Low Lunge

This posture is an essential pillar of a strong lower body. It strengthens your hips, glutes, thighs, and core, improves your hip mobility, and prevents injury in your knees, back, and hips. Low lunge is very important for people who sit often, as well as athletes interested in building power and preventing injury.

Target Area: Hips, Core
Difficulty: Beginner

Benefits:

• Improves hip mobility to reduce risk of injury
• Builds foundational hip strength and stability

Technique Walkthrough

Start on all fours with shoulders over wrists and hips over knees. (Toes can be tucked or untucked.)

1. Position knees and ankles parallel to each other, hip-width apart.
2. Step your right foot up between your hands, bending your right knee to 90 degrees with the knee above the ankle.
3. Let hips sink slightly forward.
4. Press down through the right foot to shift weight into your right hip.
5. Tuck your back toes, engage both thighs, and lift your arms overhead, palms facing each other.
6. Position torso directly over hips.
7. Lightly squeeze inner thighs toward each other.
8. Continue to press down through the right foot. Engage your core and draw ribs in to prevent chest from splaying open.
9. Hold the posture, inhaling as you lift your ribs away from hips, and exhaling as you deepen the hip stretch.
10. Repeat on the other side.
11. To properly distribute your weight, lift your back knee a few inches off the floor, and notice how your weight shifts into the hip of the front leg. Lower your knee to the floor while maintaining that same level of engagement in the front hip.

What you should (and shouldn’t) be feeling.

What should you be feeling?

• Engagement of thighs, hips, and glutes
• Stretch in shoulders and left hip flexors; move feet further apart if you don’t feel it in hips

What you shouldn’t feel.

• Arched back; if you do, pull navel toward lower back and maintain neutral spine.

Want to see more info like this? These photos and sections are taken from Yoga Fitness for Men, published in May 2018 by DK Publishers, and written by Dean Pohlman (that’s me), the founder of Man Flow Yoga.

Click here to get your copy now!