Five-Level Strength: a breath-led strength flow

Intermediate 5 poses

All five levels of the body in a single round

A flow for people who want to work the whole body in just a few minutes. Each pose sits on its own level: standing, supported on your hands, on your belly, seated and on your back, so your legs, shoulders, back, abs and glutes take turns working.

It's an intermediate flow. If your lower back is acutely painful or a disc herniation is flaring, if you have wrist or shoulder injuries, are pregnant, or live with uncontrolled hypertension, pick another flow.

  1. Goddess Pose Goddess Pose 1
  2. Plank Pose Plank Pose 2
  3. Locust Pose Locust Pose 3
  4. Boat Pose Boat Pose 4
  5. Bridge Pose Bridge Pose 5

Why this order

From Goddess Pose you lower your palms and step out into Plank on an exhale, and with the next exhale you lie on your belly and lift into Locust. The move into Boat takes two cycles because you need to roll over and sit up.

Bridge closes the round on your back, after which you stand up into a wide stance and Goddess starts the next one: 4 or 8 rounds in total, with no breaks in between. Every hold lasts one breath, so the strength poses don't have time to overload your muscles, while the constant change of levels warms the body.

Cautions

  • Knee injuries (Goddess Pose)
  • Wrist injuries — practice on your forearms (Plank Pose)
  • Diastasis recti (Plank Pose, Boat Pose)
  • Lumbar disc herniation (Locust Pose, Boat Pose)
  • Pregnancy (Locust Pose, Boat Pose)
  • High blood pressure (Locust Pose)
  • Neck injuries (Bridge Pose)
  • Flare-up of lower back pain (Bridge Pose)

This site is for general information and is not medical advice. If you have pain, an injury, a chronic condition, or are pregnant, check with a qualified professional before practicing.