7 Yoga Poses to Increase Your Flexibility
Key takeaways:
When practiced regularly, yoga poses can build flexibility by lengthening your muscles.
Most yoga poses will help increase your flexibility, but the best ones for flexibility focus on stretching rather than strengthening.
Practice yoga at least twice weekly for best results.
Flexibility is a measure of how much and how easily your muscles can lengthen. It allows you to move through a full range of motion. Flexible muscles make daily movements –– like reaching for something on a high shelf –– easier. They can also reduce your risk of injuries in sports and everyday life.
Yoga is one of many ways to improve your mental and physical flexibility. It involves performing postures or poses. Regular yoga practice can lengthen your muscles, increase flexibility, and allow you to deepen the poses. You’ll also reap the other benefits of yoga like better balance, less stress, and increased mind-body awareness.
What are the best yoga poses for flexibility?
Most yoga poses can increase your flexibility. But some poses focus more on strengthening than stretching. When you want a good stretch, try the following go-to postures. They target all the major muscle groups in your upper and lower body, as well as your back and abdominal muscles.
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1. Downward-Facing Dog
Start on your hands and knees. Align your shoulders over your wrists and your hips over your knees.
Walk your hands forward about 6 inches. Tuck your toes under and lift your knees off the floor, pushing your hips toward the ceiling. Keep your knees slightly bent.
Keep your palms pressed into the floor and your fingers spread apart, with your middle finger pointing straight ahead. Lift up through the hips a little more as you press your heels down toward the floor (they don't have to touch the mat).
Hold for 5 to 10 slow breaths, then release.
2. Upward-Facing Dog
Lie on your stomach with your legs extended and the tops of your feet pressing into the floor.
Bend your elbows and place your palms flat on the floor next to the midline of your chest.
Inhale and press into your palms, lifting your chest, abdomen, and pelvis off the floor. Keep your neck straight and pull your shoulders back and down.
You can stay here or go deeper by straightening your arms and lifting your thighs.
Maintain the position for 5 to 10 slow breaths, then release.
3. Cat-Cow
Begin on all fours with your wrists under your shoulders and your knees under your hips. Maintain a neutral spine with your neck straight and your gaze on the floor in front of your hands.
Inhale and drop your belly down as you curl your chest and hips up toward the ceiling. Allow your gaze to come up, but don't strain your neck.
Exhale slowly and reverse the position, arching your spine and dropping your tailbone, chest, and head down.
Repeat the sequence 5 times.
4. Half-Pigeon pose
Start in Downward-Facing Dog. Bend your right knee and draw it forward, placing it on the floor just behind your right wrist. Lay your shin down so your knee is at a 45- to 90-degree angle.
Place your palms on the floor next to your hips or in front of you. Lengthen up through your spine.
Stay here or slowly walk the palms forward, coming down onto your elbows. To deepen the pose, walk your hands all the way forward so your arms are fully extended and press your forehead to the floor.
Hold for 5 to 10 slow breaths, then release and switch sides.
5. Seated twist
Sit with your legs extended straight in front of you, your back straight, and your shoulders aligned over your hips.
Bend your right knee, and cross it over your left leg, placing your right foot flat on the floor (outside your left thigh). Inhale as you raise your left arm straight up.
As you exhale, twist to the right and bend your left elbow, placing it on the outside of your right knee.
Press your elbow and knee into each other to create tension as you twist deeper to the right. Keep your spine straight and your gaze straight ahead.
Hold for 5 to 10 deep breaths, then release and switch sides.
6. Triangle pose
Stand with your feet together. Take a big step back with your right foot, turning your body to the right. Your feet should be about 3 to 4 feet apart.
Keep your left foot pointing forward, and turn your right foot out, so it's parallel to the short edge of your yoga mat.
Inhale and raise your arms out to the sides at shoulder height. Exhale and reach your left hand forward as you bend at the torso and lower your left fingers down to rest on your shin or a block placed just outside your left foot.
Reach your right arm up, keeping it in line with the shoulder.
Hold for 5 to 10 deep breaths, then release and switch sides.
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7. Lizard pose
From downward dog, widen your hand placement. Step your right foot forward and place it flat on the floor inside your right hand.
Bend your right knee and straighten your left knee, coming into a lunge. Press firmly into the floor with your palms.
Stay here, or deepen the stretch by lowering onto your forearms.
Hold for 5 to 10 slow breaths, then release and switch sides.
Why is yoga good for flexibility?
Yoga isn't necessarily any better than any other type of stretching for flexibility. But its results are well-documented. A 2016 study showed that 10 weeks of yoga significantly improved flexibility in a group of male college athletes compared to a group that didn't do yoga. They participated in twice-weekly sessions and also had better balance.
Another study confirmed that yoga was as effective as traditional stretching exercises for improving flexibility in a group of healthy, sedentary adults. It was also equally effective compared to typical strengthening exercises. Study participants saw improvements in various functional fitness measures, including balance, strength, and mobility.
How often should you practice yoga for flexibility?
The American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM) recommends doing flexibility training exercises, such as yoga, 2 to 3 days per week. They suggest holding each stretch for 10 to 30 seconds, which is about the length of 5 to 10 slow yogic breaths.
The ACSM also recommends repeating each stretch 2 to 4 times. You won't repeat poses in many yoga classes. But don't worry. Typically, a yoga class contains enough postures to target each muscle group multiple times.
If you practice yoga at home, you can repeat poses to increase flexibility in a specific muscle group. That said, make sure you do yoga flexibility poses that target all your major muscle groups. This will help you avoid muscle imbalances that can lead to injury or dysfunctional movement patterns.
The bottom line
Flexibility training is a key part of a well-rounded fitness program. Yoga is just as effective as traditional flexibility exercises as long as it's performed regularly. Yoga has other benefits, too, such as improving balance and reducing stress, making it more appealing and time-efficient. Aim to do a yoga flexibility practice targeting all the major muscle groups at least twice a week.
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References
American Council on Exercise Fitness. (n.d.). Cat-cow.
American Council on Exercise Fitness. (n.d.). Downward-facing dog.
American Council on Exercise Fitness. (n.d.). Upward facing dog.
American Council on Exercise. (2022). Benefits of flexibility.
Cline, L. V. D. (n.d.). 5 yoga hip stretches for increasing flexibility. National Academy of Sports Medicine.
Gothe, N. P., et al. (2016). Yoga is as good as stretching–strengthening exercises in improving functional fitness outcomes: Results from a randomized controlled trial. The Journal of Gerontology Series A: Biological Sciences and Medical Sciences.
Polsgrove, M. J., et al. (2016). Impact of 10-weeks of yoga practice on flexibility and balance of college athletes. International Journal of Yoga.
Witvrouw, E., et al. (2004). Stretching and injury prevention: An obscure relationship. Sports Medicine.
Woodyard, C. (2011). Exploring the therapeutic effects of yoga and its ability to increase quality of life. International Journal of Yoga.
