Lower back exercise
Child's PoseHow to do it, with form in numbers
- Main muscles
- Lower back, Lats
- Also works
- Glutes
- Equipment
- Bodyweight
- Level
- Beginner
How to do it
How do you do the Child's Pose?
- Kneel with your big toes touching and your knees about hip-width apart.
- Place your hands on the floor in front of you.
- Breathe out and sit your hips back towards your heels as you fold forward.
- Rest your forehead on the floor with your arms stretched out in front, palms down.
- Hold for 30–60 seconds, breathing slowly.
Cues
- Sit your hips back to your heels.
- Reach your fingertips forward.
- Let your shoulders melt away from your ears.
Common mistakes
- Hips staying high: widen your knees a little so your hips can sink back.
- Tense shoulders: let your arms rest heavy and soften your neck.
- Holding your breath: breathe slowly and relax more as you breathe out.
Form in detail
What does good form look like?
The version in our demo
Kneeling, big toes touching, knees hip width apart or a little wider, hips sitting back on the heels, arms stretched forward with palms down, forehead on the floor. The arms-forward version is ACE's and Cleveland Clinic's main version and the one that stretches the lats; arms-by-the-sides is the softer option.
Starting position
Kneeling upright on a mat, tops of the feet flat (toes pointing back), big toes touching, knees 25–35 cm apart. Then hands on the floor under the shoulders as in a tabletop.
The movement
Keeping the hands in place, breathe out and send the hips back and down until the buttocks rest on (or close to) the heels. The chest settles between the thighs and the forehead rests on the floor. Arms stay long in front with palms down; shoulders draw away from the ears. In the hold, each in-breath lengthens the spine and each out-breath lets the hips sink a little closer to the heels. Hands stay fixed; the motion in the hold is small.
Breathing
Slow, deep breaths into the back of the ribs; relax a little more on every out-breath.
Tempo
Real sets: hold 30–60 s (5–10 slow breaths).
Form in numbers
What are the angles and distances?
- Knees fully bent: knee flexion about 150°, buttocks on or within 5 cm of the heels.
- Forehead on the mat; neck in line, chin neither tucked nor lifted.
- Ankles plantarflexed, tops of the feet flat on the mat.
The targets our 3D demo was built to, from the references below. Bodies differ, so treat the ranges as a guide for your own build.
For coaches
Use this demo in your clients’ programs
The Child's Pose is in Trainaq’s exercise library. Add it to a workout, and your client sees this demo in the free Trainaq app above the sets they log.
Sources
