If you were at any of my classes last week, you'll have "enjoyed" the focus on the classical repertoire of 34 Pilates exercises.

One of the exercises we worked on was "leg pull back", an advanced exercise that starts with a backward plank  and adds some leg kicks like the Folie Bergeres. You can check out this ages-old post on IG to see the variations.

And we all started it the same way - sitting upright with our legs stretched out in front of us (which you'll find on the third video of the carousel).

This was verrrrrrry interesting. I know for a lot of people, lifting one leg off the floor from this position can be challenging. It's because it really requires your hip flexors to do their job of lifting your leg. And the leg is straight, so it's heavy. Ouch.

Why does it matter whether you can lift your leg?

Errr, so you can continue to walk unaided. Go up and down stairs. You know, stay mobile.

Last week, I shared a podcast from Drs Chris & Xand about hip joint health where they talked about the importance of looking after your hips as a way to avoid a hip joint replacement. 

[If you didn't already listen to this, I really recommend it - you can also listen to the "Dr's notes" immediately after]

How can you get better at lifting your leg?

Well, quelle surprise - do it more often. 

Sit yourself down on the floor, with your back against a wall to help you sit upright, and your legs stretched out in front of you.

You can start by simply lifting the leg off the floor. It doesn't have to be a massive lift - part of the work here is to build the brain-body connection. 

If you want to get better at it, and add in extra muscle activation (inner thighs and glute medius), place a block or ball between your feet and step your leg over and back.

You know I love balance work, so how about trying this standing version? If your balance isn't quite there yet, do it standing by the wall.

What's great about this is that you start by lifting your leg with the knee bent - i.e. you reduce the amount of weight you're lifting - and then increase the load by straightening the leg. 

As well as challenging your balance, and improving hip flexor strength, this exercise also requires some hamstring flexibility (the muscles at the back of your legs). 

So you may find that giving yourself a little hamstring stretch before you start will help.



Finding you're weaker on one side than the other? Do more repetitions on your weaker side.

Got questions? Please shout!