Yoga Plank Position

Yoga Pose to Strengthen Arms & Back

Plank Pose is a yoga position which, in general, women find a bit more challenging than men to do.  Especially, if they have not consciously developed their upper body strength.  So if you looking to tone up your arms, as well as strengthen your back and spine, this pose is perfect for you.  Plank pose is simple enough for beginners to do and is a good way to balance your yoga workout by adding some upper body work into it.

Plank position is a fundamental yoga pose, and is part of most schools of yoga.  Here on Mastery of Meditation & Yoga, it will be part of the following 2 free online e-books: Free Hatha Yoga Poses & Online Kundalini Yoga Exercises.

There are a few variations to this pose and in the pictures below I am demonstrating a relatively uncommon variation, in which I do the pose with toes extended instead of curled under.  This variation is often used in Kundalini Yoga and is a little more difficult than the basic pose.  I mention some of the other variations in the Practice Tips section below as well.

Modified Yoga Plank Pose Video

Yoga Plank Pose for Upper Body Strength

Illustration #1 Basic Yoga Plank Pose

Illustration #2 Kundalini Yoga Plank Pose

Yoga Plank Position For Upper Body Strength:

a. Instructions for practicing Yoga Plank Pose:

• Most of us are familiar with doing push ups, and plank pose is essentially the up position when doing a push up.
• For plank pose be sure to keep your body in a straight line, like I have demonstrated above.  Don’t allow the butt to sag and the hands should be directly underneath the shoulders.
• There are also the two typical eye position variations.  You can keep the eyes open and fix your gaze steadily at a point in front of you (typical of Hatha Yoga), or you can do this pose with your eyes closed (kundalini yoga).
• Breathing is normal, except if you are doing a particular Kundalini Yoga Kriya, which might require you to do Breath of Fire while holding Plank Pose.

b. Duration for Yoga Plank Pose:

• 15 seconds – 5 minutes.
  

c. Benefits of Yoga Plank Pose:

• Strengthens the arms, wrists, shoulders, back and spine.
• Develops your core strength and abdominal muscles.
  
• Tones the triceps.
  
• Good for improving your nervous system.

d. Practice Tips for Yoga Plank Pose:

• Advanced variations of Plank Pose include, lifting one leg up and holding the pose, or lifting one arm up and holding the pose.
  
• In the Kundalini Yoga variation, the toes are kept extended as show in illustration #2.  This can put more pressure on the lower back, so be careful when using this version.

Online Kundalini Yoga Kriyas Using Yoga Plank Pose:

1. You can add Plank Pose to your yoga routine to help develop your upper body strength and use the article, 6 Guidelines on How to Create Yoga Sets to help you.