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YogaPath
Intermediate  Twists

Revolved Triangle Poseपरिवृत्त त्रिकोणासन

Parivṛtta Trikoṇāsana — an intermediate twist that works the obliques, hamstrings, spinal erectors.

30–60SECONDS HELD · EACH SIDE

One line on the timetable. Revolved Triangle Pose is held 30–60 seconds each side, with the breath moving throughout — and no set practice here is built around it — it is held on its own.

SOURCE·YogaPath sequence data — stay times as taught·one breath ≈ 5 s at an even pace·REVIEWED JUL 2026

Sanskritपरिवृत्त त्रिकोणासनParivṛtta Trikoṇāsana
EnglishRevolved Triangle Pose
Hindiपरिवृत्त त्रिकोणासनHindi uses the Sanskrit name
DifficultyIntermediatetwist
Hold for30–60 seconds each sideper side where the pose has sides
Energy, 30 min92 kcal2.5 MET, 70 kg adult
Worksobliquesplus 5 more muscle groups

How to do Revolved Triangle Pose

Read all of it before starting, and read the cautions further down before starting at all.

  1. Step the feet about a stride apart with the front foot forward and the back foot turned in around 45 degrees.

  2. Square the hips towards the front of the mat as far as they will go, and shorten the stance if they will not.

  3. Hinge forward over the front leg with a long spine and place the opposite hand on a block beside the front foot.

  4. Rotate the ribcage towards the front leg, opening the top arm upward.

  5. Keep both legs straight and both feet loaded, 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.

obliquesprimary
hamstringsprimary
spinal erectorsprimary
glutessecondary
shoulderssecondary
hip adductorssecondary

What Revolved Triangle 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.

  • Rotates the thoracic spine while the pelvis is held still.
  • Stretches the hamstrings of the front leg under a rotated load.
  • Trains the obliques through a long-lever twist.

Revolved Triangle Pose 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 Triangle Pose, or change it

  • Pregnancy — closed twists compress the abdomen.
  • Low back or disc injury: twist far less, or skip.
  • Sacroiliac pain, which this pose readily aggravates.
  • Balance loss — use a block and a wall.

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 Triangle Pose

What tends to go wrong, and the specific correction — not "engage your core".

MistakeHand chasing the floor so the spine rounds and the twist disappears.

FixRaise the hand onto a block until the spine can stay long.

MistakeBack heel lifting and the hips swinging open.

FixShorten the stance so both feet stay down and the pelvis stays square.

How the energy figure on a yoga timetable is reached

  1. Nobody has measured a single asana in a metabolic cart, so no per-pose figure is published here — not by this site and not by anyone.
  2. The pose is matched to the nearest style of practice in the 2024 Adult Compendium of Physical Activities. Revolved Triangle Pose sits at code 02150, yoga, Hatha, 2.5 MET.
  3. That MET value is put through the standard ACSM relationship for a stated reference adult of 70 kg.
  4. The result is the cost of a practice of that kind for as long as you practise — not the cost of holding this one shape.
  5. Scale it to yourself: the relationship is linear in body mass, so multiply by your own weight in kilograms and divide by 70.
kcal/min = MET × 3.5 × kg ÷ 200
         = 2.5 × 3.5 × 70 ÷ 200
         = 3.06 kcal per minute

The whole method, including what it cannot tell you →

The same practice, hour by hour

Read it the way you would read a timetable: pick the length of session you actually sit down for, and that is the figure.

Energy cost of a yoga, Hatha practice at 2.5 MET, for a 70 kg adult. Compendium 02150 · JUL 2026
Time practising10 min20 min30 min45 min60 min
Calories316192138184

SOURCE·2024 Adult Compendium of Physical Activities·code 02150 · 2.5 MET · 70 kg reference adult·REVIEWED JUL 2026

The whole activity dataset, including everything that is not yoga, is at BurnLab.

Asked before class

How do you do Revolved Triangle Pose?

Step the feet about a stride apart with the front foot forward and the back foot turned in around 45 degrees. Square the hips towards the front of the mat as far as they will go, and shorten the stance if they will not. Hinge forward over the front leg with a long spine and place the opposite hand on a block beside the front foot. Rotate the ribcage towards the front leg, opening the top arm upward. Keep both legs straight and both feet loaded, hold, then change sides. Hold for 30–60 seconds each side.

What does Revolved Triangle Pose work?

Primarily the obliques, hamstrings, spinal erectors, with the glutes, shoulders, hip adductors assisting or lengthening. In mechanical terms: rotates the thoracic spine while the pelvis is held still.

Who should not do Revolved Triangle Pose?

Pregnancy — closed twists compress the abdomen. Low back or disc injury: twist far less, or skip. Sacroiliac pain, which this pose readily aggravates. Balance loss — use a block and a wall. 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 Triangle Pose suitable for beginners?

Not as a first pose. Revolved Triangle Pose 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 Triangle 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 Triangle Pose 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.

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 and what it is written from. 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.

SOURCE·Published asana references·asana names, alignment and cautions as taught·REVIEWED JUL 2026

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