Upward Plank Poseपूर्वोत्तानासन

Sit with the legs straight forward and the hands about a hand's width behind the hips, fingers pointing towards the feet. Press the heels down and firm the legs together. Push through the hands and heels and lift the hips until the body makes one straight line from shoulders to feet. Point the toes towards the mat and open the chest by rolling the shoulders back. Let the head drop back only if the neck is easy, hold, then lower the hips with control. Hold for 15–30 seconds, 2 rounds.

Primarily the glutes, hamstrings, shoulders, with the spinal erectors, chest, triceps assisting or lengthening. In mechanical terms: strengthens the glutes and hamstrings in full hip extension with the body horizontal.

Wrist injury or carpal tunnel syndrome, since the wrists are loaded in extension — use fists or take the reverse tabletop version. Shoulder impingement, which the arms-behind position readily aggravates. Neck injury: keep the head upright rather than dropping it back. Disc injury or spondylolisthesis, where the sustained hip extension can pinch — bend the knees instead. Pregnancy from the second trimester, where the shape is impractical and the abdominal wall is under stretch. 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.

Not as a first pose. Upward Plank 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 backbends poses marked beginner first.

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. Upward Plank 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.