During any postures or sets of leg lifts, I have this deep "popping" in my hip area. It's not a joint pop, like cracking your knuckles, though. The best I can describe it is put a rubber band over your first finger and thumb and stretch it, then take another finger and pull it off the side and let it go. It's not painful, just a weird sensation that has always concerned me (I've noticed this since I was young and in sports).
Upon speaking with my doctor, he says that I'm just "double jointed" or that my tendons are just super flexible and tend to bend away from their normal path, but my coach in HS said that it is just weak tendons that do that because they're not strong enough to hold into place. I did notice a decrease of this during my pregnancy which led me to believe that it may be something more along the lines of that those tendons/muscles aren't as flexible as they should be and are snapping back into place. Opinions on that?

My question is, should I keep doing these postures/sets and try to strengthen those muscles and tendons as much as possible and see if it gets any better, or is it anything to worry about at all? Any response is appreciated

Hi Dawn,
I had the same thing happen when I started in Wood class. One of my teachers taught me to make smaller ranges of motion until my hip got stronger. So, in leg lifts I only lift as high as I can with the leg straight, or until I feel the hip pop whichever comes first. In triangle and rectangle points I make smaller triangles or rectangles for a while until the hip muscles strengthened and they became easier, then gradually increased the size of the shapes until I felt challenged again or until the hip popping started again.

I never noticed any "problems" with my hip popping, but my hips stopped popping the more I practiced. I hope this helped! Another great place to find answers, in addition to your doctor of course, is at a 90 minute Wood class. The last 30 minutes is set up specifically for questions

I'm no expert, nor anyone practicing for a very long time, but I can give you my advice when I feel that kind of sensation. Usually when I get that disjointed kind of pop in a bone, particularly the hips, I try to readjust the way I'm sitting because sometimes the weight on certain muscles can prevent your tendons from moving naturally. But, perhaps it is just flexibility. I've never believed in the "double-jointed" idea myself.

It sounds familiar to me =)

My recommendation is to ease up on the range of motion slightly smaller (just a little smaller than you do now), slow, concise rectangles and triangles that don't come as high up on the shoulder line (remember to 'draw a triangle on the floor with your heel', not on the mirror).

Get really strong in this range of motion and then expand an inch or so at a time.

Keep me posted on how this works out for you - I experienced a similar sensation in my shoulder and this is what works for me. It recurs from time to time and I just reign it in and re-strengthen.

Thanks for the advice I have asked two of the teachers that I've had at the Wood 90 classes and have gotten differing opinions. The only reason I'm unsure if it is a strength issue is because I don't feel strained before/after it happens... I'm going to try the smaller sized "patterns" to see if that helps. I do notice it more when my toes are pointed vs. when they are towards the ceiling and I bend my leg to my chest then go back out. I'm going to try it at home tonight to see if there is a difference. Thanks

So glad to hear other people have this!!
I have this same sensation in my hips when we are laying on our backs and "bicycling" our legs back and forth. It's really loud and embarrassing. It happens on both sides, every single rep. The whole pop vibrates through my body and even though I don't feel any pain, I keep thinking my bones are hitting each other and afraid I'll break my hip. It has really baffled me and I don't hear anyone else's doing that in Wood class.