Tiny kicks, big glute and hamstring burn.
Squeeze your glutes to lift the legs, don't crank from your lower back.
Lying face down turns every kick into pure hip extension against gravity, so your glutes have to fire from a fully lengthened position with zero momentum to hide behind. The hamstrings assist on each lift, and because the kicks alternate fast and never touch down, the tension barely lets up. It earns its spot as a glute activation drill or burner at the end of a leg day, no kit needed.
You are lifting the legs too high and arching to get there. Keep the kicks small, brace your core, and think about squeezing the glutes to float the legs rather than yanking them up.
Just a few inches off the floor. The burn comes from constant tension and quick alternation, not range, so small controlled kicks beat big sloppy ones.
They train different things. On your back the target is your hip flexors and abs, face down it flips to glutes and hamstrings, so pick based on which side you want to hit.
