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Lower back, upper back, neck, hips, shoulders and wrists

Cobra: Classic

Actively strengthens your back muscles while opening the front of your body, building the posterior chain power that supports better posture and spinal health.

Spinal Mobility20 to 60 seconds
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How to do it

  1. 1

    Lie face down, hands under your shoulders

    Elbows bent and close to your ribs, legs straight and about hip width apart.

  2. 2

    Press the tops of the feet and thighs down

    Anchoring the legs and hips means the lift has to come from your upper body rather than the legs helping you up.

  3. 3

    Lift the chest with your back muscles leading

    The arms assist, but this is a muscle driven lift, not an arm press. The elbows stay bent and pointing back behind you.

  4. 4

    Slide the shoulders down, keep the head neutral

    Shoulders away from the ears, gaze forward and slightly down. Reduce the range or walk the hands further forward whenever you want less.

  5. 5

    Hold for 20 to 60 seconds, then lower slowly

    Come down with the same control you went up with. If this feels like a lot, take the baby version instead.

What to watch for

Straightening the arms so the shape collapses into one small spot low in the back, with the shoulders riding up by the ears. Keep the elbows bent and the lift shared along the whole back, and come down if anything starts travelling further down a leg.

Ways to adjust it

  • Baby Cobra
  • Hands further forward
  • Hands forward
  • Gaze forward
  • Neutral head
  • Reduce extension range
  • Fists

If this one is too much today

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

Other ways to do this movement

Every version below is the same movement set up differently, so one of them usually suits. See all Cobra Pose versions in one place, ordered from gentlest to strongest.

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.

One movement is a start. A session is the thing.

A few questions about your body and how it is today, and Vinys builds a session around it, including which movements to leave out.

Start your first session

From the clinically authored Vinys movement library.