Pilates Leg Pull Front: Steps, Muscles and Common Mistakes

How to do the Leg Pull Front

Start on your mat on your hands and knees, with your wrists directly under your shoulders and your knees under your hips. Step your feet back one at a time to come into a full plank position.

1. Press your hands firmly into the mat to activate your upper back.
2. Pull your deep abdominal muscles inward to support your lower back.
3. Keep your spine in a neutral line from your head to your heels.
4. Lift one leg up toward the ceiling without shifting your hips.
5. Shift your body weight slightly backward by pressing through your supporting heel.
6. Rock your weight forward again to return to the starting plank position.
7. Lower your lifted leg back down to the mat.
8. Repeat the sequence using your other leg.

• Breath. Teachers often cue you to inhale as you lift your leg and exhale as you rock backward and forward. However, breathing patterns vary, so you might also be taught to exhale on the leg lift to help stabilize your core.
• Where you feel it. You should feel strong work in your deep abdominals, the muscles under your armpits, and your glutes. You should not feel pinching or strain in your lower back or your wrists.
• How many. 3 to 5 slow repetitions on each leg

Common mistakes

• Sinking lower back. Engage your transversus abdominis to lift your belly away from the floor and maintain a neutral spine.
• Dropping the head. Look slightly ahead of your hands to keep your neck in line with the rest of your spine.
• Shifting the hips. Keep both hip bones pointing directly toward the mat as you lift your leg.
• Locked elbows. Keep a tiny, soft bend in your elbows so your triceps and upper back do the work instead of your joints.
• Lifting the leg too high. Only lift your leg as high as you can while keeping your gluteus maximus engaged and your lower back completely still.

Make it easier or harder

Easier

• Perform the exercise with your knees resting on the mat.
• Hold a standard front plank without lifting your legs.
• Practice the leg lift from a tabletop position on your hands and knees.

Harder

• Add a small pushup between each leg lift.
• Hold the leg lift for an extra breath before lowering it.

Who should be careful

• Weight-bearing through the hands can aggravate wrist, hand or shoulder pain. Fists, forearms or a raised surface can reduce the load.

Related exercises

• Leg Pull Back Advanced
• Swimming Beginner to intermediate
• Bicycle Advanced
• Control Balance Advanced
• Quadruped Arm and Leg Reach Beginner

This exercise is part of our pages on Pilates for Hypermobility, Pilates for Runners, Pilates for Men, Pilates During Menopause.

When to see a doctor or physical therapist

• Sharp pain in your wrists or hands when bearing weight.
• A pinching sensation in your lower back that does not improve with core engagement.
• Numbness or tingling traveling down your arms.
• Sudden shoulder joint pain during the plank hold.

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.