Extended Puppy Pose
उत्तान शिशोसन
Uttāna Śiśosana — a beginner inversion that works the latissimus dorsi, shoulders, spinal erectors.
How to do Extended Puppy Pose
Read all of it before starting, and read the cautions further down before starting at all.
Kneel on all fours with the hips directly over the knees and a blanket under the knees.
Walk the hands forward, keeping the hips high, until the arms are long.
Lower the chest and forehead towards the mat, resting the head on a block if it does not reach.
Keep the elbows lifted off the floor and the upper arms turning outward.
Breathe into the upper back for the hold, then walk the hands back to come out.
Hold: 60–120 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 Extended Puppy 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.
- Takes the shoulders into full overhead flexion with the ribcage dropping between the arms.
- Lengthens the latissimus dorsi from the armpit down the side of the back.
- Places the head below the heart in a fully supported, low-demand position.
Extended Puppy Pose is one of 20 inversions in this library and one of 88 poses rated beginner. Poses where the head sits below the heart. The group that needs the most care and the most teaching.
Who should skip Extended Puppy Pose, or change it
- Glaucoma or raised eye pressure, and uncontrolled high blood pressure — the head rests below the heart.
- Neck or cervical spine injury: support the forehead on a block so the neck carries no weight.
- Pregnancy — the chest-down position is often uncomfortable; widen the knees or skip it.
- Menstruation: some traditions leave inversions out at that time — a personal choice, not a medical instruction.
- Recent ear infection, shoulder impingement, or knee pain on the kneeling knees — pad well 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 Extended Puppy Pose
What tends to go wrong, and the specific correction — not "engage your core".
MistakeHips sliding back towards the heels so it becomes a child's pose.
FixKeep the hips stacked over the knees; that is what makes the shoulders work.
MistakeElbows collapsing onto the floor and the low back sagging.
FixLift the elbows, firm the lower belly, and let the chest melt rather than the waist.
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 Extended Puppy 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 Extended Puppy Pose?
Kneel on all fours with the hips directly over the knees and a blanket under the knees. Walk the hands forward, keeping the hips high, until the arms are long. Lower the chest and forehead towards the mat, resting the head on a block if it does not reach. Keep the elbows lifted off the floor and the upper arms turning outward. Breathe into the upper back for the hold, then walk the hands back to come out. Hold for 60–120 seconds.
What does Extended Puppy Pose work?
Primarily the latissimus dorsi, shoulders, spinal erectors, with the chest, triceps, abdominals assisting or lengthening. In mechanical terms: takes the shoulders into full overhead flexion with the ribcage dropping between the arms.
Who should not do Extended Puppy Pose?
Glaucoma or raised eye pressure, and uncontrolled high blood pressure — the head rests below the heart. Neck or cervical spine injury: support the forehead on a block so the neck carries no weight. Pregnancy — the chest-down position is often uncomfortable; widen the knees or skip it. Menstruation: some traditions leave inversions out at that time — a personal choice, not a medical instruction. Recent ear infection, shoulder impingement, or knee pain on the kneeling knees — pad well 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 Extended Puppy Pose suitable for beginners?
Yes. Extended Puppy Pose is a beginner-level pose on this site, which means it is learnable in a first class and has a version that works for most bodies. The cautions above still apply.
How many calories does Extended Puppy 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. Extended Puppy 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.
Sequences that use Extended Puppy Pose
Related poses
More inversions — 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.