Lower back, hips and knees

Chair Pose: Block Between Thighs

Activates your inner thighs alongside leg strengthening, improving pelvic alignment and adding medial chain support that benefits your knees and lower back.

How to do it

1. 1

   Stand and place a block between your thighs

   Position it just above the knees, held in place by light pressure from the inner thighs.

2. 2

   Squeeze only hard enough to hold the block

   This gentle inward pressure is the whole addition. It wakes up your inner thighs so they can help hold your pelvis steady.

3. 3

   Bend your knees and sit your hips back

   Keep the squeeze constant the whole way down and the whole way up.

4. 4

   Notice your knees stop drifting apart

   With the inner thighs working, the knees stay in line with the feet without you having to think about it.

5. 5

   Hold 30 to 60 seconds, breathing freely

   Come to a shallower bend rather than gripping harder if the block starts to slip.

What to watch for

A hard squeeze makes most people hold their breath and clench everywhere at once. Use the lightest pressure that keeps the block in place, and if it keeps slipping, bend the knees less rather than squeezing more.

Ways to adjust it

• Shallow version

If this one is too much today

Try the gentler version instead. It asks less of you and does much the same work.

• Chair Pose: Shallow

Other ways to do this movement

Every version below is the same movement set up differently, so one of them usually suits.

• Chair Pose: Classic
• Chair Pose: Dynamic Sit-to-Stand
• Chair Pose: Hands Pressing Raised Block
• Chair Pose: Shallow

Before you try it

Move within a range that stays comfortable. Stop if this brings on sharp pain, dizziness, or symptoms that travel down an arm or a leg, and speak to a clinician before repeating it.

From the clinically authored Vinys movement library.