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Whether you get your sweat on at the gym, yoga studio, outdoors, or even at home, getting your body up and moving is essential for optimal health and wellness.
 
Yoga is most popularly known for its calming, meditative benefits, but did you know it can also be used to increase endurance, strength, and cardiovascular health?
 
Yoga is an excellent tool to build full body strength and you can even create yoga sequences to use as full body workouts!
 
The following poses are perfect for targeting every inch of the body to provide you with a well-rounded full body workout! Enjoy them solo or mix them with your other favorite full body workouts for even more strengthening and toning.
 
Don’t ever really feel like working out? Use these 10 Tips to Motivate You When You Don’t Feel Like Exercising
 
 

10 Full Body Workout Yoga Poses

Practice these yoga poses for a challenging full body workout that’s sure to get your heart rate pumping and endorphins flowing!
 

1. Eight Angle Pose or Astavakrasana

Eight Angle Pose is a powerful arm balance and upper-body strengthener. It works the arms, shoulders, chest, back, and even some lower body and core muscles!
 

Photo: Jillian Halliday

How to Practice Eight Angle Pose:

• Start in a seated position with your knees bent in toward your chest
• Hold your right ankle and draw your right leg as high up on your right tricep as possible, wrapping it over your right shoulder
• Twist to the left and place your left hand on the mat outside your left hip
• Keep your right shoulder tucked under your right leg and release your right hand to the floor in line with your left
• Cross your left foot across your right foot and hook your ankles
• Lean forward, bend your elbows, and squeeze your thighs around your right tricep to straighten your legs and lift your hips off the floor
• Hold for 10 to 30 seconds
• Repeat on the opposite side

 
Alignment Tips:

• Reach your chest forward to counterbalance your weight and make it easier to lift your hips
• Keep your arms at a 90-degree angle – think Chaturanga arms!
• Actively keep your legs engaged to hold them straight
• For more stability, place a block under your head

 
Not quite here yet? No worries! Learn How to Get Into Eight Angle Pose in 8 Simple Steps
 

2. Side Plank Pose or Vasisthasana

Side Plank works as an excellent arm, wrist, and shoulder strengthener. It’s also a great belly-muscle burner and balance builder!
 

Photo: Jillian Halliday

How to Practice Side Plank:

• Start in Plank Pose
• Shift onto the outer edge of your left foot and stack your right foot on top of it
• Place your right hand onto your right hip and face your body toward the right side of your mat
• Press the floor away from you and lift your hips slightly higher
• Stretch your right arm skyward
• Hold for 30 to 60 seconds
• Repeat on the opposite side

 
Alignment Tips:

• Place your supporting hand just slightly forward of your shoulder, opposed to directly underneath it
• Press your supporting fingertips firmly into the mat for stability
• Hold your body in a diagonal line from head to toe

 

3. Wild Thing or Camatkarasana

Wild Thing is a fun, invigorating pose which builds strength in the arms, shoulders, and upper back. This awesome full body workout pose also offers an awesome stretch for the chest and throat!
 

Photo: Jillian Halliday

How to Practice Wild Thing:

• Start in One-Legged Downward Facing Dog with your left leg lifted skyward
• Shift your weight onto your right hand and roll to the outer edge of your right foot
• Flip your entire body over, keeping your right hand and foot on the mat
• Release the ball of your left foot behind your right knee
• Lift your hips and press your right fingertips firmly into the floor
• Arch your back, sweeping your shoulder blades to the back of your ribcage
• Extend your left arm overhead and toward the floor
• Hold for 15 to 30 seconds
• Repeat on the opposite side

 
Alignment Tips:

• Actively press your grounded foot solidly into the mat
• Press your body up and away from the mat with your grounded hand

 

4. Crow Pose or Bakasana

Crow Pose is an exciting arm balance that strengthens the upper arms, forearms, and wrists. It also improves overall balance and coordination in the body.
 

Photo: Jillian Halliday

How to Practice Crow Pose:

• Begin in a standing position
• Place your hands on the floor, shoulder-width apart
• Lift your hips and engage your core as your draw your knees to your triceps
• Look forward, lean forward, and carefully lift your feet off the mat and shift your weight into your arms
• Round your back body and strongly engage your bandhas
• Hold for 10 to 30 seconds

 
Alignment Tips:

• Draw your heels toward your bottom
• Solidly squeeze your knees around your triceps

 

5. Garland Pose or Malasana

Garland Pose provides a healthy stretch and muscle burn to the back, groins, and hips. It also improves posture and increases flexibility in the ankles and knees.
 

Photo: Jillian Halliday

How to Practice Garland Pose:

• Begin in a standing position with your feet just wider than hip-distance apart
• Point your toes to face the outer edges of your mat and slightly draw your heels closer together
• Bend your knees deeply and sink low into a squatting position
• Lean your torso forward
• Place your palms together at heart center
• Press the outside of your arms against your inner thighs and press your inner thighs against your outer arms
• Hold for 1 to 2 minutes

 
Alignment Tips:

• Keep your knees and toes pointing in the same direction
• Plant your heels firmly on the ground if your body will comfortably allow
• If your heels cannot reach the floor, place a blanket underneath them

 

 
 

6. Lord of the Dance Pose or Natarajasana

Lord of the Dance Pose is a popular balancing posture which helps strengthen both the legs and ankles. It also stretches the thighs and groins as well as the abdomen and chest!
 

Photo: Jillian Halliday

How to Practice Lord of the Dance Pose:

• Begin in a standing position with the weight of your body on your right foot
• Bend your left knee and lift your left heel toward your bottom
• Reach back with your left hand and grasp the inside of your left foot
• Raise your right arm up overhead
• Gently kick back with your left leg and simultaneously draw back with your left hand
• Stretch your chest and your right arm forward
• Hold for 15 to 30 seconds
• Repeat on the opposite side

 
Alignment Tips:

• Keep your raised foot flexed to avoid cramping
• Hold your gaze on an object 10 to 15 feet in front of you to stabilize your balance

 

7. Revolved Lunge Pose or Parivrtta Anjaneyasana

Revolved Lunge Pose strengthens and stretches the lower body, lengthens the spine, and opens up the groins and hips. It’s also known to increase stamina and lung capacity.
 

Photo: Jillian Halliday

How to Practice Revolved Lunge:

• Begin in Downward Facing Dog
• Step your right foot up to the front of the mat in a lunge position
• Point both hips directly forward toward the top of your mat
• Extend back through your left heel and stabilize your core
• Bring your palms together at heart center
• Twist your torso and hook your left elbow over your right thigh
• Hold for 30 to 60 seconds
• Repeat on the opposite side

 
Alignment Tips:

• Keep your front knee stacked directly over your front ankle
• Keep your core strongly engaged

 

8. Chair Pose or Utkatasana

Chair Pose strengthens the muscles in the legs and glutes while also stretching the Achilles tendons. This pose is also known to quickly increase your heart rate, stimulating the circulatory and metabolic systems.
 

Photo: Jillian Halliday

 
How to Practice Chair Pose:

• Begin in a standing position and raise your arms straight up overhead
• Bend your knees and release your seat toward the floor
• Hold for 30 to 60 seconds

 
Alignment Tips:

• Keep your inner thighs parallel to each other
• Engage your core

 

9. Four-Limbed Staff Pose or Chaturanga Dandasana

Talk about a full body workout! Chaturanga is a challenging yet satisfying pose which strengthens and tones the entire body, especially the core. It also increases stamina, improves stability, and encourages proper alignment.
 

Photo: Jillian Halliday

 
How to Practice Four-Limbed Staff Pose:

• Begin in Plank Pose
• Bend your elbows and lower your entire body down toward the ground
• Hold the pose once you’re hovering only a few inches above the mat
• Hold for 15 to 30 seconds

 
Alignment Tips:

• Use your shoulders for support to avoid wrist strains
• Keep your elbows in close to your body
• Avoid sinking your back or raising your hips

 
Need a Chaturanga brush-up? Follow these 5 Tips to Practice Chaturanga Correctly
 

10. Boat Pose or Paripurna Navasana

Boat Pose, one of the most popular yoga poses for the core, strengthens the muscles of the abdomen, back, and hip flexors by requiring you to balance on your sit bones. It also improves your stamina, concentration, and steadiness.
 

Photo: Jillian Halliday

 
How to Practice Boat Pose:

• Begin seated on your mat with your feet flat on the floor
• Bend your knees in front of your chest
• Place your hands behind your knees and elongate your upper body
• Engage your core
• Shift to balance on your sit bones and lift your feet off the mat
• Lift your arms and your shins up parallel to the floor
• Straighten your legs until your body resembles a “V” shape
• Hold for 10 to 30 seconds

 
Alignment Tips:

• Keep your shoulders relaxed
• Keep your chest lifted skyward
• Embrace “the shake!”

 

Bonus! Downward Facing Dog or Adho Mukha Svanasana

Downward Facing Dog is one of the best full-body strengthening and stretching poses out there. This isometric hold works all parts of the body including the upper and lower bodies and the core.
 

Photo: Jillian Halliday

 
How to Practice Downward Facing Dog:

• Start on all fours with your hands slightly forward of your shoulders
• Plant your palms and press actively through your fingertips
• With feet hip-distance apart, tuck your toes, and lift your hips up and back
• Bend your knees to lengthen your spine, then straighten your knees as much as you comfortably can
• Hold for 1 to 2 minutes or more for optimal muscle burn!

 
Alignment Tips:

• Keep the creases of your wrists parallel with the front of the mat
• If your spine begins to round, generously bend at your knees
• Maintain length in your neck

 
 

Full Body Workout Fun!

Whether you choose to practice these poses or create your own full body yoga workout, you can enjoy a heart-pumping workout anytime and anyplace!
 
Remember, this is your workout, so always be sure to tailor it to your own personal level and ability! Try to challenge yourself. Maybe hold the poses longer. But most importantly . . . have fun!

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