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Yoga to Make You Strong

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Originally published on May 4, 2018

Want a tighter core, solid arms and sculpted legs? Not only can yoga make you more flexible and reduce stress, it can also make your body strong. By starting with poses like dolphin push-ups and half handstand, you can build and tone muscles throughout the body, and your mind will get a workout too. Now roll out your yoga mat and get ready to sweat! You’ll be amazed by what you can do.

Tighten your stomach and strengthen your back with these simple but challenging poses.

A commonly seen exercise, plank helps build strength in the core, shoulders, arms and legs.

Modify: You can modify this pose by placing your knees on the floor and by bending your elbows slightly.

Skip it: Avoid plank pose if you suffer from carpal tunnel syndrome or have any wrist sensitivities as it can be hard on your wrists. You might also skip it or modify if you have low back pain.

Be mindful: As you move into plank, use a deep inhale to broaden your chest through the shoulders and middle back. As you exhale, use that energy to engage the abs to strengthen the pose.

This common pose can build strength in the core, shoulders, arms and legs.

STEPS:

1. Begin in Downward-Facing Dog pose.

2. Inhale and shift forward until your body is in a straight line, shoulders stacked over your wrists and heels above the balls of the feet.

3. Exhale as you press down through your forearms and hands, gazing at the floor in front of you. Imagine the back of your neck and spine lengthening.

4. Keep breathing steadily as you hold the pose for as long as you can, engaging the core muscles by drawing your navel into the body and toward your spine. Keep your thighs lifted and your hips high, but don’t let your rear stick up too high.

Challenge Yourself in Plank Pose

Stronger Legs:

  • Once you’re in the plank pose, lift your left foot off the ground and point your left foot straight back engaging your left thigh and calf

  • Ensure that your hips remain level; hold the pose for 5 breaths. Don’t hold your breath.

  • Repeat on the right side.

  • Lift your left hand and move it in front of you and lightly touch it to your right shoulder. Hold for three breaths.

  • Repeat on the right side.

Bonus abs:

  • Lift your left leg up from the floor. Bend your knee, and bring your foot up toward your shoulder.

  • Hold for three breaths.

  • Repeat on the right side.

Side plank rotates the body 90 degrees from a traditional plank to strengthen the sides of your abs.

Modify: To ease the pressure on your upper body, drop the knee of the leg closest to the ground. You can also keep your lifted arm at your side to help with balance. To ease the pressure on your wrist, you could also drop to your elbow instead of balancing on your wrist.

Skip it: If you have any wrist pain or weakness.

Be mindful: Keep your chest open to ensure that you aren’t collapsing into the shoulder closest to the floor. Expand your chest on your inhales and strengthen through the abs on your exhales.

You can work the sides of your core when you rotate a plank to your side.

STEPS:

1. Begin in plank pose and begin to place all of your weight on your left arm and left leg; shift onto the outside of your left foot

2. Lift your right hand toward the sky as you bring your hip up to vertical.

Challenge Yourself (Shown in Video):

Extreme core workout:

1. While in side plank pose, lift your right leg approximately one foot off of your left leg; your hips, shoulders and arms should stay in the same place.

2. Alternate between flexing your foot and pointing your foot.

Focus on balance:

1. Bend your right knee and bring your right foot up your leg to rest as in tree pose. Make sure your foot rests anywhere other than on your knee.

Dolphin push-up is a full-body exercise that can build strength even with just a few repetitions of the pose.

Modify: If you fatigue in dolphin push-up, focus on plank pose. As you can stay in plank longer, try dolphin push-up.

Skip it: If you have any elbow issues.

Be mindful: Keep your shoulders broad. Ensure that your elbows stay shoulder-width apart and do not point outward. Aim to increase how long you can hold the pose day after day rather than achieving a certain number of dolphin push-ups all at once.

Build all-over strength with this pose.

STEPS:

1. Begin in downward facing dog.

2. Inhale forward into plank pose.

3. Drop your forearms to the ground and ensure that your elbows are shoulder width apart and your forearms are parallel to the mat.

4. Exhale keeping your forearms on the ground and lifting your hips into a downward facing dog.

5. Inhale forward back into the plank pose with your forearms on the ground (also known as dolphin plank) and exhale back into downward facing dog.

6. Repeat for 10 inhales and exhales and then settle into a child’s pose.

Challenge Yourself in Dolphin Push-up

Strong abs and legs:

1. Keeping everything else the same, lift your left foot off the ground and point your left foot straight back engaging your left thigh and calf.

2. Ensure that your hips remain level; hold the pose for five breaths. Do not hold your breath.

3. Repeat on the right side.

Bonus abs:

1. Lift your left leg and bend your knee and bring it up toward your shoulder.

2. Hold for three breaths.

3. Repeat on the right side.

You don’t always think about balance when you think about strength, but in yoga, building strength comes with the ability to control your body, no matter its position.

Warrior 2 pose makes you feel incredibly strong as you sink into your hips and ground through your feet in this standing pose.

Modify: If you have minor knee pain, do this pose with your knees only slightly bent. Hold the pose for only two breaths.

Skip it: If you have significant knee pain or discomfort.

Be mindful: Imagine there’s a straight line running from your left middle finger to your right middle finger. Keep your shoulders relaxed and down. On each inhale, straighten your spine and on each exhale, sink deeper into the pose.

Feel strong and balanced in this pose.

STEPS:

1. Begin in downward facing dog pose. Inhale and lift your left leg up. Exhale and move your foot forward, underneath your body. Rest your left foot between your hands, pointing your left toes forward.

2. Turn your right foot so that it is pointing toward the right-hand corner of your mat.

3. Inhale and raise your hands overhead. Exhale, and rotate your arms so that they are in line with the long side of your mat and your hips are also facing the long side of the mat.

4. Bend your knee and allow your left thigh to become parallel to the mat. Your hips should be open to the side of your mat. Your left arm should be parallel to your left thigh.

5. For a deeper stretch, inhale as you drop your right arm backwards, while reaching your left arm into the air. Stay low in the hips and keep the knee bent.

6. Exhale to drop your left arm in front of your left thigh. You can rest your left forearm on your thigh. Don’t rest your arm on your knee. Hold this pose longer to deepen the stretch, but remember to keep breathing.

7. Drop both hands back to the front of the mat and press back to downward facing dog.

Challenge Yourself (Shown in Video):

Add a stretch

1. While you are in warrior 2 pose, keep your legs cemented in place. Inhale and drop your right arm backwards, while reaching your right arm into the air. Exhale to return to warrior 2.

Core strengthening:

1. While you are in warrior 2 pose, keep your hips and legs steady. Inhale and drop your left arm in front of your right thigh. Ensure that your arm is never resting on your knee. Engage the abs and exhale, holding the pose for five inhales and exhales. Return to warrior 2 pose by engaging the abs and inhaling to lift the body back upright. Exhale to deepen back into warrior 2.

Think of this pose as the yoga squat. The standing lunge dip sequence will build your glutes, stretch your hamstrings and engage your abs.

Modify it: Keep a chair nearby to use for balance and assistance as needed.

Skip it: If you have any knee discomfort, skip this pose.

Be mindful: Keep your spine straight, the crown of your head lifted and your shoulders down. Relax your face and keep your chin level. Make sure you are engaging your muscles in your abs, glutes and legs.

Here’s a lunge for yogis.

STEPS:

1. Begin in downward facing dog. Inhale and move your left leg up towards the ceiling. On exhale, move your leg down and underneath the body. Rest your left foot between your hands.

2. Move your weight onto the tips of your fingers and begin to move your hands to the top of your right thigh.

3. Inhale and move your arms up and out to the side of your body. Then exhale and move your hands to rest over your heart.

4. Bend your right knee slightly and move your left knee forward, ensuring that it is not going past your left foot.

5. Inhale and sink your body down until your knee is about six inches from the floor. Exhale and move back up to standing.

6. Inhale and move both arms overhead. Then, exhale and move them back onto the ground. Step your foot back into a downward facing dog. Move through a plank, upward-facing dog and downward-facing dog.

7. Repeat on the opposite side.

Challenge Yourself in Standing Lunge Dip Sequence

Try goddess pose:

1. Inhale and move your arms overhead as you sink down and exhale your arms into goal posts, also known as goddess pose.

This pose is a one-legged floating squat. It requires focus and balance.

Modify: Keep a chair nearby to use for balance as needed.

Skip it: If you have any knee or ankle pain.

Be mindful: As you complete this sequence, imagine there is a tug of war between the top of your head and the foot of your raised leg. Stretch your entire body, broadening and lengthening. If your leg starts to cramp (or if you are easily bored), you can point and flex the foot of your extended leg to keep a bit of movement in that leg.

This pose will require focus, balance and all-over strength.

STEPS:

1. Stand upright and bend your right leg slightly. Stretch your arms to your sides and extend your left leg behind you as you bend at the waist. Try to keep your leg and upper body parallel.

2. Inhale and bend your right knee lower. Exhale and stand straighter, though be careful not to lock your knee.

3. Move as slowly as possible through 10 dips.

4. Lower your left leg. Inhale and move your arms overhead and then exhale and move into a forward fold. Inhale and move them back overhead. Then, exhale and more your arms into a mountain pose with your hands at your heart. Repeat on the opposite side.

This series of poses will tone shoulders, triceps and biceps and uses your body weight to strengthen your arms.

Crow pose is an empowering pose that makes you feel as if you are flying. It builds strength in the arms, shoulders and abs.

Modify: If your wrists are bothering you, keep your feet on the ground and simply lean forward onto your upper arms without actually putting your full weight onto them.

Skip it: If you have any wrist pain, this pose puts all of your body weight on your wrists.

Be mindful: Keep the spine straight and look at a spot in front of you about one foot in front of your hands. Engage your abs and imagine every muscle in your body is connected to your core and tighten them.

Feel like you’re flying with this upper-body building pose.

STEPS:

1. Standing upright, Inhale and move your arms straight out by your sides and then overhead. Exhale, drop your hands to your feet and bend at your waist into a forward fold.

2. Point your toes out toward the edges of the mat and bend your knees. Come into a squat position resting on the balls of your feet.

3. Place your hands flat on the floor, shoulders-width apart, about a foot in front of you.

4. Continue to bend at the knees into a crouching position and lean the inside of your calves onto the backs of your upper arms.

5. Lean forward, slightly bending your elbows and begin to rest your body weight onto the back of your upper arms. Lift one foot off the ground and then the other.

6. Stay in crow pose for several breaths and then place the feet back on the ground. Straighten your legs and release into a standing forward fold.

This pose takes crow pose and rotates it 90 degrees. You will be flying again, but this time, on your side.

Modify: Instead of lifting off to side crow, stop at Step #4, the twisted chair pose.

Skip it: Like traditional crow, if you have any wrist discomfort, this isn’t the pose for you.

Be mindful: If it’s your first time trying this pose, place your arms closer together. Try not to clench your neck, face or shoulders — find a point to look at in front of you.

Fly on your side with this challenging pose.

STEPS:

1. Begin in mountain pose, standing with your arms at your side and your feet together.

2. Inhale and lift your arms over your head. Exhale and place your hands in front of your chest. Bend your knees and lower your hips into a chair pose.

3. Lift your heels and rest your weight on the balls of your feet.

4. Keeping your hands together in prayer pose, twist them to the right, hooking your left upper arm on the side of your right thigh for a twisted chair pose.

5. Spread your right arm to the right and bring your arms into chatturanga pose, by dropping your hands to the ground and resting your body weight on the back of your left upper arm.

6. To come out of the pose, place your feet on the ground, and lift your hips to the sky, brushing your hands on the ground right and left for a relaxed forward pose.

7. Repeat on your right side.

Challenge Yourself in Side Crow

Strengthen your core:

1. While you are in side crow pose, keep your arms and right leg in place as you lift your left leg up toward the ceiling.

Inversions, yoga performed while in a headstand or handstand, or sometimes against a wall, are the most challenging of the yoga poses. Inversion poses can improve both your balance and your mood.

Do not attempt inversions for the first time on your own. Work with a yoga teacher before attempting these poses at home. If you have any medical conditions or are pregnant, consult with a doctor before attempting any inversions.

Half handstand has all of the benefits of a full handstand, but it includes a helpful wall assist that enables you to build up strength as you work toward a full headstand. This pose enables you to build your arms and shoulder muscles and also get comfortable with being upside down before moving into the full handstand.

Modify: If walking your feet up the wall into the right angle is hard on your wrists or arms, come into a downward facing dog pose and do a dolphin plank push-up. These dolphin plank push-ups will help you build arm and core strength as you work toward a half handstand.

Skip it: If you have any wrist discomfort.

Be mindful: Your hands may start to shift away from the wall as you fatigue. You can mark your distance with a block or piece of clothing to encourage you to stay put. Also, having a friend there to watch your form can be helpful.

All the benefits of a full handstand, with the help of a wall.

STEPS:

1. Start in a seated position, facing a wall with your legs extended. Use your distance from the wall as a marker for how far to place your hands from the wall. Bring your hands to your side.

2. Turn your body over, switching the placement of your hands. You should now be in a downward facing dog pose with your face toward the wall.

3. Start to walk your feet up the wall, adjusting your hands and feet until your body makes a right triangle with the wall.

4. To exit the pose, walk your feet back down and relax into a child’s pose position.

Challenge Yourself in Half Handstand

Test your balance:

  • Once you are in half handstand pose, lift one leg off the wall, keeping the other leg on the wall. Hold for a few breaths and then switch sides.

Try this pose if you’ve practiced half handstand and feel you are ready to move into the full version. Handstand strengthens your arms and shoulders and also the oblique and gluteus muscles as you balance.

Modify: Go for the half handstand option and if you have wrist issues, try a dolphin push-up.

Skip it: This pose has your full weight on your hands and wrists so be sure to skip this pose if you have any wrist pain or discomfort.

Be mindful: Once both feet have made contact with the wall, focus on stacking your body — wrists, elbows, shoulders and hips — to enable your spine to straighten and help you to stay in the pose.

A pose that will truly help you see the world in a new way.

STEPS:

1. Place your hands one foot away from a wall and press into a downward-facing dog with your face looking away from the wall. The back of your head should be closest to the wall.

2. Keep your arms in place and walk your feet toward your hands.

3. Lift one leg off the ground. Begin to hop slowly and gently off the opposite foot, eventually lifting the raised foot up to the wall followed by the other.

4. To exit the pose, slowly bring your legs down one at a time and fold into a child’s pose.

Headstand in an opportunity to turn your everything — including a frown — upside down. It’s a challenge, mind and body, to overcome fears of being in an unusual state and to lift your body overhead. Every time you carefully exit the pose, try to enter life rightside-up with fresh eyes.

Modify: If you aren’t comfortable, don’t push yourself! Work on a half handstand or handstand first. Dolphin push-ups can also help build the shoulder strength and hamstring flexibility helpful to lifting up into headstand.

Skip it: If you have any neck or shoulder issues, don’t do this pose.

Be mindful: If you’re wearing a ponytail, be sure to lower it so that ponytail is near the base of your neck. Once you are in the pose, think about lifting your feet into the sky, feeling them pull upward, straightening your spine and making you weightless.

Turn everything upside down.

STEPS:

1. Come into a tabletop position facing the wall. Your elbows should be about a foot and a half from the wall.

2. Bring your forearms to the ground with your elbows where your hands had been and your hands in front of you. Ensure there is still about a foot between your hands and the wall.

3. Interlace your hands and release your pinkies so that the edges of your pinkies are flat against the ground. Your arms should now be in an equilateral triangle in which there is equal distance between your elbows.

4. Place the crown of your head on the ground so that your hands are interlaced nicely cupping the upper back of your head.

5. Lift your hips up into a downward-facing dog position and walk your feet as close to your elbows as possible.

6. Begin to lift one foot off the ground and use your abs to pull one knee into your chest followed by your second knee.

7. Using your ab muscles lift both legs slowly towards the ceiling, begin to think about slowly stacking your body up into a straight position.

8. If needed, use the wall for assistance, by gently placing your ankle against it as you gain your balance. Do not kick up to the wall. You should be moving slowly and deliberately, using your muscles, not momentum.

9. Once you’re in the pose, your hips should be over your shoulders, knees over hips and ankles over knees. Try to disperse your weight across your forearms and shoulders. You should not feel significant weight on your head.

10. To come out of the pose, reverse what you did to lift up into it. Slowly bring one knee and then the other into your chest and then lower them onto the ground. Fold your body into a downward facing dog.

Challenge Yourself in Headstand

Build abs:

1. When you are completely in headstand pose, bring one knee into your chest and straighten your leg. Repeat on the other side.

To build strength, work up to these 11 poses in succession. Move slowly through each pose, starting with the first pose and adding more as you are ready. Move slowly through each pose, remembering to breathe as you move. Hold each pose for five deep, slow breaths before moving on to the next one. Practice two to three times a week.

Don’t neglect your mind when you practice these poses.

Yoga classes typically open with time to set your intentions for the yoga exercises ahead, often referred to as “intention-setting.” Take a moment as you begin to clear your mind. Shift your focus from the busy world around you and onto your body.

As you move through the poses, concentrate on breathing in and out rhythmically and consistently.

When you finish your practice, take a moment to lie flat on your back in corpse pose. This is the perfect time to rest your body and mind. Think about your body melting into the floor and becoming one with everything around it. When you are ready, come back into a seated posture. Take another moment to prepare for moving back into your day.

You don’t need any special equipment to start a yoga practice, but here are a few items you may want.

Yoga is generally practiced in bare feet on a mat. Socks are slippery, which is why wearing them is not recommended. If you really want to wear socks, look for sports socks that have rubber grips on the soles.

Most yoga studios and gyms offer mats, but many yoga students prefer to buy a mat, for hygiene and because mats differ in material, density and stickiness. You may find you develop a strong preference for a certain type of mat.

Choose a mat that prevents you from slipping and sliding, as that will give you a stable base for transitioning from one pose to the next. Clean your mat regularly with antibacterial wipes. If you plan to rent mats at your studio or gym, it would be a good idea to carry around a small packet of antibacterial wipes to clean your rental mat.

If you are looking to buy your own yoga mat, The Wirecutter, a website owned by The New York Times Company, has done a complete review of your options.

Comfortable clothing is recommended. Any workout clothes would generally work well for a yoga class. However, clothing that is too loose-fitting may get in the way if you progress into headstand and handstand poses.

There are a few things to think about when searching for a great yoga class.

Before you sign up for a class, read the studio’s website for information about each class and teacher. When reading through course descriptions, think about whether you are looking to stretch out your muscles after a long run or are you hoping for your yoga class to get your heart rate up? Also note the level of the class to help you figure out if you’ll be bored or too challenged by it.

Hot yoga, which is practiced in a room that is typically heated to 105 degrees, enables students to sweat quickly and stretch more deeply as muscles to become looser faster. Many hot yoga classes move slowly and focus on staying in one pose for an extended period. If you like to sweat, this type of yoga may be for you. However, Hawah Kasat, a yoga instructor from Washington, D.C., warns that in hot classes “students can become prone to injury as the muscles are so warm and loose that they can easily overstretch.”

Mirrors help some students get into more difficult poses, but for others mirrors can be distracting and overemphasize the physical form. Certain disciplines of yoga, like Bikram, are likely to have a mirror in the room, and Bikram yoga teachers often encourage students to look at themselves to inspect their form. If mirrors aren’t for you, you may want to find a different form of yoga to try.

Some studios are sparse and well-worn, which for some feel homey and welcoming, while others are spa-like with eucalyptus towels and fancy gift shops. Find a class and teacher that’s suited to your personality and budget.

More expensive yoga classes are not necessarily better. Some specialized classes and workshops can be more than $30 per session, but many studios offer inexpensive options. Bryan Kest’s power yoga in Los Angeles has been donation-based for decades. Yoga to the People in New York City is also donation-based and Yoga District in Washington, D.C. offers inexpensive classes and a sliding scale for those in need. Explore the diversity of options and keep an open mind that yoga really does not even need a studio. Yoga can take place anywhere.

You may like a class style and a studio, but it’s the instructor who will make or break your yoga experience. Here are some of the questions to ask yourself as you are considering teachers:

  • Do you like how the teacher talks? Some teachers talk throughout class, while others are quieter. There are some that are more spiritual, while others focus on the physical poses. Ultimately, a good yoga teacher should encourage you to move forward in your practice.

  • Do you like music? Some teachers have quiet studios, others use soft, meditative tracks, while still others feature live D.J.s.

  • Do you mind his/her hands? Some teachers are very hands-on in a way that is helpful — modifying a pose to make it easier. Others can be overly handsy. As you explore teachers, consider what works for you. It can help to tell your teacher before class begins if you prefer a hands-on or hands-off approach.

Don’t forget to breathe. Inhale as you try to stretch or stay strong and exhale as you release from each pose. If you are having trouble remembering to breathe, think about the word “let” on the inhale and “go” on the exhale.

During practice, keep a bottle of water handy and drink between poses. That small break can be a good time to refocus. After your practice has been completed, continue to replenish fluids lost from sweating and exertion.

As you explore more physically challenging classes, it will become mentally challenging to stop comparing yourself to others. There will be people moving in gravity-defying, pretzel-twisting ways that would probably get a lot of likes on Instagram.

If you feel yourself becoming envious, close your eyes and think about your breath. Feel the grip of your fingers and toes on your mat. Listen to the teacher’s cues to get back into your body and mind.

Yoga is not an end state, and focusing on any other person’s practice is just a distraction from your own journey. Bryan Kest says, “Yoga doesn’t want you to be loose. It doesn’t want you to be strong. It doesn’t want you to be skinny. It doesn’t want you to be pretty. It doesn’t want you to stay young. Yoga doesn’t want any of those things. Yoga doesn’t want to change you at all.”

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