Standing Forward Bendउत्तानासन
Uttānāsana — a beginner forward bend that works the hamstrings, calves, spinal erectors.
45–90SECONDS HELD
One line on the timetable. Standing Forward Bend is held 45–90 seconds, with the breath moving throughout — and it takes its place inside 6 of the practices posted on this site.
SOURCE·YogaPath sequence data — stay times as taught·one breath ≈ 5 s at an even pace·REVIEWED JUL 2026
How to do Standing Forward Bend
Read all of it before starting, and read the cautions further down before starting at all.
Stand with the feet hip-width apart and the knees softly bent.
Hinge forward from the hips, letting the torso fold over the thighs.
Let the hands rest on the floor, on blocks, or hold opposite elbows.
Let the head and neck hang heavy; keep a little weight forward in the feet.
Hold, then roll or hinge up slowly with the knees bent.
Hold: 45–90 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 Standing Forward Bend 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 hamstrings and calves in a passive, gravity-assisted hold.
- Allows the spine to decompress through a supported hang.
- Releases habitual tension in the neck and shoulders when the head is left heavy.
Standing Forward Bend is one of 22 forward bends in this library and one of 88 poses rated beginner. Poses that fold the torso towards the legs, lengthening the whole back line of the body.
Who should skip Standing Forward Bend, or change it
- Low back injury or disc problems — bend the knees generously or skip.
- High blood pressure and glaucoma: keep the head above the heart with hands on a chair.
- Dizziness on rising — come up slowly.
- Later pregnancy: take the feet wide so the belly has space.
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 Standing Forward Bend
What tends to go wrong, and the specific correction — not "engage your core".
MistakeForcing straight legs so the pelvis cannot tip.
FixBend the knees as much as needed — the fold happens at the hip, not the spine.
MistakeHolding the head and neck rigid.
FixNod yes and no once you are in the shape to check the neck is truly released.
How the energy figure on a yoga timetable is reached
- 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.
- The pose is matched to the nearest style of practice in the 2024 Adult Compendium of Physical Activities. Standing Forward Bend sits at code 02150, yoga, Hatha, 2.5 MET.
- That MET value is put through the standard ACSM relationship for a stated reference adult of 70 kg.
- 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.
- 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 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.
| Time practising | 10 min | 20 min | 30 min | 45 min | 60 min |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Calories | 31 | 61 | 92 | 138 | 184 |
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 Standing Forward Bend?
Stand with the feet hip-width apart and the knees softly bent. Hinge forward from the hips, letting the torso fold over the thighs. Let the hands rest on the floor, on blocks, or hold opposite elbows. Let the head and neck hang heavy; keep a little weight forward in the feet. Hold, then roll or hinge up slowly with the knees bent. Hold for 45–90 seconds.
What does Standing Forward Bend work?
Primarily the hamstrings, calves, spinal erectors, with the glutes, lower back, neck assisting or lengthening. In mechanical terms: lengthens the hamstrings and calves in a passive, gravity-assisted hold.
Who should not do Standing Forward Bend?
Low back injury or disc problems — bend the knees generously or skip. High blood pressure and glaucoma: keep the head above the heart with hands on a chair. Dizziness on rising — come up slowly. Later pregnancy: take the feet wide so the belly has space. 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 Standing Forward Bend suitable for beginners?
Yes. Standing Forward Bend 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 Standing Forward Bend 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. Standing Forward Bend 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.
Sequences that use Standing Forward Bend
The rest of the forward bends on the wall
More forward bends — 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 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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