Into The Flow - Warrior II Endurance

Are you looking for a Vinyasa flow sequence that can strengthen your shoulders? Most Vinyasa sequences provide cardio challenges, but here is one that is a full body workout and it will challenge your shoulder strength during this series.

Warrior 2 Endurance

Virabhadrasana – Warrior 2 – is one of the poses most used to advertise yoga studios, as it emphasizes power and strength, much like Virabhadra, the warrior that it was named after.

Warrior 2 is a physically demanding pose that requires focus and endurance to perform well. With all of the possible variations on it, Warrior 2 can challenge even the most advanced practitioners.

How to Perform a Basic Warrior 2

From mountain pose, kick your feet out roughly 4 feet apart. Rotate the right foot until it is pointing to the front of the mat. Your left foot should turn until it is parallel to the back of the mat.

The heel of your right foot should be in line with the center of your left foot. Don’t allow your right knee to lean forward over the ankle. The two should remain in line.

The left hip is in an extended position. Concentrate on pushing the foot into the floor.

Your right hip is flexed, as you sink down into the pose. Your spine and head should be aligned directly over your sacrum, and your shoulders need to be directly over your hips.

Now bring your arms up, palms down. This creates a slight internal rotation in the shoulder. Direct your gaze out over your right hand, not focusing on anything in particular. Imagine that you are looking at a mountain in the far distance.

Strength and endurance

As mentioned, this is a physically demanding pose that will challenge you. In the upper body, the arm position strengthens and tones the rotator cuff, specifically the supraspinatus muscle, which is the most commonly torn muscle in rotator cuff injuries.

The longer this pose is held, the more you will feel other muscles of the upper body come into play, such as the trapezius and pectoralis. The core is also utilized to keep you aligned and balanced.

In the lower body, this acts as a deep hip stretch and opener. The flexed right leg causes the quadriceps and glutes to be strengthened, as well as the smaller tertiary that aid in stability.

The extended left leg lengthens the posterior chain, which are the glutes, hamstrings, calf and piriformis.

This pose is commonly held for up to a minute or more in most classes. Performing it for increasingly longer periods of time will result in increased endurance that will translate over into your other asanas.

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