I did triangle pose every day for 2 weeks, and my entire body opened up

I enjoy most forms of exercise, but there are a few workouts that I don’t particularly love. Namely, yoga.

I’m well aware of its benefits, and I have several die-hard personal training clients who swear by it, but yoga has always bored me to tears. Every few years, I’ll try it again, make it through a class or two, then write it off until my next attempt.

Since having my first baby eight months ago, I’ve been very focused on improving my mobility. Yoga is a great way to achieve that goal, but the idea of committing to a full workout seemed a bit daunting. Instead, I rolled out my yoga mat and decided to do one pose — the triangle pose — every day for two weeks. Here’s what happened.

How to do the triangle pose

You won’t need any equipment for the triangle pose, but a yoga mat can give you some cushioning and traction. If you have limited mobility, you can use a yoga block to help you properly modify the pose.

• Stand tall with a wide stance.
• Turn your right foot out to a 90 degree angle.
• Turn your left foot in slightly.
• Engage your core.
• Raise your arms to shoulder-level.
• Set your left hip back and reach your right arm toward your right ankle.
• Reach your left arm toward the ceiling.
• Hold in this position for the desired length of time, then repeat on the other side.

Since I'm a yoga novice, I started my two-week experiment by holding the triangle pose for 20 seconds on each side. I gradually increased my time as my range of motion improved, and by the last few days I was able to hold the pose for 45 seconds on each side.

Here are a few other things I noticed.

1. I had to modify the form at first

I’ve always thought that yoga was a lot harder than it looked. The triangle pose may not be one of the more challenging poses, but it does require a certain level of flexibility — a level I very quickly discovered I didn’t have.

Luckily, I had a yoga block handy, so I used that to modify the pose. I placed my hand on the block instead of on my ankle, and slowly, but surely, I was able to increase my range of motion until the block wasn’t needed. It didn’t take that long, either. After the first four days I was able to ditch the block and do the pose in its standard form.

If you’re new to yoga, consider using tools like blocks and straps to help modify certain positions. I could have done the pose without the block, but my form would have been bad and that could have caused more problems in the long run.

2. My lower back loosened up

My lower back has given me problems since my teens, and a recent MRI revealed degenerative disc issues. 9 months of carrying a baby certainly didn’t help matters, so I’ve spent a lot of my postpartum recovery trying to work on the area.

Holding the triangle pose every day really lessened my lower back stiffness and pain. When I started to run again, I noticed that my back would get tight and tender after I logged a few miles. Incorporating the triangle pose into my warm-ups and cool downs helped me to finish my runs relatively pain-free, which was a huge win.

The triangle pose may not be the first stretch you think of to open up the lower back, but it could be very useful as a part of your spinal mobility routine.

3. My hips, chest, and shoulders opened up, too

My hips are also chronically tight, and eight weeks of postpartum rest coupled with a lot of sitting made them even stiffer.

I think that’s what made the triangle pose so hard for me at first. Trying to shift my hips back enough felt impossible (or at the very least, painful). Again, being able to modify things with a yoga block allowed me to slowly open up the area while practicing the pose in a reduced range of motion.

I didn’t anticipate that the triangle pose would give me a stretch for the upper body too, but that was exactly the case. My chest and shoulders had gotten tight from holding my son all day, so it was shockingly hard to keep them in alignment when in the pose. Fortunately, by the end of the first week, the muscles had loosened up considerably.

Stretching all the major muscle groups is paramount to an injury-free body. The triangle stretch can hit a lot of these muscles in one movement.

4. My deadlift form got better

Deadlifts are one of my favorite exercises, but they’re also the exercise I struggle with the most. Trying to drive my hips back far enough has always been difficult, and all of the “work” ends up going into my lower back.

Doing the triangle pose for two weeks helped my deadlifts immensely. I finally felt like my hips were driving back the right way, and I could fully engage my glutes while keeping my feet planted. Even my physical therapist commented on the improvements in my hip hinge.

Mobility is a big part of the equation when trying to achieve proper exercise form. The triangle pose could lead you to better deadlifts, lunges, or chest presses.

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