Front Splits
हनुमानासन
Hanumānāsana — an advanced seated pose that works the hamstrings, hip flexors, quadriceps.
How to do Front Splits
Read all of it before starting, and read the cautions further down before starting at all.
Start in a low lunge with the back knee down and padded, and a block under each hand.
Straighten the front leg, sliding the heel forward with the toes pointing up.
Draw the front hip back and the back hip forward so the pelvis faces squarely ahead.
Slide the back knee further behind you only as far as the front hamstring and back hip flexor allow.
Sit on a block under the seat if the hips do not reach the floor, hold, then come out via a lunge.
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 Front Splits 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.
- Lengthens the front-leg hamstring and the back-leg hip flexor to their end range at the same time.
- Loads the quadriceps of the back leg in a fully lengthened position.
- Requires the trunk to stay upright over a very long, unstable split base.
Front Splits is one of 29 seated poses in this library and one of 61 poses rated advanced. Poses taken on the floor, where the pelvis is the base and the spine works above it.
Who should skip Front Splits, or change it
- Any hamstring, groin or hip flexor strain — this pose is how those injuries get worse.
- Sacroiliac instability, which an unsquare split readily aggravates.
- Knee injury on either leg.
- Recent hip replacement, and pregnancy, where ligament laxity makes overstretching easy.
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 Front Splits
What tends to go wrong, and the specific correction — not "engage your core".
MistakeLetting the back hip swing open so the split looks deeper than it is.
FixSquare the pelvis, accept a much shorter stride, and put a block under the seat.
MistakeSliding into the floor with no support and bouncing.
FixSit on blocks and hold still; hamstrings lengthen from patient loading, not momentum.
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 Front Splits 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 Front Splits?
Start in a low lunge with the back knee down and padded, and a block under each hand. Straighten the front leg, sliding the heel forward with the toes pointing up. Draw the front hip back and the back hip forward so the pelvis faces squarely ahead. Slide the back knee further behind you only as far as the front hamstring and back hip flexor allow. Sit on a block under the seat if the hips do not reach the floor, hold, then come out via a lunge. Hold for 30–60 seconds each side.
What does Front Splits work?
Primarily the hamstrings, hip flexors, quadriceps, with the glutes, spinal erectors, calves assisting or lengthening. In mechanical terms: lengthens the front-leg hamstring and the back-leg hip flexor to their end range at the same time.
Who should not do Front Splits?
Any hamstring, groin or hip flexor strain — this pose is how those injuries get worse. Sacroiliac instability, which an unsquare split readily aggravates. Knee injury on either leg. Recent hip replacement, and pregnancy, where ligament laxity makes overstretching easy. 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 Front Splits suitable for beginners?
No. Front Splits is rated advanced. The shape itself is rarely the problem — arriving at it years too early is. Work through the beginner and intermediate seated poses on this site and learn this one in person.
How many calories does Front Splits 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. Front Splits 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 seated 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.