Strength Unveiled: Empower Your Body Through Yoga

 Empower Your Body: Harnessing Strength Through Yoga

Yoga isn't just about flexibility; it's also a powerful tool for building strength.Through dynamic poses and body-weight exercises, yoga challenges muscles, promoting growth and resilience. With consistent practice, you'll notice increased power, stability, and endurance, enhancing your overall physical prowess and well-being.

How to improve your strength :

Paripurna Navasana : Whether you love or hate this pose, there’s no denying it’s an excellent core strengthener. “This is my go-to for activation of deep abdominal layers like the transverse abdominals, as opposed to superficial muscles like our “six-pack” abdominal muscles,” says Calhoun. “Deep core stabilization and strength are very crucial for low back stabilization and for reducing low back pain.”  

Hovering Tabletop : Looking for a pose that will strengthen your core and your arms? Try this variation of a traditional Tabletop. In addition to firing up all of your muscles, this posture will allow you to work on your balance and stability.

“This another great deep core strengthener,” says Calhoun. “It’s essentially a Tabletop with the knees lifted about an inch off the ground. This is great to feel the transverse abdominals wrapping around your waist during the pose.”

Side Plank Pose : While variations of Plank Pose are famous for their core-strengthening powers, planks are also a great way to build your arm strength. In addition to strengthening your arm muscles, this posture works on your shoulder stability and balance—key elements to any strong yoga practice.

“Like Chaturanga, this [pose] will strengthen large muscles and the rotator cuff, but it does it one arm at a time,” Calhoun says. Have a sense that one of your sides is a little stronger than the other? This pose can help you determine that. “This is great for distinguishing variations in strength between the left and right arms,” Calhoun says.

Dolphin Pose : Looking for a way to strengthen your shoulders? Try out this yoga pose. While it may initially look easy, this pose requires strength—and flexibility. This is also a good prep pose to do if you’re working on mastering inversions like Pincha Mayurasana (Forearm Stand) or Salamba Sirsasana (Supported Headstand).

“This is great for strengthening the shoulders in an overhead position to prepare for poses like Handstand and Forearm Stand,” says Calhoun. “It targets the large deltoids and triceps, while also building flexibility in the upper back.”

Single-Leg Chair Pose : Ready for a more challenging variation of Utkatasana (Chair Pose)? Try this one-legged version to target each of your legs individually. This variation will help you work on your balance, stability—and of course, your leg strength. This is a great pose to do if you’re working on nailing other one-legged balancing postures, like Virabhadrasana III (Warrior III).

“[This pose] is very good for strengthening the quads, glutes, and hamstrings when the body weight is placed in the heel of the standing foot,” says Calhoun.