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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.

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.

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