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This 5-minute yoga for strength practice allows you to meet yourself wherever you are in your quest to build resilience and muscle strength.
The practice includes options to modify or intensify the poses, depending on what you need. Also, you can go through the sequence just once or you can turn it into a circuit workout by repeating it as many times as you can or have time to do.
So whether your goal is to strengthen your legs and core for cycling, attempt an arm balance, or snuggle up to someone a little closer, this 5-minute yoga practice is super manageable in terms of fitting into any schedule.
To get stronger at anything—a new sport, a new job, even a new language—you need consistency and encouragement (abhyasa) rather than judgement (vairagya). It’s rewarding to witness your own change, so hang in there and keep going. Practice makes progress!
5-Minute Yoga for Strength Practice
You can pack a lot of strengthening into 5 minutes. This practice is pretty fast-paced, so remember to take your breath with you from pose to pose. You can also invite your pups and peeps to join you!
Tabletop
Begin on your hands and knees in Tabletop.
Half Crow Hold
Bring your left knee towards your left tricep.
Try to keep it there as you come onto your right fingertips, possibly extending your right arm straight in front of you as if you’re shaking someone’s hand.
Half Plank
Return your right hand to the mat, tuck your right toes, and come into Half Plank with your left knee against your left tricep.
Half Crow Plank
From Half Plank, come onto your right fingertips. Option to reach your right arm in front of you again in Half Crow Plank.
Return to Tabletop and repeat these Crow holds on the opposite side.
High Lunge R
Rather than returning to Tabletop, step your right foot outside your right hand and come into a Lunge with your back knee lifted. (This is what I call Glute Lunge.) Be sure to fire both sides of your glutes.
Goddess Squat
From your Lunge, pivot to face the long side of your mat and open into a Goddess Squat. Keep your glutes firing as you convince your thighbones to move back behind you rather than collapsing forward in front of your knees.
High Lunge L
Pivot to the back side of the mat and come into a Lunge on the opposite side.
Chair Pose
Step your back foot forward into Chair Pose, facing what used to be the back of your mat with your feet hip distance.
Standing Forward Bend
Exhale to fold forward.
Halfway Lift
Inhale and lift your chest into Standing Half Forward Bend.
Plank Pose
Step back to Plank Pose.
Chaturanga Push-Up
Stay in Plank Pose or lower your knees to the mat. If it’s accessible to you, take 5 Chaturanga push-ups with your knees up or down.
Locust Pose
Once you complete your push-ups, lower to your belly. Take your arms alongside you and lift your chest (and maybe your legs) in Locust Pose.
If you want, intensity the challenge by reaching your arms in front of you.
Forearm Plank
Release your backbend and come into Plank on your forearms.
Forearm Plank Dip
Keep both forearms down and roll to the outside of your right foot and inside of your left foot as if doing a scissored Side Plank, but without letting your left arm come off the ground. You can intensify the challenge by stacking your feet or even drifting your left leg back behind you a bit.
Come through center and roll onto the outer edge of your left foot and inner right foot in a scissored position on your other side. Remember to keep your right forearm down, and intensify it by stacking or drifting your top (right) leg.
Forearm Chaturanga
Lower onto your belly.
Stiff Savasana
Roll onto your back and think of “stiff Savasana” as you bring your arms alongside you and make fists. Glue the back of your head to the mat and press solidly with your fists, forearms, triceps, and shoulder heads into the mat. Let the feedback of the ground beneath you keep you honest about your posture.
Leg Hover
Lift your legs just an inch or two off your mat and try to sustain a hover as you press your upper body into the mat. If it’s too intense on your back or anywhere else, try lifting one leg at a time, bending your knees, or touch down for a moment and lift back up until it feels more manageable. Don’t forget to breathe. Stay here as long as you can.
Savasana
Lower to enjoy a Savasana or you can start back at the beginning for a second-round of your yoga for strength routine, just as you would practice circuits at the gym.
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