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Your hip flexors do a lot more than just “feel tight.” 👀

The main hip flexors — including the iliopsoas, re**us femoris and sartorius — help flex the hip, support pelvic position, and contribute to lumbopelvic stability when you walk, stand and move through yoga poses.

When they’re both strong and able to move through full range, they can help improve posture, support cleaner movement patterns, and share load more efficiently with the glutes and deep core. This may also help reduce unnecessary strain through the lower back over time — especially if you spend long hours sitting.

That’s why these drills focus on more than passive stretching alone. We’re building strength, control and mobility together. ✨

PhysioPedia. “Hip Flexors.” PhysioPedia, n.d. Accessed 4 June 2026.

Muscle of the Week: Lower Trapezius

One thing I think we sometimes underestimate in yoga is the importance of supplementary strengthening drills.

Movements like Chaturanga can become surprisingly complex. Some people can practise them for years and still struggle with rounded shoulders, instability, or discomfort — often without fully understanding why.

The lower trapezius plays an important role in helping stabilise the shoulder blade by assisting with scapular depression (“pulling the shoulder blade down”) and upward rotation.

When this muscle doesn’t have enough strength or motor control, the body may compensate with muscles like the upper traps or pecs, which may contribute to rounded shoulders and reduced shoulder stability over time.

That’s where supplementary drills can be really helpful.

The Pronated Y Exercise is a simple bodyweight drill you can do at home to help build awareness and control around this movement pattern.

A small tip:Try pausing each repetition at the top for about 5 seconds to really challenge the stability component of the exercise.

Exercises like:• prone swimmers• wall slides• scapular control drillscan also be really helpful alongside your yoga practice.

No hyperextended elbows were harmed during the making of this carousel.

Shoulders rolling forward in Chaturanga isn’t always just a “technique” problem.

One possible contributor is reduced serratus anterior strength or control.

The serratus anterior helps stabilize the shoulder blade against the ribcage and maintain protraction under load. In movements like Chaturanga, arm balances, jump backs, and handstands, this muscle plays a huge role in shoulder stability and control.

When it’s not doing its job well, the ribcage can start to sink between the shoulder blades, which may contribute to that rounded-forward shoulder position many people experience under load.

The exercise shown here is one drill that can help train serratus anterior alongside rotator cuff co-contraction and scapular stability.

And yes… this one burns 😅

If you want more help with Chaturanga strength and shoulder stability, I also have a full follow-along Chaturanga class available on my YouTube channel.

Muscle of the week: serratus anterior.

The rotator cuff muscles are the “fine-tuners” of the shoulder joint.

In Chaturanga, they aren’t the main muscles doing the lowering phase — the triceps, chest, deltoids, and scapular stabilisers handle most of that work. The rotator cuff’s role is more about helping keep the shoulder joint stable and centered while the body moves under load.

When these muscles (or other stabilisers like the serratus anterior) become weak, the shoulder can become less efficient at handling force. This may show up as shoulders dipping forward, collapsing, winging, or feeling pinchy during repeated Chaturangas.

And interestingly, high reps alone usually aren’t the main problem. It’s often high reps without enough strength and control in the stabilising muscles.

That’s why exercises like:
• Prone T-raises
• Prone swimmers
• Scap push-ups

can be helpful for building better shoulder stability and awareness alongside improving technique.

The goal isn’t just “doing more Chaturangas.”
It’s building a shoulder complex that can actually control the movement safely and efficiently.

References:
• Physio-Pedia — Rotator Cuff & Shoulder Stability
• Magee, D. Orthopedic Physical Assessment
• Neumann, Kinesiology of the Musculoskeletal System
• Studies on repetitive load and yoga-related shoulder injuries

Most people think Chaturanga is just “arm strength”… but it’s really about control.
When you lower into Chaturanga, your triceps aren’t pushing you up — they’re working eccentrically, meaning they’re lengthening while still under tension to control the descent.
This is exactly where a lot of people struggle.
If the triceps (and shoulder stabilisers like the serratus and rotator cuff) can’t manage that load, that’s when you see the collapse at the bottom.
That’s why building strength specifically through this eccentric lowering phase is so important — not just for performance, but to reduce unnecessary strain through the shoulders, elbows, and wrists.
This week’s “muscle of the week” is the triceps, and understanding how they work can completely change how your Chaturanga feels.
I’ve also put together some simple drills to help build this strength progressively.

Chaturanga strength | yoga strength | upper body control | triceps strength | yoga for beginners

Some geeky refs if you’re into the why
• Eccentric muscle contractions: higher force, more control. Hoppeler, 2017.
• Eccentric vs concentric explained. Kenhub – Eccentric Muscle Contraction.
• Muscle biomechanics & contraction types. Physiopedia – Muscle Biomechanics.
• Eccentric strength in yoga poses (triceps + shoulders). Yoga Journal & Strength for Yoga.
• Chaturanga mechanics & scapular action. Yoganatomy & Yoga Anatomy Academy.
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Most people think Chaturanga is just arm strength… but it’s really not.

It’s a combination of triceps, chest and shoulders for the push, core to hold your body in one line, and your upper back + shoulder stabilisers (serratus, traps, rotator cuff) to stop everything collapsing.

That’s where these drills come in.

This is a simple progression I use to build strength properly — starting with more support (wall, knees), then gradually increasing load through the upper body (single leg, blocks), and layering in isolation work (triceps, core, upper back) to support the full movement.

So yes, it’s great for beginners… but honestly, even more advanced practitioners should still be doing this kind of conditioning. That’s what helps prevent compensation — especially into the shoulders, elbows and wrists — and keeps your practice sustainable long term.

I’ll be breaking this down further in a YouTube video this week if you want to go deeper into it 🤍

Chaturanga strength drills | yoga strength | upper body strength for yoga