FitSugar

Strike a Yoga Pose: Three-Legged Dog

FitSugar — Fri, 16 Jan 2009 08:00:00 PST

Downward Facing Dog pose is a total body pose that's great for stretching out your shoulders, lower back, hamstrings, and calves. It can be really difficult at first, but since it's a pose that's done the most often during a class, you can build your upper body strength fast, so it becomes more of a relaxing pose. To make it more challenging, try this fun variation called Three-Legged Dog. It will open your hips and hamstrings, and work on your balancing abilities. Not to mention it's also a great strength-training move for your upper arms and shoulders.

Sanskrit Name: Tri Pada Adho Mukha Svanasana
English Translation: Three-Legged Downward Facing Dog Pose
Also Called: One-Legged Dog

To find out how to get into it,

Begin on your hands and feet in Downward Facing Dog. Then step both feet together so your big toes are touching.
Shift weight into your hands and your left foot equally. Then raise your right leg up to the ceiling. Try to keep your shoulders parallel with the ground and gaze at your left thigh or up toward your belly to help you stay balanced. To feel the stretch in your left hamstring, keep pressing your left heel down toward the ground.
Stay here for five breaths, then lower your right leg down and switch sides.

Strike a Yoga Pose: Three-Legged Dog

FitSugar — Mon, 25 Feb 2008 04:00:00 PST

Downward Facing Dog pose is a total body pose that's great for stretching out your shoulders, lower back, hamstrings, and calves. It can be really difficult at first, but since it's a pose that's done the most often during a class, you can build your upper body strength fast, so it becomes more of a relaxing pose. To make it more challenging, try this fun variation called Three-Legged Dog. It will open your hips and work on your balancing abilities.

Sanskrit Name: Tri Pada Adho Mukha Svanasana
English Translation: Three-Legged Downward Facing Dog Pose
Also Called: One-Legged Dog

To find out how to get into it

Begin in Down Dog. Step both feet together so your big toes are touching.
Shift weight into your hands and your left foot equally. Then raise your right leg up to the ceiling. Try to keep your shoulders parallel with the ground and gaze at your left thigh or up towards your belly to help you stay balanced. To feel the stretch in your left hamstring, try to keep pressing your left heel down towards the ground.
Stay here for five or more breaths, then lower your right leg down and switch sides.

7 Ways to Get Stronger Arms in Yoga Class

Jenny Sugar — Tue, 03 Apr 2012 00:40:35 PDT

Practicing yoga is one of the best ways to relieve stress, but since you're holding yourself in challenging positions, it's also a killer workout for your upper body. Superstrong, sculpted arms not only look good in a strapless dress, but also enable you to do more advanced yoga poses. Here are some ways you can build a stronger upper body with yoga.

Practice, practice, practice: Taking a class once a week is better than nothing, but you'll really notice a difference in your upper body when you take three or more classes per week. Choose 90-minute classes, rather than 45- or 60-minute sessions.
Skip Child's Pose: While resting is important during a yoga class, if an instructor suggests coming into a relaxing child's pose and you don't feel you need it, stay in Downward Facing Dog to work your shoulders and upper back.
Link poses with vinyasas: If you've taken an Ashtanga or Vinyasa class, you're familiar with doing vinyasas, a series of poses (like a mini sun salutation) that involves jumping back from a seated position and coming into Four-Limbed Staff (similar to the bottom of a push-up), inhaling your chest forward into Upward Facing Dog and exhaling as you lift your hips coming into Downward Dog. Here's a video demonstrating how to do a vinyasa. Doing vinyasas between poses not only strengthens your upper body, but also makes your yoga practice more like a fluid dance, increasing the meditative feel.
Hold arm-strengthening poses longer: Five breaths are the standard when it comes to holding most yoga poses, but if your instructor has you do an arm-toning pose such as Beginner's Sage, Three-Legged Dog, or Full Wheel, stay in it for a few extra breaths to really feel the burn.

Keep reading for more arm-strengthening yoga class tips.

Strike a Yoga Pose: Open Triangle

FitSugar — Thu, 22 Jan 2009 05:30:00 PST

One element of yoga that I Iove is all the variations. You learn a basic pose and then switch the leg or arm positions to make a basic pose more challenging. This also helps you stretch and strengthen different parts of your body. Take Downward Facing Dog, for instance. It's a great foundation pose that stretches your calves and hamstrings, but when you lift one leg up and turn it into Three-Legged Dog, you'll stretch your hamstrings even further and challenge your core. This pose, called Open Triangle, is a variation of basic Triangle pose. When your feet are wider apart, you'll feel a deeper stretch on your hips and legs and will also be able to lengthen your spine more.

Sanskrit Name: Utthita Trikonasana
English Translation: Extended Triangle Pose
Also Called: Open Triangle

To learn how to get into this pose,

Stand on your hands and feet in Downward Facing Dog. Step your right foot forward between your hands, and rise up into Warrior 1. Now open your hips, arms, and chest into Warrior 2 pose.
Straighten your right leg and turn your right toes out to the right 90°, and your left toes slightly to the right, making a 45° angle. Keep both legs straight as you reach your right hand straight out over your right leg, making your spine as long as you can. Then depending on how flexible your hamstrings are, lower your right hand down and rest it on your right shin, on a block in front of your leg, or place your palm flat on the floor if you can. Extend your left arm straight up, and gaze at your left fingertips. You are working on stretching your right hamstring here, so be sure to keep that leg straight and don't worry if you can't touch the floor yet. As you do this pose more, you'll increase your flexibility, and someday touching the floor will be a cinch.
You want your shoulders to be stacked one on top of the other with your left hip drawing back, and engage your core by pulling your belly button in towards your spine. Work on pulling your right shoulder away from your right hip crease and lengthen through both sides of the ribs equally.
Stay here for five deep breaths. Then engage your legs, press firmly into the ground with your feet and use your lower body to lift your torso up. Rotate your feet to the left and then do this pose on the other side.