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Upward Dog

Difficulty: ⭐ Beginnerpush

Home Setup

Practice on any comfortable floor surface with enough space to lie down and extend your body fully

Yoga mat or thick towelNon-slip surface

💡 Pro tip: Place a folded blanket under your hips if you have lower back sensitivity

Gym Setup

Yoga mat in open floor space or stretching area

Safety: Ensure wrists are directly under shoulders and avoid this pose if you have serious back injuries or carpal tunnel syndrome

💪 Muscles Worked

Erector SpinaeTricepsChestAnterior DeltoidsQuadriceps

⭐ Why This Exercise?

Upward Dog strengthens the spine, arms, and wrists while opening the chest and shoulders to counteract forward-hunched posture. This energizing backbend improves spinal flexibility, stimulates abdominal organs, and helps relieve mild depression and fatigue while building upper body strength.

Make It Easier

Regressions for building up strength

1. Cobra Pose

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Keeps pelvis grounded and uses less spinal extension with more back muscle engagement

2. Sphinx Pose

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Forearms support the backbend instead of straight arms, reducing intensity and wrist pressure

3. Baby Cobra

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Minimal lift with hands barely pressing, focusing on back strength rather than arm push

Make It Harder

Progressions for advanced athletes

1. One-Legged Upward Dog

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Lifting one leg increases core engagement and deepens the backbend challenge

2. Upward Dog to Downward Dog Flow

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Dynamic transition between poses builds strength, coordination, and cardiovascular endurance

3. Wild Thing (Camatkarasana)

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Advanced variation adding rotation and balance while maintaining the backbend

↕️ Similar Movements

Downward Facing Dog
Complementary pose often paired in vinyasa flows, providing counter-stretch
Chaturanga Dandasana
Precedes Upward Dog in traditional sun salutations, sharing arm and shoulder engagement
Cobra Pose
Gentler alternative with similar spinal extension pattern and muscle activation
Bow Pose
Deeper backbend that builds on the spinal extension developed in Upward Dog
Locust Pose
Strengthens same back muscles without arm support, building foundation strength

Form Checklist

✓Press firmly through the tops of your feet and lift thighs off the mat
✓Draw shoulders back and down away from ears, broadening across the collarbones
✓Keep arms straight with elbows rotated inward, hands directly under shoulders
✓Lengthen through the crown of the head rather than crunching the neck back
✓Engage the legs and lift the kneecaps to protect the lower back

Common Mistakes

  • •Sinking into shoulders and allowing them to hunch up toward the ears
  • •Keeping thighs on the ground instead of engaging legs and lifting them
  • •Hyperextending the neck by dropping the head too far back
  • •Bending the elbows or placing hands too far forward
  • •Clenching the glutes excessively instead of lengthening through the spine

📈 When to Progress

Progress when you can hold Upward Dog for 5 full breaths with thighs lifted, shoulders stable, and no lower back compression or wrist pain, and can transition smoothly from Chaturanga without collapsing