The Upward Facing Dog pose is personal favorite and a staple of the yoga practice.
Depending on your mobility and flexibility, your love for this pose may not be as great as mine but it is still an important pose, which is why we do it.
Upward Facing Dog is one of those postures that in it’s strength you find the stretch. Your arms must support your body in the almost relaxed version of plank, so just like plank, we need to keep the arms straight, shoulders moving away from the ears and in towards one another.
Muscles Stretched
Rectus Abdominus
Transverse Abdominis
Liopsoas
Wrists/forearms
Tops of feet
Alignment and Execution Tips
Start in plank. Untuck your toes and drop the hips down.
Press through your palms and the tops of your feet. Extend the chest forward and up. Squeeze your shoulder blades together and widen your chest.
Engage your quads and roll your inner thighs in and up.
Keep your tailbone extending towards your heels to keep the lower back long.
Benefits
Balances the body out after WODs that include any of the movements listed above.
Gently works the whole spine.
Teaches the body to engage rhomboids. This widens the front of the chest and improves posture for movements like Cleans and Snatches.
WOD Movements
Sit Ups (GHD, V-ups, Toes to Bar)
Box Jumps
L-Sit/L-Hang
Running
You can find out more information on the benefits of yoga and functional fitness by following some of Stephanie Ring’s other yoga poses of the week, or at her website: EndureYoga.com.
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