Upward Rooster Poseऊर्ध्व कुक्कुटासन
Ūrdhva Kukkuṭāsana — an advanced balance pose that works the shoulders, abdominals, serratus anterior.
3–6BREATHS HELD
One line on the timetable. Upward Rooster Pose is held 3–6 breaths, with the breath moving throughout — and no set practice here is built around it — it is held on its own.
स्रोत·YogaPath sequence data — stay times as taught·one breath ≈ 5 s at an even pace·पुनरावलोकन जुलै 2026
How to do Upward Rooster Pose
Read all of it before starting, and read the cautions further down before starting at all.
Sit and build a full lotus, taking each foot high onto the opposite thigh without forcing the knees.
Set a folded blanket ahead of the hands, then place both palms on the mat shoulder-width apart.
Lean forward and work the knees up onto the outer upper arms, as close to the armpits as they will go.
Press the floor away, lift the seat and straighten the arms as far as possible.
Round the upper back, gaze forward, hold, then lower and rebuild the lotus with the other leg on top.
Hold: 3–6 breaths. 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 Upward Rooster 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.
- Balances a folded lotus high on two straight arms, so the shoulders take the entire load.
- Requires the abdominals to hold the knees pressed up onto the arms.
- Places the hips in deep external rotation while the upper body works.
Upward Rooster Pose is one of 31 balance poses in this library and one of 61 poses rated advanced. Poses held on a reduced base — one foot, two hands, or the forearms.
Who should skip Upward Rooster Pose, or change it
- Wrist injury or carpal tunnel syndrome.
- Any knee injury — full lotus is the entry and cannot be forced.
- Shoulder injury.
- Pregnancy and recent abdominal surgery.
- Keep a folded blanket in front of the hands; with the legs locked in lotus, a forward tip cannot be stepped out of.
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 Upward Rooster Pose
What tends to go wrong, and the specific correction — not "engage your core".
MistakeBuilding the lotus by pulling on the foot until the knee complains.
FixIf the lotus is not effortless on the floor, this pose is not available yet.
MistakeKnees sitting low on the arms so the seat cannot lift.
FixWalk the knees up towards the armpits with the elbows bent before pressing to straight arms.
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. Upward Rooster Pose sits at code 02175, योग, पॉवर, 4 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
= 4 × 3.5 × 70 ÷ 200
= 4.90 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 मिनिटे | 20 मिनिटे | 30 मिनिटे | 45 मिनिटे | 60 मिनिटे |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Calories | 49 | 98 | 147 | 221 | 294 |
स्रोत·2024 Adult Compendium of Physical Activities·code 02175 · 4 MET · 70 kg reference adult·पुनरावलोकन जुलै 2026
The whole activity dataset, including everything that is not yoga, is at BurnLab.
Asked before class
How do you do Upward Rooster Pose?
Sit and build a full lotus, taking each foot high onto the opposite thigh without forcing the knees. Set a folded blanket ahead of the hands, then place both palms on the mat shoulder-width apart. Lean forward and work the knees up onto the outer upper arms, as close to the armpits as they will go. Press the floor away, lift the seat and straighten the arms as far as possible. Round the upper back, gaze forward, hold, then lower and rebuild the lotus with the other leg on top. Hold for 3–6 breaths.
What does Upward Rooster Pose work?
Primarily the shoulders, abdominals, serratus anterior, with the wrists, triceps, hip flexors assisting or lengthening. In mechanical terms: balances a folded lotus high on two straight arms, so the shoulders take the entire load.
Who should not do Upward Rooster Pose?
Wrist injury or carpal tunnel syndrome. Any knee injury — full lotus is the entry and cannot be forced. Shoulder injury. Pregnancy and recent abdominal surgery. Keep a folded blanket in front of the hands; with the legs locked in lotus, a forward tip cannot be stepped out of. 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 Upward Rooster Pose suitable for beginners?
No. Upward Rooster Pose is rated advanced. The shape itself is rarely the problem — arriving at it years too early is. Work through the beginner and intermediate balance poses on this site and learn this one in person.
How many calories does Upward Rooster 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. Upward Rooster 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.
भिंतीवरील उरलेली तोलाची आसने
आणखी तोलाची आसने — प्रथम त्याच पातळीवरची, नंतर उरलेल्या गटातील.
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 आणि 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.
स्रोत·Published asana references·asana names, alignment and cautions as taught·पुनरावलोकन जुलै 2026
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