop toward the floor. Keep your abs braced so your back stays flat for every rep.
• Letting the head hang or craning it up. Either one pulls your neck out of line with your back. Keep your head in line with your spine, eyes on the floor just ahead of your hands.
• Forgetting to breathe. Breathe out as you kick back and in as you bring your knee in, and never hold your breath.

Donkey Kick Variations: Regressions and Progressions

Start where you can hold form, and progress when you can hit the rep target with a full squeeze at the top.

Bent-Knee Donkey Kick (Easier)

Keep the working knee bent at about a right angle and press the sole of your foot back and up only until your thigh lines up with your back. The shorter leg is easier to control. Kicking a little lower, only as high as your back stays flat, also makes the standard version easier, and glute bridges on your back are another easier glute exercise.

Standard Donkey Kick (Intermediate)

The version described above, and the one the FitCraft app rates Intermediate: on your forearms, with the knee straightening as the leg kicks back to about hip height. Stay with this version until you can do 3 sets of 20 per leg with a brief squeeze at the top and no arching in your lower back.

Donkey Kick on Your Hands

The same kick with your hands flat under your shoulders and your arms straight is an equally valid setup. Use whichever lets you keep your back flat and both hips level.

Pause Donkey Kick (Harder)

Hold the top for two seconds every rep, then bring your knee back in slowly. Use this when the standard version feels controlled and you want a harder rep without adding equipment.

Kickbacks (Harder)

For the next step, move to kickbacks: on your hands with both knees hovering just off the floor, you kick back one leg at a time, alternating sides. The FitCraft app rates them Expert.

When to Avoid or Modify Donkey Kicks

Donkey kicks need no equipment, but if any of the situations below applies to you, check with a doctor or physical therapist before you do them. A burn in your glute, your belly or the back of your thigh is normal; stop any rep that causes pain in a joint, your lower back or your neck.

• Lower-back pain. See a doctor or physical therapist before you do donkey kicks, and do them only once they clear you. During a set, any pain in your lower back means stop.
• Wrist or elbow pain, or carpal tunnel symptoms. The forearm version puts weight on your forearms and elbows, and the version on your hands loads the wrists. If any of these joints hurts, see a doctor or physical therapist before you do donkey kicks, and do them only once they clear you. Stop if you feel any pain in a wrist or elbow.
• Knee pain or recent knee surgery. Kneeling puts weight on the knee. See a doctor or physical therapist first, and do donkey kicks only once they clear you. Kneel on a folded mat or towel, and stop if you feel any knee pain.
• Early postpartum or diastasis recti. Check with your doctor or a pelvic-floor physical therapist first, and wait until they clear you. Stop if you see coning or doming along the middle of your belly, or if you feel pelvic pressure or any pain.
• Recent hip surgery or a labral injury. Wait until your surgeon or physical therapist clears you before you do donkey kicks, and stop if you feel any pain in your hip.
• Sacroiliac (SI) joint pain. See a doctor or physical therapist first, and do donkey kicks only once they clear you. Any pain in your lower back or hip during a set means stop.

Related Exercises

If donkey kicks are part of your routine, these movements complement or extend the same training pattern:

• Complementary glute pairing: Fire hydrants lift the bent knee out to the side and mainly work the glute medius, while donkey kicks straighten the hip and work the glutes and the deep belly muscles. They pair well as a superset in a glute warm-up before leg day.
• Same primary muscle, both feet down: Glute bridges train the glutes lying on your back with both feet on the floor, an easier glute exercise and a good pairing with donkey kicks.
• Same all-fours control: Bird-dogs use a similar all-fours position and train you to keep your back flat and your hips level while one leg reaches back, the same control donkey kicks need.
• Core bracing on your back: Deadbugs train the rectus abdominis and transverse abdominis to keep your back steady while your arms and legs move, the same bracing donkey kicks use.

How to Program Donkey Kicks

The American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM) position stand on resistance training gives a framework for progressing volume and frequency across training levels, and it recommends a moderate pace of about one to two seconds each way (Ratamess et al., 2009). Because donkey kicks use only your body weight, sets, reps and control are the main things you change. The table below gives practical starting ranges for each level.

Where in your workout: use donkey kicks as a warm-up or as accessory work. As a warm-up, do 2 sets of 15 per leg before squats, deadlifts or lunges, ideally paired with fire hydrants as a superset (no rest between exercises, 30 seconds between supersets). As accessory work, do 3 sets of 15 to 20 per leg at the end of a lower-body session, after your main lifts, not before them.

Form floor over rep targets: if your last 2 reps of a set break form (lower back arching, leg swinging, hips tipping), stop the set there. Hitting a target rep count with broken form is worse than hitting fewer reps with a real squeeze at the top.

How FitCraft Programs This Exercise

FitCraft maps your fitness level, goals, and available equipment, then builds a balanced training plan for your level. The app has the donkey kick as an Intermediate strength exercise on your forearms and knees, one leg per set, with a 3D demonstration.

For a movement like donkey kicks, the useful progression is control first. Use this guide to build up: the bent-knee version or a smaller kick if you need it, then a two-second pause at the top and a slower return, then kickbacks with your knees hovering.