If your boyfriend or husband wants to join you in practice, encourage him to try the ten best yoga poses for men. With these ten poses he can get the maximum benefit from yoga without having to spend hours pouring over books. Further, selecting ten gives him somewhere to focus his energies, rather than having to make his own selection from the many yoga poses available.
Ten Best Yoga Poses for Men
While opinions vary, these ten best yoga poses for men were culled from Men's Health and Women's Health.
- Downward Dog: One of the most basic and famous yoga poses is also one of the best. This can help you with chronic back pain by stretching out badly tensed hamstrings, hips and shoulders. It also helps to build upper body strength. Men's Health says that if your man does one pose per day it should be Downward Dog.
- Standing Forward Bend: This yoga pose is very simple -- it resembles bending over and touching your toes. If your man is resistant to yoga just tell him that this pose is excellent as a warm-up for his workout routine. This pose helps to eliminate tension in the head, neck and shoulders and may also reduce symptoms of insomnia and headaches.
- Chair: Chair Pose may help eliminate unsightly abdominal fat and builds strong quads.
- Hero: A seated posture, Hero stretches the thighs, which can help reduce problems in the knees. This is an excellent pose for runners to do before they head out in the morning.
- Reclining Big Toe: In addition to stretching muscles in the thighs, hips, hamstrings and calves, this pose also helps make knee joints stronger as well as maintain proper prostate health.
- Crescent Lunge: A groin-stretching pose, the crescent lunge also loosens up the hips. This can be helpful, as tight hips can cause stress on the lower back and increase the chance of injury from exercise.
- Boat: This pose will work his hip flexors, abs, arms and spine. It also helps promote prostate and thyroid gland health.
- Warrior: Good for shoulder and hip stretching, as well as all-around body conditioning, Warrior is a powerhouse of a yoga pose. This pose also increases mobility in some of the most crucial areas of the body -- the knees, hips and shoulders.
- Bow: This back-strengthening pose also helps to reduce stress, two key areas of men's health problems. The pose also opens the chest up, allowing for better breathing.
- Bridge: Men can often have tightness in the ribcage that inhibits breathing. The bridge helps to break up the tension in this area of the body. Any man with upper-respiratory issues should start with this pose.
Find more details and directions for these poses in our Yoga Pose Gallery.
Getting Started
As with any exercise program, make sure to check with a health practitioner before starting a new routine. You could suggest that your man starts a routine with all ten poses. However, if he would like to start slower, suggest that he select poses that address health concerns he may have. Soon you will have a new activity for you to enjoy together -- and one that is healthy to boot.
