Standing Splitऊर्ध्व प्रसारित एकपादासन
Ūrdhva Prasārita Ekapādāsana — an intermediate inversion that works the hamstrings, glutes, spinal erectors.
30–45SECONDS HELD · EACH SIDE
One line on the timetable. Standing Split is held 30–45 seconds each side, 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 Standing Split
Read all of it before starting, and read the cautions further down before starting at all.
From a standing forward fold, shift the weight onto the left foot and set both hands on the floor or blocks.
Lift the right leg behind you, keeping the hips as level as they will stay.
Straighten the standing leg without locking it and keep the standing foot pressing evenly.
Let the torso fold towards the standing leg as the lifted leg rises.
Hold, lower the leg with control, and repeat on the second side.
Hold: 30–45 seconds each side. 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 Split 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 standing hamstring under load while the lifted leg works to rise.
- Loads the glute and hamstring of the lifted leg to hold it up without help.
- Places the head below the heart while the standing ankle makes constant corrections.
Standing Split is one of 20 inversions in this library and one of 60 poses rated intermediate. Poses where the head sits below the heart. The group that needs the most care and the most teaching.
Who should skip Standing Split, or change it
- Glaucoma or raised eye pressure, and uncontrolled high blood pressure — the head hangs well below the heart.
- Neck injury: let the head hang freely rather than lifting it to look forward.
- Pregnancy — the deep fold and single-leg balance make this impractical; it is not a shape to begin then, and continuing is a matter for you and your doctor.
- Menstruation: many traditions omit inversions at that time, a personal choice rather than a medical rule.
- Recent ear infection, hamstring strain on either leg, and any sacroiliac irritation from the split position.
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 Split
What tends to go wrong, and the specific correction — not "engage your core".
MistakeOpening the lifted hip to the ceiling to get the leg higher.
FixTurn the lifted toes towards the floor and lower the leg until the hips are level.
MistakeLocking the standing knee back hard.
FixKeep a micro-bend and hold the leg straight with the thigh muscle instead.
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 Split 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 Standing Split?
From a standing forward fold, shift the weight onto the left foot and set both hands on the floor or blocks. Lift the right leg behind you, keeping the hips as level as they will stay. Straighten the standing leg without locking it and keep the standing foot pressing evenly. Let the torso fold towards the standing leg as the lifted leg rises. Hold, lower the leg with control, and repeat on the second side. Hold for 30–45 seconds each side.
What does Standing Split work?
Primarily the hamstrings, glutes, spinal erectors, with the hip flexors, calves, abdominals assisting or lengthening. In mechanical terms: lengthens the standing hamstring under load while the lifted leg works to rise.
Who should not do Standing Split?
Glaucoma or raised eye pressure, and uncontrolled high blood pressure — the head hangs well below the heart. Neck injury: let the head hang freely rather than lifting it to look forward. Pregnancy — the deep fold and single-leg balance make this impractical; it is not a shape to begin then, and continuing is a matter for you and your doctor. Menstruation: many traditions omit inversions at that time, a personal choice rather than a medical rule. Recent ear infection, hamstring strain on either leg, and any sacroiliac irritation from the split position. 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 Split suitable for beginners?
Not as a first pose. Standing Split 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 inversions poses marked beginner first.
How many calories does Standing Split 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 Split 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.
The rest of the inversions on the wall
More inversions — 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 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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