How to Do Leg Pull Front in Pilates: Tips, Technique, Correct Form, Benefits, and Common Mistakes

You must always put ample focus on your core muscles, and the leg pull front exercise in pilates will help you do just that.

Considering the position you’ll be taking to execute the leg pull front, you’re going to be working your glutes, hips, and shoulders. Before diving deeper into the benefits of the exercise, let’s understand how it’s done.

The correct form for leg pull front in Pilates

First, go down on all fours, place your knees on the floor/mat and put your hands in front of you. Your fingers should be pointed straight and elbows shouldn’t be locked.

Next, lean forward and put weight on your hands, bring your shoulders right above your wrists, and lengthen your spine. At this point, only your toes should be touching the mat.

Engage the abdominal muscles and ensure your entire body is in one line. Once you’ve acquired this position, you can begin the exercise.

Take your right foot off the ground/mat and lift it a few inches off the ground. Ensure you keep your legs extended while doing this.

When you lift your feet, your hips will lift slightly, but the idea is to keep the rest of your body stable.

Bring the foot down to the ground/mat and repeat with the other foot.

Do the lift about 10 times on each side.

Tips to master the movement

If this is the first time you’ll be doing a leg pull front in Pilates, here are a few pointers to keep in mind.

Control your breathing

When you’re doing the exercise, it’s important to remember that controlling your breathing will allow you to achieve better results.

Warm-up

This exercise is quite taxing for the abdominal muscles. To avoid cramps and muscle pulls, it’s important to do a proper warmup before doing the movement. This ensures you stay away from injuries.

Relax your muscles

When you first begin with leg pull fronts, ideally, it’s better to rest properly between sets. This gives your body time to recover and prepare for the second set better. As time moves on and you become accustomed to the exercise, you can decrease the rest period between sets.

Benefits of doing leg pull fronts

As mentioned, the exercise not only focuses on the abdominal muscles, but also works on other body parts.

Besides the core, it works on the calves, glutes, quadriceps, hamstrings, shoulders, and arms. Since your entire body is engaged in the workout, you will feel the pressure throughout your body.

Next, since it’s a build-up to the plank, the leg pull front exercise works on your balance and stability as well. In fact, it focuses on balance and stability more than the plank does because one foot is off the ground at almost all times.

Common mistakes

Every exercise you do will come with its own set of challenges. Therefore, being aware of the common mistakes can help you understand and master the movement better.

Lower back posture

You cannot let your lower back sag at any point during the movement. It’s imperative to keep your core muscles engaged and shoulders strong to avoid any form of lower back sagging.

Also, don’t lift the legs too high.

Not using legs

If you don’t use your legs, it will put pressure on your upper body. Hence, it’s advisable to keep your legs and glutes engaged during the movement. It takes the pressure off and creates more balance for the exercise.