Hamstrings exercise
Standing Forward Fold (Uttanasana)How to do it, with form in numbers
- Main muscles
- Hamstrings
- Also works
- Calves, Lower back
- Equipment
- Yoga mat
- Level
- Beginner
How to do it
How do you do the Standing Forward Fold?
- Stand with your feet hip-width apart.
- Breathe out and fold forward from your hips, keeping the front of your body long.
- Bend your knees as much as you need to put your palms or fingertips on the mat.
- Let your head and neck hang and keep your hips over your heels.
- Hold for 5–10 breaths; come up slowly on a breath in.
Cues
- Fold from your hips, not your waist.
- Soft knees, heavy head.
- Lengthen as you breathe in, fold as you breathe out.
Common mistakes
- Locking the knees: keep them soft and let the hamstrings release.
- Shifting the hips back: keep them stacked over your ankles.
- Coming up fast: rise slowly to avoid feeling dizzy.
Form in detail
What does good form look like?
The version in our demo
Uttanasana with soft knees and the palms on the mat, the version Yoga Journal recommends for most people ("bend your knees as much as you need to bring the palms or fingertips to the floor").
Starting position
Mountain pose with the feet hip-width apart.
The position
On an out-breath, fold forward from the hips (not the waist), keeping the front of the trunk long as it goes down. Bend the knees enough for the palms to reach the mat beside or just in front of the feet. Let the spine and head hang: the neck relaxed, the crown towards the mat. Hips stay over the ankles (not shifted back), weight towards the balls of the feet.
Breathing
Lengthen on each in-breath, fold a little deeper on each out-breath.
Tempo
A held pose through one slow breath, 6 s: in-breath 2.5 s, the trunk lengthens and lifts a little (about 2°, the head rises about 2 cm); out-breath 3.5 s, it folds deeper and the elbows soften. Feet and hands stay put. Real practice: hold 5–10 breaths; come up slowly on an in-breath with a long back.
Form in numbers
What are the angles and distances?
- Feet hip-width (ankle centres about 18 cm apart), toes forward.
- Knees bent about 20° (straight legs only in the full pose).
- Hips over the ankles, within about 5 cm; legs close to vertical.
- Palms flat on the mat under the shoulders, a little in front of the toes, about 38 cm apart; elbows 10° bent on the in-breath, bending to about 30–35° as the fold deepens on the out-breath.
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 Standing Forward Fold 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, "Standing Forward Bend (Uttanasana)"
- B.K.S. Iyengar, Light on Yoga (1966), Uttanasana (the full pose with straight legs).
- American Council on Exercise (ACE), standing forward bend and hamstring stretch guidance
