Revolved Side Angle Pose
परिवृत्त पार्श्वकोणासन
Parivṛtta Pārśvakoṇāsana — an advanced twist that works the obliques, quadriceps, spinal erectors.
How to do Revolved Side Angle Pose
Read all of it before starting, and read the cautions further down before starting at all.
Start in a lunge with the front knee over the ankle and the back knee either lifted or down.
Bring the hands to the chest and rotate the ribcage towards the front leg.
Hook the opposite elbow outside the front thigh, or take the hand to a block on the inside instead.
Press elbow and thigh into each other to deepen the rotation from the mid-back, not the neck.
Hold with the breath free, then unwind slowly 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 Side Angle 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.
- Produces a deep thoracic rotation against the resistance of the front thigh.
- Loads the front quadriceps and the back hip flexors simultaneously.
- Trains the obliques in a strongly rotated, weight-bearing position.
Revolved Side Angle Pose is one of 25 twists in this library and one of 61 poses rated advanced. Poses that rotate the spine around its long axis with the pelvis anchored.
Who should skip Revolved Side Angle Pose, or change it
- Pregnancy — avoid entirely.
- Any disc injury, spinal fusion or recent abdominal surgery.
- Sacroiliac instability.
- Knee injury on the front or back leg.
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 Side Angle Pose
What tends to go wrong, and the specific correction — not "engage your core".
MistakeCranking the twist from the neck once the ribs stop turning.
FixKeep the head in line with the spine and accept the rotation the ribs give you.
MistakeBack knee dropping inward with the hips collapsing.
FixLower the back knee to the mat and rebuild the twist from a stable base.
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 Side Angle 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 Revolved Side Angle Pose?
Start in a lunge with the front knee over the ankle and the back knee either lifted or down. Bring the hands to the chest and rotate the ribcage towards the front leg. Hook the opposite elbow outside the front thigh, or take the hand to a block on the inside instead. Press elbow and thigh into each other to deepen the rotation from the mid-back, not the neck. Hold with the breath free, then unwind slowly and change sides. Hold for 30–60 seconds each side.
What does Revolved Side Angle Pose work?
Primarily the obliques, quadriceps, spinal erectors, with the glutes, shoulders, hip flexors assisting or lengthening. In mechanical terms: produces a deep thoracic rotation against the resistance of the front thigh.
Who should not do Revolved Side Angle Pose?
Pregnancy — avoid entirely. Any disc injury, spinal fusion or recent abdominal surgery. Sacroiliac instability. Knee injury on the front or back leg. 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 Side Angle Pose suitable for beginners?
No. Revolved Side Angle Pose is rated advanced. The shape itself is rarely the problem — arriving at it years too early is. Work through the beginner and intermediate twists poses on this site and learn this one in person.
How many calories does Revolved Side Angle 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. Revolved Side Angle 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 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.