Way of the Warrior
By Julie Gudmestad
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Defying Gravity
Once you start to open your hip adductors and strengthen your external hip rotators so you can align your thighs and knees safely in Warrior II, you can intensify the work on your quadriceps muscles. Filling the whole front of the thigh, the four quadriceps converge into a single tendon that attaches to the patella (kneecap) and then connects, via the patellar ligament, to the upper tibia (shinbone); three of the "quads" originate on the upper thighbone, while the fourth comes from the pelvis, above the hip socket.
As soon as you bend your leg, your quads have to contract, or gravity would pull you to the floor. To work your quads even harder in Warrior II, bring your front-leg thigh parallel to the floor—but don't let that knee collapse inward or the back-leg thigh and knee collapse forward.
Practice Makes Perfect
Warrior II gives you a perfect opportunity to practice good biomechanics over and over, consciously and slowly. Training the quads and hip muscles to support your knees in their optimal, nontwisted alignment while you're bending your legs in yoga means you'll be less likely to hurt or strain your knees. But you can also extend these lessons to your daily life. Look down at each knee as you walk up stairs. As you place your right foot on the next step and begin to shift weight onto it, make sure you keep your knee centered over your foot. Also check to see whether you're using good alignment when you go down stairs, pedal your bike, or half-squat to pick up a child.
As you practice good alignment in Warrior II, you can learn healthy movement patterns with your body, not just with your intellect—so you'll be more likely to use these patterns in everything you do. And since Warrior II builds stronger quads, you'll have more leg power for when you need to lift a heavy load at the grocery store or in your yard—and that will help prevent back injuries caused by poor body mechanics. All in all, Warrior II can set the stage for a healthier yoga practice and a more active life for decades to come.
A physical therapist and Iyengar Yoga teacher, Julie Gudmestad runs a physical therapy practice and yoga studio in Portland, Oregon. She regrets that she can't respond to requests for health advice.
 
December 2005
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