Obliques exercise
Seated Spinal Twist (Ardha Matsyendrasana)How to do it, with form in numbers
- Main muscles
- Obliques, Lower back
- Also works
- Glutes
- Equipment
- Yoga mat
- Level
- Beginner
How to do it
How do you do the Seated Spinal Twist?
- Sit with your legs straight, then bend your knees and slide your left foot under your right leg to beside your right hip.
- Step your right foot over your left leg and set it flat on the floor outside your left knee.
- Place your right fingertips on the floor behind you and sit tall on both sit bones.
- Breathe in to lengthen your spine; breathe out and turn to the right, bringing your left upper arm to the outside of your right knee.
- Look over your right shoulder and stay for 5–10 breaths; then change sides.
Cues
- Grow tall first, then twist.
- Turn from your belly, then your ribs, then your shoulders.
- Lengthen on the in-breath, turn a little more on the out-breath.
Common mistakes
- Rounding your back: put a folded blanket under your hips, or keep your bottom leg straight.
- Cranking the twist with your arm: let your arm guide, not force.
- Leading with your neck: your head turns last.
Form in detail
What does good form look like?
The version in our demo
Half Lord of the Fishes as Yoga Journal and Iyengar teach it, twisting to the right: the left leg folded under, the right foot crossed outside the left knee, the left upper arm against the outside of the right knee with the forearm up, the right hand behind on the fingertips.
Starting position
Sitting tall with both legs straight forward.
The position
Bend both knees, slide the left foot under the right leg to beside the right hip and lay the left leg on its outer side. Step the right foot over the left leg and stand it flat on the mat just outside the left knee, right knee pointing up. Sit evenly on both sit bones. Place the right fingertips on the mat behind the right hip. Breathe in and lengthen up through the crown; breathe out and turn the belly, then the ribs, then the shoulders to the right, and bring the left upper arm to the outside of the right knee with the forearm up. The head turns last, looking over the right shoulder.
Breathing
Lengthen on the in-breath, turn a little further on the out-breath; never force the twist with the arm.
Tempo
A held pose through one slow breath, 6 s: in-breath 2.5 s, the spine lengthens (about 2° of extension) and the twist eases 2°; out-breath 3.5 s, the twist turns back the 2°. Hips, legs and hands stay put. Real practice: hold 5–10 breaths, then repeat to the left.
Form in numbers
What are the angles and distances?
- Trunk upright, within 4° of vertical; spine long (no slump behind the turn).
- Left leg: knee on the mat, bent 125–132°, foot beside the right hip on its outer edge, toes softly pointed.
- Right leg: foot flat just outside the left knee, knee bent about 105°, knee 34–40 cm high and drawn in close, 15–19 cm in front of the chest's centre.
- Turn: the pelvis 25° (the left sit bone lightens a little, as it does in this pose), the spine 48–50° more, so the shoulder line ends 78–79° from square; the head 20° further, gaze over the right shoulder.
- Left arm: the upper arm resting on the outer side of the right knee, elbow bent 95–100°, forearm up, leaning a little away from the face, fingers up.
- Right arm: nearly straight (elbow about 20°), fingertips on the mat 30–37 cm behind the right hip.
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 Seated Spinal Twist 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
Sources
- Yoga Journal pose library, "Half Lord of the Fishes Pose (Ardha Matsyendrasana)"
- B.K.S. Iyengar, Light on Yoga (1966), Ardha Matsyendrasana I
