How To Do The Bent Knee Opening Pilates Exercise
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.
Key Takeaways
- Bent knee opening is a beginner-friendly Pilates exercise that helps improve pelvic stability and deep core activation.
- It teaches hip and pelvis dissociation, helping you move the hip without the pelvis or lower back coming along for the ride.
- It can be useful for pre- and post-natal clients, as well as those with back pain or anyone starting core strengthening.
- The exercise helps build awareness of the lower abdominals and pelvic floor, rather than focusing only on the superficial “abs”.
- Good control matters more than range, so the aim is to keep the pelvis still and move only as far as you can without losing stability.
Conclusion
Bent knee opening is a simple but highly effective Pilates exercise for building awareness, control and stability through the pelvis and lower core. Although it looks gentle, it teaches an important skill: how to move the hip independently from the pelvis and lower back.
This makes it a great starting point for beginners, pre- and post-natal clients, people with back pain, or anyone wanting to improve their core control in a safe and accessible way. By focusing on breath, pelvic stability and controlled hip movement, bent knee opening can create the foundations for more challenging Pilates exercises.
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These blogs are designed to give information to everyone, however, it is important to remember that everyone is different! If you have not seen one of our therapists and have any questions about injuries, what you have read or whether this may be useful to you, please just ask. We are more than happy to help anyone and point you in the right direction. Our biggest belief is that education is key. The more you understand about your injury, illness and movement, the more you are likely to improve.
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FAQs
What is the bent knee opening exercise good for?
Bent knee opening is good for improving pelvic stability, deep core activation and hip control. It helps teach the body how to move the hip without letting the pelvis or lower back move excessively. It is also really good to help with hip mobility and control into rotation. If you have stiff hips, this is a great exercise to help improve your range of movement.
Is bent knee opening suitable for beginners?
Yes, bent knee opening is ideal for beginners because it is gentle, accessible and requires no equipment. It is performed lying on your back, making it easy to practise at home. If you are a beginner to Pilates but have some pain, an acute injury or undiagnosed problems, it is important to ensure that you are using the correct technique and modifying as you need. To do this well, you may need to see a Clinical Pilates Instructor and get a full assessment.
Can bent knee opening help with back pain?
It may help some people with back pain by improving lumbopelvic control and awareness. However, if you have significant or persistent pain, it is best to seek advice from a physiotherapist or clinical Pilates instructor. It is likely to be one of the exercises that you are given in the early stages of rehab, but it is important to ensure it is the right one for you, and your diagnosis.
Why is pelvic stability important in this exercise?
Pelvic stability is important because the aim is to move from the hip socket while keeping the pelvis relatively level. This helps improve hip and pelvis control and prevents the lower back from compensating during movement. Overall this will help with things such as your walking and running.
Can I do bent knee opening during pregnancy?
Bent knee opening can be suitable during all stages of pregnancy, as it helps with pelvic floor and lower abdominal awareness. However, as you progress through your trimesters, you will likely need to prop yourself up on something so that you are not laying flat on. your back. If you are having back pain or any pelvic girdle symptoms, it is important to check with your physio that this is the right exercise for you.
Published 6 Feb 2024 · Updated 8 Jul 2026