On Monday, I discussed the fascial continuities of the structures of the midline and the vital role that they plays in our ability to establish integrated core strength from the ground up.
Some of my favorite YTU techniques to access, tone and refine the midline are Prasarita Lunges (especially when focused on using the “pull” of the inner legs to propel the movement side to side), Adductor Slides, bridge lifts, uddiyana bandha and of course, rolling out the feet with the Yoga Tune Up® Therapy balls.
Here’s how to do Prasarita Lunges – a great midline strengthening exercise!
Enjoyed this article? Read Fix Your Posture, Fix Your Knees
It’s incredible how this exercise fires up my lower body! Also, I find it fascinating how it plays into the mind and body by forcing the mind to move with intention. Whether that be the version 1. where my intention is on the ”pull” action, activating my adductors or version 2. when I do the opposite so targeting my abductors by putting my focus on digging my feet into the floor in order to transfer my weight side to side. Both versions may look the same but done with clear intention it can feel like 2 different worlds.
I love doing prasarita lunges and I love that you added this great video for reference!
Elissa, I very much appreciated your reference to refining the midline in Prasarita Lunges by focusing on the pull of the inner thighs. It’s truly amazing how in focusing attention we are able to customize the pose to serve individual bodies. For me, focusing on the pull rather than the push quick addresses my often weaker inner thighs and internal rotators of the hip. I have dominance in my body with hip external rotators because of my movement background and past movement practices. I most definitely feel how much more the pull of the inner thighs in Prasarita Lunges recruits more core abdominal strength and with the feet really planting into the floor it only adds to the sense of stability I feel from the ground up.
Thank you for the reminder to use the “pull” of the inner legs and refining the midline in Prasarita Lunges. Great blog!
Prasarita lunges seems like a simple move from a distance, but actually embodying what is going on with this movement is far from it, at least for me. Having an office job and sitting most of the day, my internal leg muscles have become weak throughout time. The use of the adductor muscles were really fired up as I used the grip of my foot to pull inwards and shift my hips. This is balanced so well by strengthening my abductors, the good ole’ glute muscles, by shifting the focus of movement generated by the push of the outside foot. This move will for sure help me in exercise based movements or core based movements, but I’m just looking forward to this helping me to stand and walk with more integrity.
This is probably one of my favourite hip warm ups, there is so much variation available if you switch from push/pull, really activate tubular core, or place a big emphasis on glute activation. A can envision lots of fun ways to explore doing this pose and adding traveling with some sloth hops in between!
Great way to start your day. While I was watching this Jill’s demonstration I was thinking about all the variations I could add into my class…the pulling, pushing, hold centre bending and stretching, changing directions and creating a hamstring stretch out of it, and maybe even cueing more tubular core and glute med to quickly hoover the foot off the floor.
I love the way this exercise warms up my body by opening the hips, firing up my quads, and working my gluteus medium.
Doing this drill really helped out with my proprioception in terms or detecting my midline. Getting the hips engaged like that, especially since I always try to begin athletic movements from the hips, really aided in better midline stability. Thanks for the video!
Both of Elissa’s articles on the midline of the body are incredible. I was in a training where Prasarita Lunges were being taught recently; I found it interesting that we were instructed to explore the differences in focusing the movement on differing muscle groups within the lunges, one of those being to “pull across with the inner leg”. I have become fascinated with the body science concerning fascia and have heard of the Deep Front Line, but have not studied enough to feel familiar past the fact that our entire physiology is interwoven from head to toe by this amazing connective tissue. It was a big “aha” moment for me just now to realize that our Prasarita Lunges were strengthening my body on a deeper level, and in ways that I did not even comprehend in the moment. Thank you for sharing your knowledge Elissa.
Very nice hips warm up, works everything: quads, gluts, abductors, adductors, hips and knees joints. Simply great
I love Prasarita Lunges! I hadn’t really considered the effect they have on the midline and core strength, so I am thrilled to learn of this added benefit. Thanks for bringing it to my attention.
Good morning adductors! How are you doing gluts? What’s happening in the land of quads? And don’t forget about obliques… Seriously awesome!
I would not have thought about rolling out the feet in connection to refining the midline–thanks for helping me think about this in a new way!
Prasarita lunges is a great way to warm up the hips, I particulary like the change of pace doing the same movement. This dynamic change allows the firing and awakening of a different set of muscles and as you say focus on that midline of the body.
As I worked back and forth in these lunges, I hadn’t thought that I was refining the midline as well. Just another benefit for firing up those leg and butt muscles and getting increased mobility in the hips. Great mini sequence.
Well to be true quite simple and easy if you can easly tuch the floor. What if you can not? Is that the same if you do this in standing pose? Or perheps is better to sit and try that with a partner touching the feet tgether?
Awesome!!! YTU is providing me with everything I need. I must find time.
Ooooh – thank you for these tips on great poses for connecting to our midline. I like that you include rolling out the feet, which might not be a natural first choice for some, but makes total sense when you consider the path of the deep front line through the body.
I taught this (Prasarita Lunges) and Adductor Slides just last night! I agree that there can be an overemphasis of opening or lengthening the midline of the legs in yoga, with little attention on strengthening. This is why I love Prasarita Lunges and Adductor Slides — not only can they be challenging and dynamic, but they strengthen the legs in a safe way ensuring long-term stability.
When I do these I also realize how much I have been working on my inner thighs, my outer thigh muscles collapse become shakey twice as quickly. I’ve also noticed that when I do the non-lunging version of this pose I tend to hyper-extend my knees, so I will be throwing this in to my regular yoga routine to help break that habit. Changing the speed is also a great way to increase and decrease the difficulty in the lunges.
Switching the emphasis from abductors to adductors in this pose brought a lot of awareness to my midline. Thank you for sharing.
I love this YTU pose! I feel very engaged throughout the entire tubular core and very challenging to keep that engagement and proper form while doing the movement. I also love how warm it gets your legs especially the adductors and abductors. Thank you for sharing!