Why Your Hip Clicks During Pilates Leg Circles (and How to Fix It)

Pilates leg circles are beautiful—until your hip starts clicking.

You’re on the mat, legs in the air, trying to channel your inner Pilates pro. You start those elegant leg circles and—click. Your hip makes a weird popping sound.

What's going on?

That click is usually your hip flexor tendon snapping over bone because your stabilizers (looking at you, abs and glutes) are not fully engaged in the conversation.

Add in a circle that’s bigger than your control and suddenly your hip joint is acting like it wants a job in the audio industry.

The happy news? This is not usually harmful (despite the off-putting sound). It's just your body reminding you to tighten the ship. How, you ask?

• Shrink the circles - when the circle is too big, your hip flexors grip, the femur shifts forward, and "CLICK."

  
  

• Visualize the pelvis and core initiating the movement - not the leg Rockette-ing around the socket

  
  

• Fire up your core and get your glutes in the game - if your deep core and hip stabilizers (transverse abdominis, pelvic floor, glute medius) aren't holding your pelvis steady, your femur has more wiggle room than it should. That extra movement makes popping more likely.

  
  

• Move slower than you think you should - more control = fewer pops

  
  

• Play with the rotation of your foot - the foot can subtly shift how the femur sits in the hip socket, which alters the path of the tendon gliding over bone

Nine times out of ten, the click will disappear.

And if it doesn’t? That’s your sign to maybe check with a doc to make sure it’s not something more serious. But most of the time, it’s just sloppy mechanics—not impending doom.

Remember: keep it small, keep it slow and keep it intentional to keep it quiet.

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