Phase 2 · Strength and Stability

Part of the 12 Week Yoga Program for Knee Mobility, Strength and Function

Fifteen Minutes of Leg Strength

Chair, squat and lunge, for a day the long session will not fit

Five standing poses and two on the floor, in fifteen minutes. Unlike the ten minute floor practice, this one asks for effort. It is the short version of the middle of the program: the hinge, the squat, the step, and the back of the leg. Everything here is done at a depth you choose, and the rule is the same as in the long practice. The knee goes over the middle of the foot, and it never travels inwards.

15 min · Level 1

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When it helps

Somewhere in weeks five to eight, on a day when forty minutes is not available and you would rather keep the strength work going than skip it. Fifteen minutes. A chair or a wall nearby, a block for the squat.

Physical effect

The quadriceps and the glutes under load, in the four patterns a normal day uses: standing up, squatting, stepping forward and pushing through the back of the leg.

Function

Short enough to actually happen on a working day, which is the only property that matters for the practice you do between the long ones.

Mental effect

Fifteen minutes of controlled load is a better answer to a stiff knee than another day of being careful with it.

Five standing, two down

Knee over the middle of the foot in every pose. Depth is yours to choose.

Tadasana

30 sec

Mountain Pose

Feet hip width, weight even. Check whether you are favouring one leg.

Thirty seconds of noticing which leg you are standing on, which after months of a sore knee is rarely the answer you expect.

Learn more about Tadasana

Ardha Uttanasana

45 sec

Half Standing Forward Bend

Hands to the shins, back long, knees soft.

The hinge, without depth. Folding from the hip is what keeps load off the knee in daily life.

Learn more about Ardha Uttanasana

Virabhadrasana II

45 sec per side

Warrior II

Front knee only as deep as it stays over the ankle.

Warrior II trains the alignment that everything else here depends on.

Learn more about Virabhadrasana II

Utkatasana

3 sets of 8 breaths

Chair Pose

Hips back, and only as low as you could stand up from without your hands.

Chair is standing up out of a chair, practised on purpose. It is the movement that goes first.

Learn more about Utkatasana

Malasana

1 min

Garland Pose

Heels supported, sitting on a block if needed.

The squat keeps the bottom of the range available. Losing it is what makes the floor feel far away.

Learn more about Malasana

Anjaneyasana

45 sec per side

High Lunge

Back heel lifted, front knee over the ankle.

A lunge is a step held still. One leg carries you, which is what walking actually is.

Learn more about Anjaneyasana

Shalabhasana

2 sets of 6 breaths

Locust Pose

On your front, chest and legs lifting a small amount.

Locust for the back of the leg, which is usually the weaker half.

Learn more about Shalabhasana

Setu Bandha Sarvangasana

2 sets of 8 breaths

Bridge Pose

Lift, hold, lower slowly.

Bridge for the hips. What the hips carry, the knee does not have to.

Learn more about Setu Bandha Sarvangasana

Apanasana

1 min

Knees to Chest Pose

Knees in, hands behind the thighs.

Back to the middle of the range before you get up.

Learn more about Apanasana

Savasana

2 min

Corpse Pose

Legs long, palms up.

Two minutes so the effort registers as something the body handled.

Learn more about Savasana

Phase 2 · Weeks 5 to 8

This practice is part of a program

It belongs to Strength and Stability, the second phase of the 12 Week Yoga Program for Knee Mobility, Strength and Function. The program says how often to practise it, what comes before and after, and when to move on.

See the whole program →

Integration

Once or twice a week alongside the long practice in weeks five to eight. Thigh soreness the next day is expected. Joint swelling is not.

The teacher behind this sequence

Manish Rana

Founder & Author

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