Intermediate Standing

Standing Straddleसमकोणासन

Samakoṇāsana — an intermediate standing pose that works the hamstrings, hip adductors.

30–60SECONDS HELD

One line on the timetable. Standing Straddle is held 30–60 seconds, 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

The arc draws over 30 seconds — the short end of the hold, at 1:1 in time. One tick per breath at ≈ 5 s.

SanskritसमकोणासनSamakoṇāsana

EnglishStanding Straddlealso called Right Angle Straddle

HindiसमकोणासनHindi uses the Sanskrit name

DifficultyIntermediatestanding pose

Hold for30–60 secondsper side where the pose has sides

Energy, 30 min92 kcal2.5 MET, 70 kg adult

Workshamstringsplus 4 more muscle groups

Standing · 17 / 18

How to do Standing Straddle

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

Stand with the feet very wide, outer edges parallel and both legs straight.
Place the hands on the hips and lengthen the spine upward.
Hinge forward from the hip creases until the torso is horizontal.
Rest the hands on a chair seat or two blocks so the back can stay flat.
Hold with the chest broad, then come up with a long spine.

Hold: 30–60 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.

hamstringsprimary

hip adductorsprimary

spinal erectorssecondary

shoulderssecondary

calvessecondary

What Standing Straddle 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.

Loads both hamstrings and both inner thighs with the spine held long.
Trains a horizontal hip hinge, which protects the back when lifting.
Requires the spinal erectors to hold extension for the whole hold.

Standing Straddle is one of 18 standing poses in this library and one of 60 poses rated intermediate. Poses built on the feet, where the legs carry the work and the floor is the reference point.

Who should skip Standing Straddle, or change it

Hamstring or adductor strain.
Low back injury — raise the hands higher.
High blood pressure with the torso low.

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 Straddle

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

MistakeLetting the back round once the hamstrings stop giving.

FixRaise the hands and reduce the fold; a flat back is the whole point.

MistakeWeight sitting back into the heels.

FixShift the hips slightly forward so the shins stay vertical.

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 Straddle 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 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 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 Straddle?

Stand with the feet very wide, outer edges parallel and both legs straight. Place the hands on the hips and lengthen the spine upward. Hinge forward from the hip creases until the torso is horizontal. Rest the hands on a chair seat or two blocks so the back can stay flat. Hold with the chest broad, then come up with a long spine. Hold for 30–60 seconds.

What does Standing Straddle work?

Primarily the hamstrings, hip adductors, with the spinal erectors, shoulders, calves assisting or lengthening. In mechanical terms: loads both hamstrings and both inner thighs with the spine held long.

Who should not do Standing Straddle?

Hamstring or adductor strain. Low back injury — raise the hands higher. High blood pressure with the torso low. 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 Straddle suitable for beginners?

Not as a first pose. Standing Straddle 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 standing poses marked beginner first.

How many calories does Standing Straddle 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 Straddle 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.

The rest of the standing poses on the wall

More standing poses — first at the same level, then the rest of the family.

Mountain Pose● Tāḍāsana Beginner · standing · 30–60 seconds Side Lunge Skandāsana Intermediate · standing · 30–60 seconds High Crescent Lunge Utthita Aśva Sañcālanāsana Intermediate · standing · 30–60 seconds Upward Salute Ūrdhva Hastāsana Beginner · standing · 30–60 seconds Chair Pose Utkaṭāsana Beginner · standing · 30–60 seconds Warrior I Vīrabhadrāsana I Beginner · standing · 30–60 seconds

All 18 standing poses All intermediate poses Posture and upright sitting Hips Hamstrings The full library

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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