Intermediate Forward bends

Hand Under Foot Poseपादहस्तासन

Pādahastāsana — an intermediate forward bend that works the hamstrings, calves.

45–90SECONDS HELD

One line on the timetable. Hand Under Foot Pose is held 45–90 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 45 seconds — the short end of the hold, at 1:1 in time. One tick per breath at ≈ 5 s.

Sanskritपादहस्तासनPādahastāsana

EnglishHand Under Foot Pose

Hindiपादहस्तासनHindi uses the Sanskrit name

DifficultyIntermediateforward bend

Hold for45–90 secondsper side where the pose has sides

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

Workshamstringsplus 4 more muscle groups

Forward bends · 06 / 22

How to do Hand Under Foot Pose

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

Fold forward from standing with the knees bent as much as needed.
Lift the toes and slide each hand palm-up under the corresponding foot until the toes reach the wrists.
Stand back down onto the hands and lengthen the spine forward on an inhale.
Exhale and fold, drawing the elbows out to the sides.
Hold, then release the hands before coming up.

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.

hamstringsprimary

calvesprimary

wristssecondary

spinal erectorssecondary

shoulderssecondary

What Hand Under Foot 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.

Deepens the hamstring stretch by fixing the hands under the feet.
Puts the wrists into extension under body weight, which most desk-based days never do.
Lengthens the calves with the heels loaded.

Hand Under Foot Pose is one of 22 forward bends in this library and one of 60 poses rated intermediate. Poses that fold the torso towards the legs, lengthening the whole back line of the body.

Who should skip Hand Under Foot Pose, or change it

Carpal tunnel syndrome or any wrist injury.
Low back or disc injury.
High blood pressure and glaucoma.
Hamstring tear.

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 Hand Under Foot Pose

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

MistakeSliding the hands under with straight legs and straining the back.

FixBend the knees generously to place the hands, then straighten gradually.

MistakeDumping full weight onto the wrists.

FixKeep the weight in the feet; the hands are a strap, not a platform.

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. Hand Under Foot Pose 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 Hand Under Foot Pose?

Fold forward from standing with the knees bent as much as needed. Lift the toes and slide each hand palm-up under the corresponding foot until the toes reach the wrists. Stand back down onto the hands and lengthen the spine forward on an inhale. Exhale and fold, drawing the elbows out to the sides. Hold, then release the hands before coming up. Hold for 45–90 seconds.

What does Hand Under Foot Pose work?

Primarily the hamstrings, calves, with the wrists, spinal erectors, shoulders assisting or lengthening. In mechanical terms: deepens the hamstring stretch by fixing the hands under the feet.

Who should not do Hand Under Foot Pose?

Carpal tunnel syndrome or any wrist injury. Low back or disc injury. High blood pressure and glaucoma. Hamstring tear. 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 Hand Under Foot Pose suitable for beginners?

Not as a first pose. Hand Under Foot 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 forward bends poses marked beginner first.

How many calories does Hand Under Foot 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. Hand Under Foot 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.

The rest of the forward bends on the wall

More forward bends — first at the same level, then the rest of the family.

Seated Forward Bend● Paścimottānāsana Beginner · forward bends · 1–3 minutes Intense Side Stretch Pose Pārśvottānāsana Intermediate · forward bends · 45–90 seconds Big Toe Pose Pādāṅguṣṭhāsana Intermediate · forward bends · 45–90 seconds Three-Limbed Forward Bend Triaṅga Mukhaikapāda Paścimottānāsana Intermediate · forward bends · 45–90 seconds each side Heron Pose Krauñcāsana Intermediate · forward bends · 30–60 seconds each side Wide-Legged Standing Forward Bend Prasārita Pādottānāsana Beginner · forward bends · 45–90 seconds Standing Forward Bend Uttānāsana Beginner · forward bends · 45–90 seconds Half Standing Forward Bend Ardha Uttānāsana Beginner · forward bends · 15–30 seconds

All 22 forward bends All intermediate poses Posture and upright sitting Hamstrings The back and spine 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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