Many of you who practice yoga regularly will be familiar with Boat Pose (Navasana) and have probably come to think of it as a core strengthening posture. This is definitely true, but it’s strengthening benefits are more than just the front abdominal muscles. Boat Pose is also an excellent choice for the deep stabilizers of the back and the hip flexors.
When practiced with attention to posture, boat pose demands activation of the deep stability muscles – specifically the erector spinae muscles of the back. The erector spinae muscles are a group of paired muscles and tendons which run the length of the spine alongside the vertebral column, and when working together they extend the spine and help to maintain erect posture and stability to the spine. When these muscle get more active and strengthened in your poses, it assists maintaining better posture in everyday activities, and is often under valued.
In order to get the benefit of strengthening the back stabilizers from boat pose, start with the intention of good posture and move gradually into the pose without losing this intention. It can be very easy to get rounded in the back in boat pose, so as you first sit, generate an upward lift coming from the breast bone (the sternum) and feel a lengthening through your spine. Then feel the core engage around this posture and slowly lean into the various versions of this pose (below).
Option one: lean back with the spine straightened keeping the feet on the ground.
Option two: progress to lifting the feet off the floor, while maintain the straight back posture. If you find yourself starting to slouch, go back to the first option.
Boat Pose is also a very effective pose to strengthen the hip flexor muscles. Many of us could benefit from hip flexor strengthening but don’t even realize it. The hip flexors (psoas, ilacus, rectus femoris) are nortorius for being over tight and contracted in many people and consequently can cause posture issues (e.g. hyper lordosis) and back pain due to its attachment to lumbar spine. However, for some of us, it can be the opposite—over lengthened and/or weak hip flexors, which is often paralleled by tight hamstring muscles. When this is the case, boat pose is an excellent strengthening choice. Moreover, a lot of people don’t realized that a tight muscle can also be a weak muscle. So if you’ve been told you have tight hip flexors, this doesn’t necessarily mean they are strong.
To test for hip flexion weakness: sit and bend one knee, other leg extended out. Hold your knee and lean back with good posture. Then try to lift the straight leg off the ground. If this is challenging this could be showing you that your hip flexors are weak or that your hamstrings are very tight, limiting your hip flexion. Either way, boat pose could be a good choice for you.
This single leg version of boat pose increases the challenge of the hip flexors (including rectus femoris), and it help build the strength and flexibility for the double leg version.
When finally attempting the full version of boat pose, being well warmed up and doing some hamstring stretching in advance can help with overcoming any tension in the hamstrings. Remember, to keep the spine elongated and, in this way, you will benefit through the back, hips, and the core.