Half Side Plank
अर्ध वसिष्ठासन
Ardha Vasiṣṭhāsana — a beginner balance pose that works the obliques, shoulders, hip abductors.
How to do Half Side Plank
Read all of it before starting, and read the cautions further down before starting at all.
Lie on your right side and set the right forearm on the mat with the elbow under the shoulder.
Bend the bottom knee to ninety degrees and leave the shin on the mat as a kickstand.
Extend the top leg long in line with the body, foot on the floor or lifted.
Press the forearm down and lift the underneath waist so the ribcage rises away from the mat.
Reach the top arm up or rest it on the hip, hold, then change sides.
Hold: 30–60 seconds each side. Keep the breath moving throughout — if you are holding it, the pose is too much for today.
Muscles worked
Where the effort and the lengthening land. Primary groups do most of the work; secondary groups assist or are stretched.
What Half Side Plank does
Described mechanically — what the movement does to muscle and joint. Not a list of conditions it treats, because a pose does not treat conditions.
- Gives the side-waist load of a side plank without putting weight through the wrist.
- Loads the shoulder in a closed forearm position, which is easier on the joint than a straight arm.
- Trains the outer hip on a stable, wide base.
Half Side Plank is one of 31 balance poses in this library and one of 88 poses rated beginner. Poses held on a reduced base — one foot, two hands, or the forearms.
Who should skip Half Side Plank, or change it
- Shoulder injury on the supporting side.
- Elbow pain — pad the forearm with a folded blanket.
- Knee discomfort on the kneeling leg: use a blanket under the shin.
- Recent abdominal surgery.
General information only — not medical advice. Some asanas are unsuitable during pregnancy, injury or specific conditions. Learn from a qualified teacher and stop if anything hurts. If you are pregnant, recovering from surgery or managing any health condition, ask your doctor before starting a practice, and learn the pose itself from a qualified teacher who can see you move.
Common mistakes in Half Side Plank
What tends to go wrong, and the specific correction — not "engage your core".
MistakeElbow placed too far forward or behind the shoulder.
FixSet the elbow directly under the shoulder joint before lifting.
MistakeRibcage hanging down into the bottom shoulder.
FixPress the forearm into the floor and lift the bottom side ribs first.
What a practice like this costs in energy
Nobody has measured a single asana in a metabolic cart. The 2024 Adult Compendium of Physical Activities publishes MET values per style of practice, so Half Side Plank is mapped to the nearest published code — 02175, yoga, Power, 4 MET — and the figures below are for a practice of that kind, not for holding this one pose.
| Time practising | 10 min | 20 min | 30 min | 45 min | 60 min |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Calories | 49 | 98 | 147 | 221 | 294 |
Calculated as MET × 3.5 × 70 kg ÷ 200 kcal per minute — the standard ACSM relationship, shown in full on the method page. Scale it to your own weight by multiplying by your weight in kilograms and dividing by 70. The whole activity dataset, including every non-yoga activity, is at BurnLab.
Questions
How do you do Half Side Plank?
Lie on your right side and set the right forearm on the mat with the elbow under the shoulder. Bend the bottom knee to ninety degrees and leave the shin on the mat as a kickstand. Extend the top leg long in line with the body, foot on the floor or lifted. Press the forearm down and lift the underneath waist so the ribcage rises away from the mat. Reach the top arm up or rest it on the hip, hold, then change sides. Hold for 30–60 seconds each side.
What does Half Side Plank work?
Primarily the obliques, shoulders, hip abductors, with the abdominals, glutes, upper back assisting or lengthening. In mechanical terms: gives the side-waist load of a side plank without putting weight through the wrist.
Who should not do Half Side Plank?
Shoulder injury on the supporting side. Elbow pain — pad the forearm with a folded blanket. Knee discomfort on the kneeling leg: use a blanket under the shin. Recent abdominal surgery. This is general information, not medical advice — if any of these apply to you, ask your doctor and learn the pose with a qualified teacher rather than from a page.
Is Half Side Plank suitable for beginners?
Yes. Half Side Plank is a beginner-level pose on this site, which means it is learnable in a first class and has a version that works for most bodies. The cautions above still apply.
How many calories does Half Side Plank burn?
The honest answer is that nobody has measured a single asana. The 2024 Adult Compendium of Physical Activities publishes MET values for styles of yoga, not for individual poses. Half Side Plank sits closest to Compendium code 02175, yoga, Power, at 4 MET — about 147 kcal for 30 minutes of that kind of practice for a 70 kg adult. Holding one pose for a minute is a rounding error either way.
Sequences that use Half Side Plank
Related poses
More balance poses — first at the same level, then the rest of the family.
Asana names are traditional. Every step, benefit and caution on this page is written for YogaPath rather than reproduced from any book, studio or other library — see how this site is written. Energy figures derive from the 2024 Adult Compendium of Physical Activities. General information only — not medical advice. Some asanas are unsuitable during pregnancy, injury or specific conditions. Learn from a qualified teacher and stop if anything hurts.