Frog Pose
भेकासन
Bhekāsana — an advanced backbend that works the quadriceps, hip flexors, chest.
How to do Frog Pose
Read all of it before starting, and read the cautions further down before starting at all.
Lie face down and bend both knees so the heels come towards the buttocks.
Reach back and take the top of each foot, then rotate each hand so the fingers point forward like the toes.
Lift the chest and elbows and press both feet down towards the outside of the hips.
Keep the knees roughly hip-width and the elbows drawing in rather than flaring wide.
Hold for a short time, release one foot at a time, and rest face down.
Hold: 10–20 seconds. 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 Frog Pose 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.
- Delivers one of the deepest available quadriceps stretches, with the heels pressed towards the floor.
- Extends the thoracic spine while the arms rotate fully overhead in an unusual position.
- Lengthens the front of the ankles and shins under pressure.
Frog Pose is one of 43 backbends in this library and one of 61 poses rated advanced. Poses that extend the spine and open the front of the body — chest, hip flexors and abdomen.
Who should skip Frog Pose, or change it
- Knee injury or meniscus damage — the knee is fully flexed and compressed, so avoid this shape entirely.
- Pregnancy from the second trimester, as this is a prone pose.
- Shoulder impingement, which the flipped-grip rotation loads heavily.
- Disc injury or spondylolisthesis.
- Wrist injury and ankle injury, both under direct pressure here.
- 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 Frog Pose
What tends to go wrong, and the specific correction — not "engage your core".
MistakePressing the heels straight down onto the buttocks so the knee joint takes the whole load.
FixAim the heels to the outside of the hips and back off the instant the knee speaks.
MistakeThe chest staying low so the arch lands entirely in the lumbar spine.
FixLift the sternum and the elbows first; the foot press comes after the chest has opened.
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 Frog Pose 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 Frog Pose?
Lie face down and bend both knees so the heels come towards the buttocks. Reach back and take the top of each foot, then rotate each hand so the fingers point forward like the toes. Lift the chest and elbows and press both feet down towards the outside of the hips. Keep the knees roughly hip-width and the elbows drawing in rather than flaring wide. Hold for a short time, release one foot at a time, and rest face down. Hold for 10–20 seconds.
What does Frog Pose work?
Primarily the quadriceps, hip flexors, chest, with the spinal erectors, shoulders, ankles assisting or lengthening. In mechanical terms: delivers one of the deepest available quadriceps stretches, with the heels pressed towards the floor.
Who should not do Frog Pose?
Knee injury or meniscus damage — the knee is fully flexed and compressed, so avoid this shape entirely. Pregnancy from the second trimester, as this is a prone pose. Shoulder impingement, which the flipped-grip rotation loads heavily. Disc injury or spondylolisthesis. Wrist injury and ankle injury, both under direct pressure here. 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 Frog Pose suitable for beginners?
No. Frog Pose is rated advanced. The shape itself is rarely the problem — arriving at it years too early is. Work through the beginner and intermediate backbends poses on this site and learn this one in person.
How many calories does Frog Pose 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. Frog Pose 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.
Related poses
More backbends — 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.