Hip flexors exercise
Single Leg CirclesHow to do it, with form in numbers
- Main muscles
- Hip flexors, Abs
- Also works
- Quads, Adductors
- Equipment
- Yoga mat
- Level
- Beginner
How to do it
How do you do the Single Leg Circles?
- Lie on your back with your arms long by your sides, palms down, and your left leg long on the mat.
- Lift your right leg straight up to the ceiling, foot softly pointed.
- Breathe in and circle your leg across your body and down.
- Breathe out and circle it out to the side and back up to the top.
- Do five circles, reverse for five, then change legs.
Cues
- Hips heavy and still.
- Draw the circle from your hip, not your foot.
- Press your arms into the mat.
Common mistakes
- Circles too big: make them smaller until your pelvis stays still.
- Rushing: keep the circle smooth and even, with the breath.
- Straining to keep the leg straight: soften the knee, or bend the bottom knee and plant the foot.
Form in detail
What does good form look like?
The version in our demo
The classical mat One Leg Circle (Joseph Pilates, Return to Life, exercise 3; Balanced Body mat manual), right leg, circling across the body first: the leg straight to the ceiling, the other long on the mat, the pelvis anchored.
Starting position
On the back, arms long by the sides with the palms down, the left leg long on the mat, the right leg straight up to the ceiling, foot softly pointed.
The movement
Breathe in and circle the right leg across the body and down; breathe out and circle it out to the side and back up to the top. The pelvis and the left leg stay still; the circle comes from the hip. Five circles one way, five the other, then change legs.
Breathing
In for the first half of the circle, out for the second.
Tempo
One circle in 6 s (in-breath across and down, out-breath around and up).
Form in numbers
What are the angles and distances?
- Bottom (left) leg long on the mat, knee under 5°, toes to the ceiling.
- Top (right) leg straight (knee about 5°), foot softly pointed.
- Pelvis still (0.0 cm); head on the mat; arms long, palms pressing the mat (elbows soft, 17°).
The targets our 3D demo was built to, from the references below. Bodies differ, so treat the ranges as a guide for your own build.
For coaches
Use this demo in your clients’ programs
The Single Leg Circles is in Trainaq’s exercise library. Add it to a workout, and your client sees this demo in the free Trainaq app above the sets they log.
Sources
Sources
- J. Pilates and W. J. Miller, Return to Life through Contrology (1945), Exercise 3, "The One Leg Circle".
- Balanced Body, Pilates Mat instructor manual
