Three-Limbed Forward Bendत्रिअंग मुखैकपाद पश्चिमोत्तानासन
Triaṅga Mukhaikapāda Paścimottānāsana — an intermediate forward bend that works the hamstrings, quadriceps, spinal erectors.
45–90SECONDS HELD · EACH SIDE
One line on the timetable. Three-Limbed Forward Bend is held 45–90 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 Three-Limbed Forward Bend
Read all of it before starting, and read the cautions further down before starting at all.
Sit with the left leg straight forward and fold the right leg back beside the right hip, as in Hero Pose.
Keep the right foot pointing straight back with the toes untucked and the ankle in line with the shin.
Place a folded blanket under the left sitting bone so the pelvis stays level, not tipped to the left.
Press the right knee gently forward and hinge over the straight left leg from the hip crease.
Hold the shin, foot or a strap, keep both sitting bones down, hold, then change sides.
Hold: 45–90 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 Three-Limbed Forward Bend 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 straight leg's hamstring while the folded leg's quadriceps holds a shortened position.
- Loads the ankle of the folded leg in plantarflexion against the floor.
- Trains the pelvis to stay level through a strongly asymmetric fold.
Three-Limbed Forward Bend 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 Three-Limbed Forward Bend, or change it
- Knee injury on the folded leg — skip and choose Head-to-Knee Pose instead.
- Ankle injury on the folded side: roll a towel under the ankle.
- Hamstring strain on the straight leg.
- Low back injury, and sacroiliac pain from an uneven pelvis.
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 Three-Limbed Forward Bend
What tends to go wrong, and the specific correction — not "engage your core".
MistakeThe pelvis tipping away from the folded leg so all the weight sits on one side.
FixProp the opposite sitting bone up on a folded blanket until both are evenly loaded.
MistakeLetting the folded foot sickle out to the side.
FixPoint the toes straight back and keep the ankle in line with the shin.
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. Three-Limbed Forward Bend sits at code 02150, ਯੋਗਾ, ਹਠ, 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 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 | 31 | 61 | 92 | 138 | 184 |
ਸਰੋਤ·2024 Adult Compendium of Physical Activities·code 02150 · 2.5 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 Three-Limbed Forward Bend?
Sit with the left leg straight forward and fold the right leg back beside the right hip, as in Hero Pose. Keep the right foot pointing straight back with the toes untucked and the ankle in line with the shin. Place a folded blanket under the left sitting bone so the pelvis stays level, not tipped to the left. Press the right knee gently forward and hinge over the straight left leg from the hip crease. Hold the shin, foot or a strap, keep both sitting bones down, hold, then change sides. Hold for 45–90 seconds each side.
What does Three-Limbed Forward Bend work?
Primarily the hamstrings, quadriceps, spinal erectors, with the ankles, lower back, calves assisting or lengthening. In mechanical terms: lengthens the straight leg's hamstring while the folded leg's quadriceps holds a shortened position.
Who should not do Three-Limbed Forward Bend?
Knee injury on the folded leg — skip and choose Head-to-Knee Pose instead. Ankle injury on the folded side: roll a towel under the ankle. Hamstring strain on the straight leg. Low back injury, and sacroiliac pain from an uneven pelvis. 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 Three-Limbed Forward Bend suitable for beginners?
Not as a first pose. Three-Limbed Forward Bend 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 Three-Limbed Forward Bend 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. Three-Limbed Forward Bend 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.
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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