Yoga, more than anything else, is about balance and stability in life. Not only women, but men too, need a healthy outlet, a healthy way to deal with the problems and stressors of life in a graceful way. 

Whether you want your body to be more flexible, or you wish to lead a vigorous life, or if you simply want to look and be fit - there are poses for all your specific needs in yoga. In today’s article, we will be discussing some of the best yoga poses for men to try to stay active. 

15 Best Yoga Poses for Men

Yoga means union. Here are some of the Best Yoga poses for men to prepare their body for its union with the energies that transcend the physical and help you pass through life effortlessly.

1. Standing Forward Fold or  Uttanasana

Uttanasana or the Standing Forward Fold helps keep your spine flexible and strong. You'll feel stretch in your hamstrings, calves and hips. Other than various benefits, even to a beginner, this pose feels like slipping into our childhood and feeling all our problems blur into the background.

If you've been suffering from problems like stress, anxiety, fatigue, headaches, mild depression and insomnia - this is the go to pose for relief. It opens your hips, engaging the abdominal muscles and calms the mind by soothing the nerves.

2. Chair Pose or Utkatasana

Developing a strong core is not the sole benefit you can reap from the Chair Pose. It also works your shoulders, hips, knees and ankles. Your breathing improves owing to opening up of shoulders and chest. Stimulating the abdominal organs and protecting knee joints, Utkatasana helps develop greater stability.

It appears to be so simple like many other yoga poses, but can bring the coolest of men to tears. If your goal is to get rid of abdominal fat, the pose is an excellent substitute for going to the gym. Other major benefits of the pose include strengthening quads and glutes, and heat built in the body.

3. Boat Pose or  Navasana

Naukasana or the boat pose not only beats stress but also helps strengthen the core and hip flexors and spine. It stimulates kidneys, prostate, thyroid and intestines, improving digestion and overall body health. Being able to hold the pose steadily is a testament to a strong core. It can also strengthen your sense of balance. The Boat yoga pose is specifically designed to help improve your body posture as well.

4. Tree Pose or  Vrksasana

The tree pose stretches your inner thighs and groin muscles. This strengthening of your legs, causes a relief from sciatica. The pose itself is a symbol of exactly how it can change your life, it helps you stay strong and calm as a tree would be because of it’s doop roots.

Stretching your arms upwards improves shoulder flexibility and endurance. Also improves concentration and alertness. Vrksasana also helps improve neuromuscular coordination. That could come in handy if you were to find yourself in The Matrix movie like Keanu Reeves, or to catch a glass that slipped through your hands.

5. Triangle Pose or  Trikonasana

Trikonasana activates your core muscles, which improves your balance and stability, reducing stress. Stretching and the spine, the Triangle Pose can reduce stiffness in the spine and back, resulting in increased flexibility.  It helps our body to relieve itself of gastritis, indigestion, acidity and flatulence. The triangle pose is done by bending your body to either side simultaneously stimulating your hips and shoulders.

6. Plank Pose -  Phalakasana

The plank pose helps create stability in the shoulder joints, and builds neck strength. Improves your posture like many others. Phalakasana can help relieve sciatica discomfort. It also helps tone your whole body, especially abdomen and hips.

If you want to be able to do pushups or a pull up if you find yourself hanging off of a cliff, plank pose is where you'd want to start. Other benefits of the asana include strengthening of the posterior chain, scapula (shoulder blade) stabilizers and particularly the serratus anterior. As it helps improve men’s ability to indulge in more masculine workouts like push ups, Plank Pose is the Best Yoga Workout Moves for Men.

7. Bridge Pose or Setu Bandha Sarvangasana

Setu Bandha Sarvangasana helps you gain the same benefits as that of an inversion, without actually being upside-down. It creates a stretch in your chest, neck, spine, and hips. Strengthening the back, buttocks, and hamstrings, it improves circulation of blood throughout the body. The Bridge Pose alleviates stress and mild depression.

The Bridge Pose also soothes the central nervous system by stimulating the lungs, thyroid glands, abdominal organs and improving digestion. In Yogic Culture, this pose is believed to transform your communication skills, make you a great orator.

8. Half Pigeon Pose or Ardha Kapotasana

In this seemingly simple Pigeon Pose, the light stretch of the back taking the spine in a backbend, slowly improves the flexibility. The gentle stretch of the chest when it moves upwards resembles that of a pigeon with it's chest puffed up. It helps open up the chest muscles improving the breathing in the upper diaphragm.

9. Squat Pose or Malasana

Malasana improves balance, concentration, and focus by increasing circulation of blood flow. This increase, specifically in the pelvis, helps regulate sexual energy. The blood circulation around the hip region stagnates when we sit, which is stimulated by the Squat Pose. Your mobility is increased and you feel a boost in pelvis improving your back health.

Taking a break from the chairs you sit on all day long and staying in a squat pose for a minute or two may help improve your productivity. When the juices start to flow, you are relieved of stress and function better.

10. Four Limbed Staff pose or Chaturanga Dandasana

Chaturanga Dandasana is a yoga pose that strengthens pecs, wrists, abdomen and arms. It is extremely beneficial for those who suffer from back problems. Your back muscles, along with biceps and triceps are made strong by the pose. Though the asana boosts your flexibility and balance, it feels extremely hard for some to maintain, high upper body strength being  a vital part to holding the pose.

Coordination and Balance is a must to maintain proper alignment throughout the pose. Chaturanga Dandasana is one of the most trendy Yoga Asanas for Men today, because of the upper body strength it helps build.

11. Low Lunge or  Anjaneyasana

The asana helps improve the balance of the body, strengthens hips and abdomen muscles, and opens up the chest, shoulders and lungs.

It aids in improving the digestive system, concentration and focus. To maintain balance in the pose helps strengthen the deep core and can help alleviate pain caused by sciatica. It is a perfect way to warm up the body and prepare for more challenging poses as it helps relieve tight muscles in the hips and legs. The lifting of the torso and arms helps build strength in the arms, shoulders, and back; engaging the deep core muscles at the same time. 

A simple pose with major benefits when done right.

12. Mountain Pose or  Tadasana

If you are prone to hunching or slouch a lot, then Tadasana is the way for you to improve your posture efficiently. It may even help you increase height and boost mental awareness. With deeper breathing and energy level boosts it helps promote weight loss. It can in many cases help improve your mood and relief from Sciatica. With improved posture and coordination, boosted blood circulation, and toning muscles - the Mountain Pose improves agility, strengthens your back, hips and legs.

13. Cobra Pose or  Bhujangasana

Along with stretching the chest, lungs, shoulders, and abdomen, the Cobra Pose strengthens your spine and tones the buttocks.

It stimulates the abdominal organs and helps relieve fatigue and stress, improving the reproductive system at the same time. Increased blood circulation brings a youthful radiance to the face. Bhujangasana opens your heart and lungs, hence is therapeutic for asthma. It also improves the digestion, liver and kidney functions in the human body.

It is a very vital and effective asana for a healthy back. Regular practice makes your spinal region strong and agile. The Cobra Pose can help tone your body and spinal nerves. When practiced regularly, the pose bestows the calm and awareness resembling that of a snake on the practitioner. 

14. Warrior I and Warrior II or Virabhadrasana I & II

Where Virabhadrasana I help energize tired limbs and open up your chest and lungs; Warrior Pose II also helps build concentration and stamina, and develop balance and stability.

Both forms improve circulation and respiration, stimulate abdominal area, and stretch hips, groins, shoulders. You build strength in your legs, feet, ankles and back. The pose energizes and engages your entire body, and is believed to be therapeutic for osteoporosis, carpal tunnel and infertility.  The name itself suggests that the pose would be the most enticing to men out of all the Yoga Poses for Men suggested.

15. Downward Facing Dog or  Adho Mukha Svanasana

The pose engages your core and can help shed fat from your abdomen. It also helps prevent osteoporosis by strengthening your bones and making the upper body stronger.

The inverted V position improves blood flow to your head enhancing your focus and energy. Daily practice will provide relief from tension in the neck, strengthen your arms and will charge you up. Slumpy posture can be bad news for your image but can well be improved by Adho Mukha Svanasana.  The stretch in the spine ensures better oxygen supply to different parts of the body.  Stretches and hence strengthens your calves and hamstrings.

The post is beneficial for your entire body and leaves you energized, changed. Upward-Facing Dog is a Variation of the Asana with benefits of its own.

Honourable Mentions 

Here are a few more of the Best Yoga poses for men that help lead a healthy and happier life:

• Reclining Big Toe Pose 
• Butterfly Pose
• Locust 
• Archer Pose
• Corpse Pose
• Seated Forward Bend
• Intense Side Stretch
• High orCrescent Lunge

Final Thoughts

To know the poses alone is not enough. These might be some of the most effective positions to bring alignment to your physiology. But the key is to practice these with utmost discipline and patience. Never rush into a pose. Yoga is to be practiced with ease and in return, it establishes an unwavering stillness in the being practitioner. 

Also Read: 5 Yoga Poses For Men To Improve Sex