The bent knee opening Pilates exercise is a perfect exercise for beginners who want to improve their pelvic stability and start activating their deep core muscles.
Specifically, this exercise is suited for those looking for pre and post-natal exercises, individuals with acute or chronic back pain and those who are just starting out with core strengthening.
When we think of our core, we often think about our abs but we know now that is a rather narrow view and our core encompasses many areas and muscles of our trunk and pelvis. The bent knee opening Pilates exercise helps activate our lower core and pelvis in particular and because it is a unilateral exercise, it helps challenge our stability.
Because this exercise requires no equipment and is done lying on your back, it is easy and safe to practise at home. So why not try it now by following the steps below.
How to do the Bent knee opening step by step instructions
Lying on your back on a mat or comfortable floor, bend your knees and place your feet flat on the floor.
Ensure the back of your head, ribcage and tailbone feel heavy into the floor beneath you.
Place your hands in a triangle over your lower tummy, with fingers pointing towards your pubic bone.
Breathe in and let one knee gently fall out to the side by opening from your hip socket and allowing your foot to roll out. At the end of your range, try and let your inner thigh muscles relax, without letting your pelvis move.
To draw the leg back to centre, sigh out and think about bringing the big toe back to the floor.
Try and ensure you keep your pelvis level, not letting it tip from side to side. If you haven’t already learnt about pelvic clocks, watch this video first to get a better understanding of your pelvic control.
Alternate sides and make sure the leg that is not moving, stays really still in its original starting position. Complete 5 each side, for 3 sets.
This exercise is a great starting place for all these things and more!
So often we look at the core as just your abs, but we now know this is a rather narrow view. This exercise will get you to start understanding pelvic stability and will also get you activating the deeper core system.
Top tips for the bent knee opening exercise
- Cop a feel!
Using your hands on your pelvis is a great way of getting the feedback you may need to see whether you are tilting your pelvis and loosing stability. - Revisit that pelvic clock.
Understanding where your pelvis is in space is the first step to achieving differentiation in movement between your hips, pelvis and lower back. We all know things cannot stay still as that is not how we are designed. However, understanding your ranges will help you move things when you should rather than because you have to. - It’s all in the hips!
Imagine that your hip bone is rolling in the socket. The pelvis doesn’t need to come along for the ride! Instead, find your true range of movement. This will help you when you get to those harder exercises! - Get the feet involved!
We love feet and when you can feel you are stable with your pelvis, try drawing your attention to the feet and see how allowing them to move will help you fire up those inner thighs!
What are the benefits of the bent knee opening Pilates exercise?
The bent knee opening Pilates exercise is a great exercise for beginners or as a warm up to any routine. It can be done easily at home or as a warm up at the gym.
When doing this exercise, we try to keep our spine and pelvis still, opening our leg from the hip. This helps us work on lumbopelvic and hip dissociation, which is our ability to move our hips and pelvis independently from our lumbar spine. Having reduced lumbopelvic dissociation and awareness can contribute to stiffness or tightness of the area and in some cases, pain of the low back.
The bent knee opening Pilates exercise also helps activate and improve coordination of the lower abdominals, which help support the lower spine and pelvis, and are often neglected in traditional core exercises. In particular this movement can be really helpful during the first trimester of pregnancy and postnatally as it can help activate and relax the pelvic floor muscles.
Come and visit one of our Pilates clinics.
If you would like any more advice and guidance around Pilates and ‘the core’, please do not hesitate to get in touch with us. Why not come and try a studio class of Pilates in Kensington or 1-2-1 session with Complete Pilates at any of our studios? You can also visit us at our Pilates studio on Fulham road or our Pilates studio in the City of London.
