I'm a personal trainer, and I'm begging you to swap pigeon pose or 90/90 for one move — try this instead

Whenever I need to stretch my tight glutes, I rarely turn to the pigeon pose. It has been a staple over the years, especially as I enjoy a lot of yoga, but it can be tough on the knees for many people. While pigeon pose isn't inherently "bad" for your knees, it's easy to get the positioning of your legs wrong, and when your alignment is off, this can create problems.

With that in mind, there's one move I use instead, and it guarantees to relieve tight hips and work on teasing out tight gluteal muscles without too much pressure on your knees. I'd use one of the best yoga mats to help this further, but you can also roll a towel or place a cushion beneath your back knee for extra support. I'll explain how to do it and some of the benefits you can expect.

How to do clamshell runner's lunge

This is how to perform clamshell runner's lunge.

• Start in a low lunge position with your left leg forward and right leg back, right knee resting on a mat
• Lift your chest and lengthen through your spine
• Check that your left knee is stacked over your left ankle
• Start to scoot your back knee further back to deepen the stretch in your right hip
• Slowly open your left knee to the left side, rolling onto the knife edge of your left foot
• You can use your hand to gently guide your knee wide
• Softly push your hips further forward toward the mat
• For an extra stretch, see if you can twist toward your left leg
• Hold for 30 to 45 seconds, then slowly return to the starting position and switch sides.

What are the benefits? 

It's easy to misalign your body when performing the pigeon pose. Plus, some people have very tight muscles or limited range of motion. Runner's lunge feels more accessible for many people and allows you to support your knee, should you wish to.

The clamshell position helps to target the glutes more, and you'll still stretch out your hip flexors, offering a full lower-body release. You can add active mobility by opening and closing your knee for 8-12 reps, increasing range of motion in your pelvis. Alternatively, just hold the stretch and settle into your breathing.

I recommend learning the difference between flexibility and mobility if you plan to work more on your hips and glutes in the future, as flexibility focuses more on stretching of the muscles, often passively but not always, while mobility helps target joint range of motion.

There's nothing wrong with pigeon pose; it's just that other moves offer more accessible benefits. If you do plan to try pigeon, and you don't have access to a yoga teacher or mobility coach, try to avoid placing pressure on your outer or inner knee joint, and keep your hips and chest square to the mat, resting on the thigh of the back leg.

Looking for more moves?

Find more mobility routines for you to follow along with wherever you are!

Follow Tom's Guide on Google News and add us as a preferred source to get our up-to-date news, analysis, and reviews in your feeds.

More from Tom's Guide

• Windshield wipers: How to do them and the benefits for blasting your core
• I did 100 fire hydrants a day for a week — here's what happened
• I did 50 oblique crunches a day for a week — and here's what happened to my abs