Lower back and knees

Warrior II: Back to Wall

Wall feedback helps you develop awareness of your spinal and pelvic alignment, building proper motor patterns while strengthening your legs.

How to do it

1. 1

   Stand with your back against a wall

   Bring your shoulders and the back of your pelvis into contact with the wall, feet under you to begin.

2. 2

   Step your feet wide along the wall

   Slide the feet apart sideways, keeping your back in contact. Turn the front foot to point along the wall and turn the back foot in slightly.

3. 3

   Bend the front knee and keep your contact points

   As the knee bends, your upper back and the back of your pelvis should both stay touching. If either lifts away, you have moved out of alignment, so come up until they return.

4. 4

   Hold for 30 to 60 seconds on each side

   Arms can reach out to the sides along the wall, or rest on your hips if that is kinder. A shorter stance makes the whole thing more manageable.

What to watch for

Pressing back into the wall so hard that the waist arches away from it. Contact should be light, and the gap behind your waist should stay about the same size throughout the hold.

Ways to adjust it

• Hands on hips
• Short stance

If this one is too much today

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

• Warrior II: Hands on Hips

Other ways to do this movement

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

• Warrior II: Chair Supported
• Warrior II: Chair Under Front Thigh
• Warrior II: Classic
• Warrior II: Hands on Hips
• Warrior II: Short Stance

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.