MONS Athletics
Yoga poses

Locust Pose: Strengthen Your Whole Back Lying Face Down

Lie face down and lift your chest, arms and legs off the floor together, reaching long. Your glutes, hamstrings and the muscles along your spine all work.

Strength · Lower back · Glutes · Hamstrings · 2 min read

Why it works: Chapter 15, Your core is a barrel, not a six-pack

How to do it

  1. 1

    Long before high

    Face down, arms by your sides with palms turned in, forehead on the mat. Reach the top of your head one way and your toes the other before you lift anything. A folded blanket under your hips helps if the floor presses on your pubic bone.

  2. 2

    Lift everything at once

    On a breath in, lift your chest, your arms and both legs off the floor together. Keep reaching long as you rise: this is a reach, not a crunch.

  3. 3

    Keep the neck out of it

    Look at the floor a little in front of you. Cranking the chin up squeezes the back of your neck and takes the work away from your back.

  4. 4

    Legs straight, glutes on

    Straight legs, inner thighs turning slightly toward each other, toes pointing back. Height is not the goal; length and steady effort are.

  5. 5

    Keep lifting for the minute

    Breathe steadily. When it gets hard, lift a little lower and keep lifting, rather than dropping halfway and starting again. If your legs give out, let them rest on the floor and keep your chest and arms up for the rest of the minute.

  6. 6

    The test

    You should feel the whole back of your body working: glutes, hamstrings and the long muscles either side of your spine. A pinch in your lower back means you went for height. Lower, lengthen, lift again.

Watch for

  • Chasing height. The bend piles into your lower back and pinches, while your upper back does little.
  • Throwing the head back. The back of your neck crunches and the work leaves your back.
  • Bending the knees to keep the feet up. The backs of your thighs stop lifting and the minute does less.
  • Holding your breath. The effort runs away from you and you drop out before the minute is up.

Questions

How long should you hold Locust Pose?

A minute, in the Post-Run Yoga · 01 and Range · 01 routines. Many classes hold it for three to five breaths, so a minute is long: lift lower than you think and keep lifting rather than dropping halfway. There is no daily target: hold it when your training day has one of those routines. Those are the times in the normal-length session: a long day holds a little longer, and a short day trims only the holds longer than a minute.

What muscles does Locust Pose work?

The whole back of your body at once: the glutes, the hamstrings and the long muscles either side of your spine, plus the backs of your shoulders as the arms lift. Here those muscles lift you rather than being stretched.

Why does Locust Pose hurt my lower back?

Usually you lifted for height, so the bend piled into your lower back. Lower everything, reach your head and toes further apart, and let your upper back share the lift. A working ache along the spine is fine; a pinch is not.