Now that the majority of us are stuck at home, those of us that once relied upon trips to the gym multiple times a week for sanity are now forced to rethink the way we keep our minds and bodies healthy.
I’ve found yoga is the perfect form of exercise for me while I’ve been stuck at home. Not only is it great for general stress relief and makes you mindful of your body and breath, but it can also be a great way to build strength without needing to use exercise equipment.
Here are 8 yoga poses for strength you can try at home.
- Down Dog
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This is a great pose for full-body engagement. Downward-facing dog is a good pose for building strength in your arms and legs. By focusing on elongating your spine, you can also get a good stretch in your back, hips, hamstrings and calves. If done properly, it will also work your quads and ankles — and it can help tone your abs.
- Up Dog
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Use this pose to help open up your chest and to help relieve tightness in your chest and back associated with anxiety, stress and slouching. It also will engage your triceps, upper back and core. It’s important to note that your legs should be about an inch from the ground to get positive results.
- Plank
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The plank pose is one of the most popular poses for strength building. It tones the core muscles of the body—including the abs, chest and low back. It helps to strengthen muscles around the spine—which can help improve posture—and engages the arms, wrists and shoulders.
- Warrior 1
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Warrior 1 is a good pose to strengthen muscles in your legs. It also opens up your hips, and chest and stretches your legs and arms
- Chaturanga
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Chaturanga can help strengthen similar muscles to a pushup, including the wrists, arms, abs and lower back. By doing this pose frequently, and fully engaging the muscle groups, this pose can be a good way to safely work up to being able to do push-ups with correct form.
- Side plank
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This pose is ideal for those hard-to-hit oblique muscles. It also will engage your arms, butt, back and other core muscles. It’s important to have good form with this pose (and every pose), so if it’s difficult for you to do a perfect side plank right now, you can click here for variations and tips on good form.
- Bridge to Wheel
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Before trying a full wheel pose, it’s a good idea to first see how your body feels in the bridge pose. The bridge pose strengthens the back, glutes, legs and ankles. It’s also a good stretch for the neck, shoulders and spine and opens up the chest. To make this pose a little more challenging, and to stretch your spine further, you can move into wheel pose.
- Boat pose
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Do this pose to strengthen hip flexors, spine and abs. Like other poses, it’s important to do a version of this pose that feels comfortable for you.