Kneeling Lunges - Issues and solutions

Some General Comments :- Kneeling lunges can be practised with the trunk upright or with hands placed on the floor on either side of the front foot. With the trunk upright, the spine is in a back bend (the pose resembles warrior 1) while, with the hands on the floor, the lumbar spine is likely to be in some degree of flexion. What is common to kneeling lunge positions is the leg position, which puts the hip of the back leg into an extension and so provides a strong stretch for the ilio-psoas muscles.

List of some of the issues that can be relevant for practising this pose:

            Pregnancy





Some people do notice that kneeling lunges have a balance component. Practising beside a wall can help, as can resting a hand on a wall or chair. And, as always with balance, having a focus (such as a mark on the floor) to let one’s gaze rest upon can be a great aid.



With the trunk upright, one has a choice between keeping the head facing forwards or moving the head backwards. Looking upwards is fine if it is a result of the back bending in the thoracic spine continuing in a smooth curve into the cervical spine. Even so, it is best to aim to keep the chin at least somewhat drawn into the neck, so that the back of the neck stays long to avoid putting the cervical spine into a compressive backbend. Those who are restricted in the thoracic spine with regard to extension (backwards bending) will find it difficult or impossible to lift the head without scrunching up the back of the neck. Thinking in terms of moving the back of the neck backwards (instead of the back of the head) helps, but, without the thoracic spine moving into extension, the amount the head ends up tilted backwards will be slight. Those who already have neck problems or poor balance do best to omit attempting to position the head so that one can look upwards.

There is a range of arm / hand positions that can be used with the trunk upright. With regard to shoulders, some will not be able or comfortable lifting the arms to the overhead position. Instead they can lift their arms to as close to overhead as feels comfortable - or try an alternative arm position. For example, pressing the arms and shoulders backwards can give a similar feeling of openness in the chest as one gets from having arms lifted overhead. Other good positions to try include:- arms by side, hands on prayer position, arms lifted sideways to shoulder level and hands resting on abdomen. And there is also a range of useful arm movements with the breath that can be usefully explored.

With the trunk against the front thigh and hands to either side of feet, there is also a choice of positions for the head: face looking downwards, face looking forwards or head dropping downwards. My view is that it is best to keep the neck shape as a continuation of the curve of the thoracic spine – so, if your upper back is in extension and your arms are long, looking forwards may be appropriate. Otherwise, having the face looking down is likely to feel most comfortable. Then there is the option of relaxing the neck so the head “hangs” from the shoulders. For some, this option will feel good with the neck in both traction (from the weight of the head) and flexion, helping to release and relax the strong neck extensors at the back of the neck. But I think this is not a good idea for those with vulnerable necks. If you know that your neck had a tendency to get upset with flexion I recommend being very cautious with or omitting the option of letting your head hang like a “ripe plum” – in fact you may well do better with lifting your head to look forwards.



The effect of the upright kneeling lunge on the chest is highly influenced by the arm position. In the full pose, with the arms overhead and head looking up at the arms, the thoracic spine is in a strong backbend and the chest held in an open, expanded position. This makes breathing via chest movements almost impossible. This is not normally a problem, but those who are used to breathing primarily via the expansion and contraction of the rib-cage (rather than “abdominally”) may well find the experience uncomfortable or even distressing - although it is very unlikely to do any physical harm. If one does experience some discomfort with regard to breathing, then one should simply go a little less far into the spinal back-bending aspect of the pose or use arm movement to aid the feeling of breathing freely. The degree of back bend with which one feels comfortable will increase with practice.

Holding the arms lifted overhead will raise blood pressure and make the heart work harder. Thus those who know they have some aspect of their circulatory system that has been weakened (e.g. heart problems, various vein issues, high blood pressure, strokes …) should omit practising the upright kneeling lunge with the arms held lifted overhead (n.b. moving arms between lifted and not lifted is not nearly so strenuous for the heart).

With the hands resting on the floor on either side of the front foot, things are much more restful. Breathing and heart rate will probably slow. An obvious exception to this is if one aims to put the thoracic spine into extension – this will hold the chest expanded with similar if somewhat reduced effects on breathing and heart rate to those described above.



In the upright kneeling lunge, the lumbar spine is moved into a back-bend – this is in part due to the strong stretch on the ilio-psoas muscles. The psoas muscles attach to the front of the lumbar spine while the iliacus muscles attach to the top front of the pelvic girdle; both attach to the top of the femur. In this leg position they thus tend to pull the lumbar spine into a potentially compressive backbend. When the pose is practised well, this potentially compressive backbend is turned into a long open backbend by engaging other muscles. Consciously imagining the tailbone moving downwards will help to lengthen the lumbar spine downwards while pressing the foot of the back leg downwards helps to engage the back leg quadriceps in a way that helps to stabilize the position of the pelvic girdle. It is also helpful to engage leg muscles as though trying to pull the front foot backwards against the resistance of the floor. Engaging and maintaining good tone in the abdominal muscles (e.g. by squeezing the abdomen in towards the spine) gives the lumbar spine a slightly upwards lengthening support – helping to make the whole of the lumbar area more stable as well as “lengthening” the backbend. There is a difficulty in using abdominal tone to support the lumbar spine in this pose in that, if the thoracic spine is moved into a back bend, then it is necessary for the abdominal muscles to relax enough to allow abdominal breathing to occur. In other words, there needs to be good tone in the abdomen, but not rigid contraction of the abdominal muscles. Since lifting the arms and / or taking the thoracic spine into a back bend almost always increases the backhanding tendency in the lumbar spine, one should not attempt to incorporate such things until one can practise the pose with keeping the lumbar spine “long”. If one does experience discomfort (or feelings that discomfort will occur if the pose is held for long), then this can usually be reduced by leaning the trunk forwards (as this reduces the stretch in the ilio-psoas muscles).

With the hands on either side of the front foot, the lumbar spine is likely to be in flexion to some degree. With the front knee bent, the hamstrings are not likely to limit how close to the thigh you can bring the trunk – but the other hip extensor (gluteus maximus) might. More likely to be an issue is the relative length of your arms to your leg length. Those with short arms may well find that even with the trunk fully resting on the thigh their palms don’t rest fully on the floor (– this is the case for me, for instance). Those with long arms may well find that, unless their arms are very bent, then their trunk does not rest on their thigh. Neither extremes are a problem provided the lower back feels comfortable – if discomfort is felt in the lower back, then one should raise the shoulders and straighten the spine or even take it into a mild back bend. Those with short arms can place their hands on yoga blocks (or books) or even on their knee. As forward bends go this is a relatively safe position for the lumbar spine. The hands / arms help by taking much of the weight of the trunk (so it is not pulling the trunk down, forcing the lumbar spine into uncomfortable flexion). And the hamstrings are not pulling the trunk from below and limiting the degree of hip flexion. This means that the spine is able to hang like a suspension bridge between the pelvic girdle and the shoulder girdle with the back muscles doing relatively little work – helping to increase the feeling of restfulness in this position.

Using “base support” ideas and mula bandha are also protective of the lumbar spine.



In the upright kneeling lunge the degree of flexion for the hip of the front leg is well within the range of normal movement. But the degree of extension at the hip of the back leg is normally at or close to the limit of the hip’s range of movement for extension, with the ilio-psoas muscles stretched to their fullest extent. This will limit how far forwards and down one can ease the hips – but, as long as one stays within what feels comfortable and keeps the lower back long, it will not cause problems. Where one takes the hips too far forwards and down, this may well be felt more in the lumbar spine than in the front of the hip – a solution is either to ease the hips less far forwards or to lean the trunk forwards. Either way, encouraging the tail-bone downwards and toning the abdomen is likely to protect the lumbar spine.

With hands on either side of the front foot, the front hip is usually close to the limit of full flexion – the shorter one’s arms are the more likely it is that this will be the case. Unusually, it is not likely to be hamstrings that are limiting. But the issue is the same – if the flexion does not happen at the hips, it will be taken into the lumbar spine where it might go too far if one is trying to bring the trunk down against the thigh. So the aim is to keep the lumbar spine long and then only take the trunk down to the thigh as much as feels comfortable for the lumbar spine.



Even those with healthy knees will need padding under the back knee for this pose to feel comfortable. Otherwise the knee is pressed down onto a hard surface with just a thin bit of skin between the bone of the patella and the hard surface – this will feel uncomfortable to anyone. Some knee problems do not respond well to having pressure on the knee in this way even with padding. Where this is the case, Warrior 1 may be a good alternative – or perhaps knee strengthening exercises (e.g. moving between up kneeling and down kneeling).

The front knee should not be further forwards than the ankle, but in practice the ilio-psoas normally prevents the hips (and therefore the front knee) moving too far forwards. If the front knee is too far forwards it simply means one can practise with a longer stance – before easing the hips forwards, place the front foot further forwards relative to the hips. Sometimes one does find the front knee is further forward than the ankle – this puts the knee into a potentially vulnerable position. But, provided your knee alignment is good and your knee healthy and you are not experiencing discomfort, then it is unlikely you are damaging the knee joint.



The front ankle is well within its normal range of movement and so is unlikely to have issues in this pose. However, the back foot is in extreme plantar flexion and so, if the shin muscles are tight, discomfort may be experienced either in the shin or the ankle. Placing a small rolled up towel under the ankle will reduce the degree of plantar flexion and so increase comfort. Another approach is to curl the back toes under which lifts the heel and also reduces the degree of plantar flexion at the ankle.


Pregnancy

Practising yoga in the first trimester is considered by most yoga teachers to be contra-indicated. The only explanation I have heard for this is that in the first trimester there is a fairly high tendency for spontaneous miscarriage and this could in principle be exacerbated by yoga (although, as far as I know, there is no evidence for this). Possibly a mid-wife or an expert pregnancy yoga teacher might be able to give a better explanation.

In the later stages of pregnancy, one of the issues that needs to be borne in mind is that the womb starts to press against the inferior vena cava (main vein in the trunk) and the aorta (main artery). This has implications for blood circulation to and from the legs. It is thus unwise to hold the leg part of standing postures - with risks of discomfort, tiredness (in legs) and an increased likelihood, over the long term, of getting varicose veins or tissue fluid issues (oedema) in the legs. With regard to kneeling lunges one would do better with versions that involve leg movement – for example, moving the hips forwards and backwards. Since one is not holding the leg part of the pose, it is not so relevant to mention that holding the arms lifted or the thoracic spine in a backbend is unhelpful from a breathing point of view. With abdominal breathing restricted by the growing womb, one wants to avoid holding the upper trunk in a position that will be too restrictive of chest breathing. With the hands on the floor an issue can be the size of the womb, which may get in the way of taking the trunk forwards or force one to take the trunk to one side of the thigh. Some alternatives to upright kneeling lunges to consider are: sitting fish pose (from sitting, lean backwards and place hands on floor and then lift chest); or standing cobra (from standing, clasp hands behind back draw hands downwards while rolling shoulders backwards and then lifting arms away from back encouraging chest to expand forwards). Other options to consider would be things like cat breathing (from all fours or standing cat) and sitting with a chair in front and resting hands and head on chair in such a way that encourages back bending of the upper back. For the version of lunges with hands on either side of feet, one could consider the following as alternatives: using child pose with knees wide, or seated forward bends with hands resting on a chair in front.

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