Many of us utilise different types of sit-ups to increase “core strength,” which we often correlate with having strong abdominal muscles. That’s definitely a strong beginning, yoga for core strengthening is great. Although there are several yoga postures that also vigorously stress the abdominal and hip flexor muscles, Paripurna Navasana is the only one that is frequently taught in most yoga courses (often to a chorus of grunts and sighs), Boat Pose.
Another choice is the frequently ignored Lolasana (Pendant Pose). Although you need significant arm and core power to achieve the most difficult expression of the pose, it can easily be altered for practically everyone. It doesn’t require as much flexibility as Navasana.
Describing Lolasana
Because your body really dangles between your arms and may even swing a little, the pose known as Lolasana is also known as the Pendant Pose. Kneeling on the mat, you cross your ankles (or not), lift your knees and feet off the floor, and draw your feet in toward your chest while placing your hands beneath your shoulders, spreading your fingers widely.
The majority of the hip flexor muscles, many shoulder muscles, and all of the abdominal muscles are all significantly strengthened by the pose. Additionally, it puts a tremendous amount of stress on the external oblique abdominals, which makes it effective for strengthening the sometimes ignored sides of the waist.
Finding stability…
Lolasana, like other poses that build your abdominal and hip flexor strength, enhances your capacity to maintain a stable chest, back, and abdomen as you stretch and move your arms and legs into various asana positions. Finding stability and avoiding back discomfort depend on this stability.
But compared to Navasana and sit-ups, Lolasana has a few extra benefits: Additionally, it develops the strength in your arms, shoulders, and neural system necessary to integrate that strength with strong abdominal and hip flexor action. This gives you the groundwork to propel yourself forward with your arms and legs, which you need to perform every day to lift a heavy door or play tennis.
Lolasana also helps your yoga practise since it improves your capacity to “leap through” from Adho Mukha Svanasana (Downward-Facing Dog Pose) to Dandasana and prepares you for more difficult arm balances (Staff Pose).
Of course, in order to experience these advantages, you must make it a point to routinely incorporate Lolasana into your routine and to do it with sincere intention.
The muscles employed in Lolasana are the rectus abdominis, internal obliques, and external obliques (Pendant Pose)
rectus abdominis, internal and external obliques, and. (Eraxion as an example)
The Lolasana skeleton
The moral of the story is that when you are in the pose, you must use all of your abdominal muscles, especially those alongside the midline, to draw your pelvis’ front as closely as possible to your rib cage’s front, curling your hips and trunk into a tight ball. At the same time, you must use your hip flexors to pull your thighs as tightly as you can toward your chest.
The rectus abdominis, external obliques, and internal obliques are three sets of abdominal muscles that combine to lift the pelvis in Lolasana. This intricate combination of muscles has the overall effect of pulling the pelvis sharply upward toward the ribs while simultaneously flexing the lumbar spine, giving your front body far greater lift than your back.
Six pack abdominals…use yoga for core strengthening
The rectus abdominis gives off the well-known “six-pack abs” image. It is made up of multiple segments that are encased in a thick connective tissue sheath that runs from the middle of the lower front pelvis to the base of the sternum (the xiphoid process and surrounding cartilage) (the pubis).
The remaining portion of the front waist, the sides of the waist, and a portion of the rear waist are covered by the external oblique abdominal muscles, which are positioned next to the rectus abdominis. Their fibres link to the sides of the lower rib cage, then go diagonally down and forward to connect at the rectus sheath in front or the top of the pelvis in back, depending on which direction they are travelling.
The internal obliques are located beneath the external obliques; their fibres attach to the front and sides of the pelvic rim by running diagonally down and backward, roughly perpendicular to the external obliques’ fibres.
When learning Lolasana, it helps to relax your hips and tummy. By hanging your pelvis and legs, your arms, chest, and shoulders will do all the effort. Observe how the triceps muscles on the backs of your upper arms contract to straighten your elbows, and how the serratus anterior muscles, which run from your inner shoulder blades to your side ribs in front of your armpits, along with the pectorals on the front of your chest, cooperate to lift your rib cage upward. Your ribs will likely swing up and away from your hanging pelvis as a result of this upward pull, much like they do when you take a deep breath.
How to do the Lolasana pose
The easiest way to master Lolasana is to begin with a simpler variation of the position and progressively challenge yourself as you gain strength. In order to prepare your body and mind for Lolasana, you should first work your arms, core, and the region around your spine during a comprehensive practise.
How to begin using Lolasana
Sit in a stable chair, place your hands on the seat on either side of your hips, lean forward around 45 degrees, and press down forcefully to remove the majority of the weight from your pelvis to have an instinctive understanding of the muscles used in Lolasana.
Now, exhale and draw your thighs up toward your chest as you press your hands down harder. You’ll feel your abdominal muscles contract when you attempt to elevate your pelvis and ribs since these are the muscles that attach your rib cage to your pelvis. Regardless of whether you lift your feet off the mat, you will feel your front hip muscles contract because they connect your pelvis and spine to your thighs.
Ascending to Lolasana – yoga for core strengthening
It can take a lot of repetition to develop the strength necessary to lift into Lolasana. Try a variant with blankets and blocks to make the pose more approachable—yet still rather difficult. Fold one or two yoga blankets into a rectangle that is one to two inches high and wider than your shoulders.
On the lowest level, place two yoga blocks shoulder-width apart with one of their short ends resting on a folded blanket edge and the other on the mat. Place your knees on the blanket, in the space between the blocks. Elevate your pelvis off the ground. Put your hands on the blocks so that your heels are directly above the edge of the blanket. (Avoid extending your hands too far in front or the blocks may flip.) your ankles in a cross.
Exhale…yoga is great for core strengthening!
With an exhaled breath, lean forward and press down forcefully with your hands while attempting to lift both feet off the ground. In order to lift your body as high as you can, spread your shoulder blades. At the same time, pull your heels up, curve your trunk, and bring your thighs as close to your rib cage as they will allow you to. While tightening your abdominal muscles as much as you can, thoroughly exhale.
If you can, remain in this position while bending your entire spine into the “Cat Pose,” lifting your midsection off the floor. You might need to look down at the ground at first, but once you’re balanced, slowly elevate your head and stare straight ahead without straining or furrowing your forehead. For a few breaths, gently swing your body forward and back, and then lower yourself to the ground. Alternate how you cross your ankles three to five more times.
You can keep your feet on the mat as you go toward Lolasana. Pressing the tops of your feet into the ground and slightly bending your knees will help lift your torso higher as you lower your arms. Draw your thighs up to your chest by applying pressure from your feet to the floor.
Like you would in the standard variation of the position, curl your trunk. So that your arms, abs, and hip flexors can support you more and more, progressively decrease the amount of pressure you apply with your feet. Get as close to lifting your feet off the ground as you can to test the limits of your strength. Delete the final swinging motion.
Problem-solving for Lolasana
The external obliques put in particularly hard work, even though the pose works all of the abdominal muscles since they all help lift the lower body. This is as a result of the side ribs’ direct frontal fibre connections, which pull the ribs inward and downward. The oblique abdominals convert the lifting force of the serratus muscles into elevation of the abdomen and hips and stop the ribs from swinging forward. This means that in order to perform Lolasana correctly, you must pay close attention to constricting your front waist’s sides.
Let’s look at Lolasana’s leg raising technique in more detail. The iliacus and the psoas, two deep hip flexors, make up the iliopsoas, the main muscle that performs the majority of the hard lifting in this area. The iliopsoas receives help from several superficial hip flexors.
You can only lift your legs off the floor if the front of your pelvis stays lifted and you tilt forward at your hips because the hip flexor muscles use the front of the pelvis or the lower spine as their anchor points.
If the abdominal muscles are too weak, the front of the pelvis will sag, the spine will stop flexing, and the legs will droop toward the floor. The abdominal muscles assist in providing this lift and flexion. Of course, the hip flexors must also be strong; otherwise, no matter how high you elevate your pelvis and spine, you won’t be able to lift your legs.
Consider using Yoga for your core strengthening exercises!