Build Lower-Body Strength and Find Your Balance With These 6 Yoga Poses

Yoga may not be the very first thing that involves thoughts for difficult leg exercises, however belief us, it is a game-changer. “The observe does not simply construct bodily energy, however psychological energy as effectively,” says Paige Willis, RYT-200, licensed yoga teacher and founding father of Undone, a pop-up yoga expertise.

“Whereas it is completely different out of your typical leg day, constructing energy in yoga requires you to interact a number of muscle teams at a time and transfer with a variety of movement,” she says. “Consider standing poses like chair pose and crescent lunge, the place you need to have interaction the muscle groups in your decrease physique to seek out stability. For those who maintain these poses for a number of rounds of breath, you invite endurance into the equation, together with energy.”

For April 2024, we’ve requested her to host our Motion of the Month Membership, specializing in yoga. And in Week 2, we’re specializing in lower-body yoga poses. Beneath, Willis demonstrates six poses that not solely strengthen key lower-body muscle groups (glutes, quadriceps, hamstrings, and calves) but additionally enhance your stability in ways in which conventional exercises may miss.

Be a part of the Motion

For those who’re following together with our Motion of the Month Membership, you’ll do one pose every day, Monday via Saturday. Then on Sunday, you’ll mix all of the asanas collectively right into a full 5-minute stream.

Do every pose for 50 seconds (25 seconds on either side, the place needed) earlier than shifting on to the following one, for a complete of 5 minutes. For those who’re feeling particularly tight or when you have extra time, be at liberty to do every transfer for so long as feels good.

1. Chair Pose (Utkatasana)

This pose strengthens your decrease physique (notably your quadriceps and glutes) and challenges your steadiness, stability, and focus, whereas serving to enhance knee and ankle mobility.

1. Start standing tall along with your toes collectively and arms by your sides.
2. On an inhale, elevate your arms overhead, reaching up towards the sky along with your palms going through one another or touching, relying in your shoulder mobility.
3. Exhale as you bend your knees and decrease your hips again and down as if you happen to had been sitting into an imaginary chair.
4. Shift your weight again into your heels, protecting your toes grounded and your toes gentle.
5. Preserve your chest lifted and your backbone lengthy, avoiding rounding or collapsing ahead.
6. Attempt to preserve your biceps by your ears with out elevating your shoulders.

2. Energy Lunge (Utthita Ashwa Sanchalanasana)

Similar to lunges you could do on the health club, this yoga lunge variation helps strengthen your decrease physique (glutes, quadriceps, and hamstrings), in addition to your belly muscle groups.

1. Start in downward going through canine, fingers shoulder-width aside and toes hip-width aside.
2. On an inhale, step your proper foot ahead between your fingers, inserting it close to your proper thumb.
3. Preserve your left leg prolonged behind you, urgent via the ball of your foot and lifting your heel off the ground.
4. Bend your proper knee to 90-degrees, stacking it immediately over your ankle.
5. As you inhale, elevate your torso and let your arms hold by your sides.
6. Exhale as you attain your arms behind you and fold your torso over your proper thigh.
7. Inhale to return again to upright.
8. Alternate backwards and forwards along with your breath.

3. Crescent Lunge (Ashta Chandrasana)

One other yoga lunge variation, this one additionally strengthens your decrease physique and belly muscle groups and can assist increase your temper and vitality.

1. Start in downward going through canine, along with your fingers shoulder-width aside and your toes hip-width aside.
2. On an inhale, step your proper foot ahead between your fingers, inserting it close to your proper thumb.
3. Preserve your left leg prolonged behind you, urgent via the ball of your foot and lifting your heel off the bottom.
4. Bend your proper knee to 90-degrees, guaranteeing it’s stacked immediately over your ankle.
5. As you inhale, elevate your arms overhead, reaching up towards the sky along with your palms going through one another or touching.

4. One-Legged Mountain (Eka Pada Tadasana)

Balancing on one leg at a time, as you do on this pose, develops energy and stability in that leg, whereas enhancing your steadiness and working towards your mind-body connection.

1. Start standing tall along with your toes hip-width aside and arms by your sides.
2. Shift your weight onto your proper foot and elevate your left foot off the bottom.
3. Bend your left knee till your thigh is parallel to the ground.
4. Have interaction your core muscle groups to take care of your steadiness and stabilize your pelvis.
5. Preserve your standing leg robust and regular, urgent firmly into the bottom.
6. Gently decrease your left foot again right down to the bottom and repeat on the opposite leg.

5. Standing Determine 4 (Eka Pada Utkatasana)

Preserve a wall close by in case you lose steadiness on this pose, which could be difficult. Standing determine 4 (a.okay.a. single-leg chair) turns up the extent of problem for one-legged mountain, making your standing leg stronger and stretching the hips and glutes of your raised leg.

1. Start standing along with your toes hip-width aside and arms by your sides.
2. Shift your weight onto your proper foot and bend your left knee, lifting your left foot off the bottom.
3. Cross your left ankle over your proper thigh, making a “4” form along with your legs.
4. Sit again into an imaginary chair by bending your proper knee and reducing your hips down and again.
5. Launch, stand again up, and repeat on the opposite leg.

6. Tree Pose (Vrksasana)

Because the final single-leg pose on this sequence, tree pose additionally improves steadiness, stability, and focus, whereas gently opening the hips and stretching the interior thighs.

1. Stand tall along with your toes hip-width aside and arms by your sides.
2. Shift your weight onto your proper foot and elevate your left foot off the bottom.
3. Bend your left knee and convey the only real of your left foot to relaxation towards the interior thigh or calf of your proper leg. Keep away from inserting it immediately on the knee.
4. Lengthen via your backbone and elevate your chest, drawing your shoulders again and down.
5. Carry your fingers collectively at coronary heart middle in a prayer place or prolong your arms overhead along with your palms going through one another.