Side Plank Pose (Feet Stacked)पार्श्व फलकासन
Pārśva Phalakāsana — an intermediate balance pose that works the obliques, shoulders, hip abductors.
20–40SECONDS HELD · EACH SIDE
One line on the timetable. Side Plank Pose (Feet Stacked) is held 20–40 seconds each side, with the breath moving throughout — and no set practice here is built around it — it is held on its own.
ਸਰੋਤ·YogaPath sequence data — stay times as taught·one breath ≈ 5 s at an even pace·ਸਮੀਖਿਆ ਜੁਲਾਈ 2026
How to do Side Plank Pose (Feet Stacked)
Read all of it before starting, and read the cautions further down before starting at all.
From Plank, walk the right hand a little towards the centre line and roll onto the outer right foot.
Stack the left foot directly on top of the right and lift the left arm straight to the ceiling.
Press the bottom hand down firmly so the bottom shoulder stays high, not collapsed.
Lift the underneath hip until the body makes one long diagonal line.
Gaze forward or up at the top hand, hold, then change sides.
Hold: 20–40 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 Side Plank Pose (Feet Stacked) 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 the side waist of the underneath side against the whole weight of the body.
- Works the outer hip of the bottom leg to keep the pelvis lifted.
- Puts one wrist and shoulder under a single-arm load, which two-arm shapes never do.
Side Plank Pose (Feet Stacked) is one of 31 balance poses in this library and one of 60 poses rated intermediate. Poses held on a reduced base — one foot, two hands, or the forearms.
Who should skip Side Plank Pose (Feet Stacked), or change it
- Wrist injury or carpal tunnel syndrome — take the forearm version instead.
- Shoulder injury on the supporting side.
- Ankle injury, since the outer edge of the bottom foot carries the base.
- Pregnancy after the first trimester, where the abdominal wall works hard under a long lever.
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 Side Plank Pose (Feet Stacked)
What tends to go wrong, and the specific correction — not "engage your core".
MistakeHips sagging towards the floor as the hold goes on.
FixCome out at the point the hips drop rather than holding a collapsed line.
MistakeSupporting hand placed directly under the shoulder so the shape tips forward.
FixMove the hand slightly forward of the shoulder and towards the midline.
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. Side Plank Pose (Feet Stacked) sits at code 02175, yoga, Power, 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 ਮਿੰਟ | 20 ਮਿੰਟ | 30 ਮਿੰਟ | 45 ਮਿੰਟ | 60 ਮਿੰਟ |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Calories | 49 | 98 | 147 | 221 | 294 |
ਸਰੋਤ·2024 Adult Compendium of Physical Activities·code 02175 · 4 MET · 70 kg reference adult·ਸਮੀਖਿਆ ਜੁਲਾਈ 2026
The whole activity dataset, including everything that is not yoga, is at BurnLab.
Asked before class
How do you do Side Plank Pose (Feet Stacked)?
From Plank, walk the right hand a little towards the centre line and roll onto the outer right foot. Stack the left foot directly on top of the right and lift the left arm straight to the ceiling. Press the bottom hand down firmly so the bottom shoulder stays high, not collapsed. Lift the underneath hip until the body makes one long diagonal line. Gaze forward or up at the top hand, hold, then change sides. Hold for 20–40 seconds each side.
What does Side Plank Pose (Feet Stacked) work?
Primarily the obliques, shoulders, hip abductors, with the abdominals, wrists, latissimus dorsi assisting or lengthening. In mechanical terms: loads the side waist of the underneath side against the whole weight of the body.
Who should not do Side Plank Pose (Feet Stacked)?
Wrist injury or carpal tunnel syndrome — take the forearm version instead. Shoulder injury on the supporting side. Ankle injury, since the outer edge of the bottom foot carries the base. Pregnancy after the first trimester, where the abdominal wall works hard under a long lever. 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 Side Plank Pose (Feet Stacked) suitable for beginners?
Not as a first pose. Side Plank Pose (Feet Stacked) 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 balance poses marked beginner first.
How many calories does Side Plank Pose (Feet Stacked) 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. Side Plank Pose (Feet Stacked) 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 balance poses on the wall
More balance poses — 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 ਅਤੇ 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.
ਸਰੋਤ·Published asana references·asana names, alignment and cautions as taught·ਸਮੀਖਿਆ ਜੁਲਾਈ 2026
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