Revolved Low Lunge
परिवृत्त अञ्जनेयासन
Parivṛtta Añjaneyāsana — an intermediate twist that works the obliques, hip flexors, quadriceps.
How to do Revolved Low Lunge
Read all of it before starting, and read the cautions further down before starting at all.
Step the right foot forward between the hands and lower the left knee onto a padded mat.
Slide the back knee back until the left hip feels a clear stretch, and stack the front shin vertical.
Bring the palms together at the chest and lengthen the spine upward.
Exhale and turn the ribs to the right, taking the left elbow outside the right thigh or the left hand to a block inside the foot.
Hold with the back thigh drawing up, then unwind and 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 Revolved Low Lunge 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.
- Rotates the trunk while the back leg holds the pelvis in a long split position.
- Stretches the hip flexors of the back leg under the tension of the twist.
- Loads the front quadriceps through the whole hold.
Revolved Low Lunge is one of 25 twists in this library and one of 60 poses rated intermediate. Poses that rotate the spine around its long axis with the pelvis anchored.
Who should skip Revolved Low Lunge, or change it
- Pregnancy — take the arm inside the front leg for an open twist rather than this closed version.
- Disc injury or any nerve symptoms down a leg.
- Sacroiliac irritation, which a deep split stance plus rotation can aggravate.
- Recent abdominal surgery.
- Knee pain on the grounded back knee — pad it or skip.
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 Revolved Low Lunge
What tends to go wrong, and the specific correction — not "engage your core".
MistakeFront knee sliding inward as the elbow presses against it.
FixPress the front big toe down and hold the knee over the middle toes.
MistakeTwisting the neck to see behind while the ribs stall.
FixKeep the head in line with the spine and turn only as far as the sternum has already gone.
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 Revolved Low Lunge is mapped to the nearest published code — 02150, yoga, Hatha, 2.5 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 | 31 | 61 | 92 | 138 | 184 |
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 Revolved Low Lunge?
Step the right foot forward between the hands and lower the left knee onto a padded mat. Slide the back knee back until the left hip feels a clear stretch, and stack the front shin vertical. Bring the palms together at the chest and lengthen the spine upward. Exhale and turn the ribs to the right, taking the left elbow outside the right thigh or the left hand to a block inside the foot. Hold with the back thigh drawing up, then unwind and change sides. Hold for 30–60 seconds each side.
What does Revolved Low Lunge work?
Primarily the obliques, hip flexors, quadriceps, with the spinal erectors, shoulders, glutes assisting or lengthening. In mechanical terms: rotates the trunk while the back leg holds the pelvis in a long split position.
Who should not do Revolved Low Lunge?
Pregnancy — take the arm inside the front leg for an open twist rather than this closed version. Disc injury or any nerve symptoms down a leg. Sacroiliac irritation, which a deep split stance plus rotation can aggravate. Recent abdominal surgery. Knee pain on the grounded back knee — pad it or skip. 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 Revolved Low Lunge suitable for beginners?
Not as a first pose. Revolved Low Lunge is rated intermediate here: it assumes a working base of strength and range, and a teacher who has watched you move. Build up through the twists poses marked beginner first.
How many calories does Revolved Low Lunge 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. Revolved Low Lunge sits closest to Compendium code 02150, yoga, Hatha, at 2.5 MET — about 92 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 twists — 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.