1 Start in Warrior 2 with your feet 4 to 5ft (1.25–1.5m) apart, your right foot perpendicular to the left, and front knee bent directly over the ankle. Extend arms outward, parallel to the floor and palms facing down. Square hips to the middle.
This side stretch and lunge strengthens your core, hips, and back, while making your spine, shoulders, and hips more mobile. It’s useful for improving your posture, increasing power and range of motion for twisting or swinging motions, and helping prevent back pain and injury by strengthening the entire core.
TARGET AREAS
• core • spine • hips • shoulders
BENEFITS
• Stretches chest muscles to improve posture • Strengthens middle back, spine, hips, and knees • Improves spinal mobility
1 Start in Warrior 2 with your feet 4 to 5ft (1.25–1.5m) apart, your right foot perpendicular to the left, and front knee bent directly over the ankle. Extend arms outward, parallel to the floor and palms facing down. Square hips to the middle.
2 Bend at the waist to move the torso over your bent leg. Reach your left arm toward the ceiling, palm facing forward, and extend right arm toward the ground. Tighten the left side of your body, lengthen your torso, and use your core to roll back the top shoulder and open chest. Turn your head to look up at hand. Hold the posture, inhaling as you lengthen the torso, and exhaling as you deepen the twist. Repeat on the other side.
YOU SHOULD FEEL
• Stretch in groin, chest, shoulders, biceps, and back
• Intense engagement of core and thighs
YOU SHOULDN’T FEEL
• Lowered arm forcing the rotation; use core to twist
• Strain in neck; if you do, create more length in spine
PRO TIP
To challenge your core and get a deeper stretch, firmly engage the muscles on the exposed side of your body, drawing ribs toward your core to firmly engage obliques and strengthen core.
NOT THERE YET?
