Pilates Knee Folds: Steps, Muscles and Common Mistakes

How to do the Knee Folds

Lie on your back on a mat with your knees bent, feet flat on the floor, and arms resting by your sides. Find a neutral spine position where your lower back is neither flattened nor overly arched.

1. Settle your weight evenly across the back of your pelvis and ribcage.
2. Engage your deep abdominal muscles to prepare for movement.
3. Slowly lift one foot off the mat while keeping your knee bent at a right angle.
4. Stop lifting when your knee is directly over your hip joint.
5. Hold this position for a brief moment without letting your lower back shift.
6. Lower your foot back to the mat with the same slow control.
7. Repeat the movement using your other leg.

• Breath. Teachers cue breathing differently, but you will often exhale as you lift the leg and inhale as you lower it back down. Alternatively, some instructors suggest inhaling to lift and exhaling to lower.
• Where you feel it. You should feel a gentle effort deep in your lower abdomen and the front of your hips. You should not feel strain in your lower back or tension in your neck and shoulders.
• How many. 8 to 10 slow repetitions per leg

Common mistakes

• Tipping the pelvis. Keep your hip bones level and imagine a glass of water resting on your lower belly.
• Flattening the lower back. Maintain a small, natural curve in your lower spine as you lift the leg.
• Moving too quickly. Slow down the movement to ensure your abdominal muscles are doing the work instead of momentum.
• Tensing the upper body. Relax your shoulders away from your ears and let your arms rest heavily on the mat.
• Bending the knee further. Keep the angle of your knee frozen at ninety degrees so the movement happens entirely at the hip joint.

Make it easier or harder

Easier

• Slide your heel along the mat instead of lifting the foot completely into the air.
• Lift your heel just an inch off the mat while keeping your toes lightly touching the floor.

Harder

• Lift one leg into the knee fold position, then lift the second leg to meet it without letting your back arch.
• Hover your arms slightly off the mat to challenge your balance as you lift the leg.

Who should be careful

• After the first trimester of pregnancy, many guidelines advise against long periods lying flat on the back. A side-lying or propped version is an alternative.

Related exercises

• Bicycle Advanced
• Scissors Advanced (supine version beginner)
• Single Leg Teaser Intermediate
• Teaser Intermediate to advanced
• Bent Knee Fall Out Beginner

This exercise is part of our pages on Pilates for Back Pain, Pilates for Sciatica, Pilates for Seniors, Pilates After Pregnancy, Pilates for Diastasis Recti, Pilates for Beginners.

When to see a doctor or physical therapist

• Sharp pain in your lower back or sacroiliac joint when you lift the leg.
• A clicking or popping sensation in your hip that causes discomfort.
• Numbness or tingling radiating down your leg.
• Pinching pain in the front crease of your hip joint.

This page is general education, not a diagnosis or treatment plan. If you have a health condition, are pregnant or are recovering from an injury or surgery, check with your own clinician before trying new exercises.

How we put this page together. Exercise data (type, level, equipment and muscles) was compiled by our editors from the classical mat order in Joseph Pilates’ 1945 book and from commonly taught mat repertoire. Muscle lists are a general anatomy guide; cueing differs between teachers. Text drafted with AI assistance and checked by the Editorial Team. See our editorial policy. Last checked October 2026.