Have any of you been wondering what’s up with that? I mean, if you come from a yoga tradition that includes little or no vinyasa practice (like me), you might want to know, what are they good for? And how do they compare to poses that you do once and hold for an extended period of time? Likewise, if you have a vinyasa practice and never hold your poses for long periods, you might be wondering, what good do those static poses do?
I’ve been wondering myself, to be honest. So I started talking with Baxter about it, which led him to do some research, which led me to think some more about it, which led to— Well, here are our current thoughts.
For Strengthening
For Strengthening
As Baxter told us in Strength Building: How Long to Hold Yoga Poses, holding a pose for 8 to 10 seconds strengthens your muscles through isometric muscle contraction. While you are holding the pose, you can add in conscious muscle activation as described in Why and How to Activate Your Muscles in Yoga Poses to enhance muscle building. And, if over time you gradually increase how long you hold the pose, you will be improving your endurance. Eventually you can hold poses for 1 or 2 minutes or even longer. If you are practicing for bone strength, holding a pose for 30 seconds or more has proved by Dr. Loren Fishman to be effective.
Moving in and out of a pose strengthens you in a different way than staying in the full pose. As your muscles move you into and out of the pose, you are strengthening them through resistance training rather than isometric muscle contraction. In addition, you are strengthening the muscles throughout their entire range of motion (in every step along the way into and out of the pose) rather than just in the shape of the full pose. So if you do a set of repetitions of a vinyasa, you’re working your muscles very differently than if you just hold the pose for the same length of time.
Although we don’t know of any studies on dynamic poses and bone strength, we do know that normal movement, such as walking and running, strengthens bones. So we can speculate that practicing a pose dynamically in sets of six repetitions, either with or without 8 to 10 second holds of the full pose, is going to strengthen bones as well as muscles.
Moving in and out of a pose strengthens you in a different way than staying in the full pose. As your muscles move you into and out of the pose, you are strengthening them through resistance training rather than isometric muscle contraction. In addition, you are strengthening the muscles throughout their entire range of motion (in every step along the way into and out of the pose) rather than just in the shape of the full pose. So if you do a set of repetitions of a vinyasa, you’re working your muscles very differently than if you just hold the pose for the same length of time.
Although we don’t know of any studies on dynamic poses and bone strength, we do know that normal movement, such as walking and running, strengthens bones. So we can speculate that practicing a pose dynamically in sets of six repetitions, either with or without 8 to 10 second holds of the full pose, is going to strengthen bones as well as muscles.
You can see there are different benefits to each way of practicing. So, generally it looks like doing some of both is the way to go, if you up for it! Perhaps practicing differently on different days?
If you’re feeling ambitious, you can even combine the two techniques. For example, you can do a pose as a mini vinyasa but hold the full pose for 8 to 10 seconds before moving out of it. A set of these will be more challenging than just moving in and out with your breath, but you’ll get more strength building. Or, you could repeat the same pose several times within a practice, holding it for 8 to 10 seconds each time. Rest in Mountain pose between, do a different pose, such as a Standing Forward Bend, or even do several different poses before repeating.
For Flexibility
Although doing a mini vinyasa or short static hold of a pose can warm up your joints and make it easier to stretch your muscles during a given yoga practice, practicing this way won’t create lasting changes in your flexibility. In a day or two, your muscle will return to the same length it was before you stretched it (its resting length). However, recent research shows the protein titin in muscles changes shape and may contribute to a stretch lasting for several days when you hold the stretch for around 90 seconds. In addition slow, gradual, longer stretches, where your muscles finally lengthen after you overcome the stretch reflex, address fascial tightness as well as muscle tightness. This means the type of stretching or flexibility practices you do depends on your goals.
Static poses held for around 90 seconds will bring you longer lasting flexibility in both muscles and fascia. Keep in mind that a passive stretch, such as supported backbend (see Featured Pose: Supported Backbend), will serve this purpose. Static poses held for shorter periods of time will bring you temporary flexibility that will enhance the rest of your practice, for example, you could warm up for standing poses by doing leg stretches. Holding the static pose for 20 seconds or longer will stimulate the autogenic inhibitory reflex to trigger a relaxation in the muscle, so the timing of even a shorter hold is important. And with any held pose, you can also add in muscle activation (see Why and How to Activate Your Muscles in Yoga Poses) to enhance the stretch.
On the other hand, slow, dynamic movements in and out of poses can allow gradual muscle lengthening without triggering the muscles’ protective reflex. So these are a good way to warm up your joints in an easy fashion and can lead to immediate improvements in muscle flexibility, which you can then further with your static hold of the same pose. For example, you could move dynamically in and out of Standing Forward Bend (Uttanasana) with my your breath to temporarily improve hamstring/hip flexibility, which you can then further with a long hold of the pose. In general, Baxter recommends a combination of small dynamic sequences of stretches done for 6-8 repetitions, followed by holding the stretch statically for 90 seconds.
On the other hand, slow, dynamic movements in and out of poses can allow gradual muscle lengthening without triggering the muscles’ protective reflex. So these are a good way to warm up your joints in an easy fashion and can lead to immediate improvements in muscle flexibility, which you can then further with your static hold of the same pose. For example, you could move dynamically in and out of Standing Forward Bend (Uttanasana) with my your breath to temporarily improve hamstring/hip flexibility, which you can then further with a long hold of the pose. In general, Baxter recommends a combination of small dynamic sequences of stretches done for 6-8 repetitions, followed by holding the stretch statically for 90 seconds.
For Balance and Agility
The difference between doing a balance pose as a static pose versus doing it as a mini vinyasa is the same as the difference between balance and agility, because essentially agility is balance in motion.
So to improve your balance, it’s best to practice your balance poses by holding them for as long as you safely can, gradually working your way up to longer holds. You can also progress to more challenging versions of the pose and/balance practices, such as practicing Tree pose (Vrksasana) with your eyes closed (see Techniques for Improving Balance).
To improve agility, it’s best to practice your balance pose dynamically by moving in and out of the pose with your breath, repeating in sets of six or more repetitions. That way you’ll be training yourself to move more nimbly in and out of the pose while keeping your balance. Adding variability to your mini vinyasas will help enhance your agility overall because you don’t want to limit your agility to just a couple of routines (see Yoga and Balance: An Overview).
For Emotional Wellbeing
Besides considering the physical benefits of these two different ways of practicing a pose, you may want to consider their emotional effects. In general, static poses are more grounding while dynamic poses are more stimulating.
If you’re feeling anxious, hyper, or scattered, a held pose can be grounding and calming. Holding a challenging standing pose like Extended Side Angle pose will tire you and doing a solid practice of long held poses will make it easier for you to relax at the end of your practice. And holding a forward bend, especially the seated poses, can be very quieting for some, especially if you hold it for more than 1 minute.
On the other hand, if your feeling depressed, sluggish, or slow, a mini vinayasa can be uplifting, stimulating, or energizing. For example, a Warrior 1 mini vinayasa is recommended for depression, as is a simple movement from Mountain pose (Tadasana) to Arms Overhead pose (Urdva Hastasana) or even Cat-Cow pose. These kinds of movements can energize you enough to feel ready to take on a full asana practice, so they can be a good way to begin a practice.
And for people who are going through some kind of difficulty, such as treatment for cancer or a serious life problem, moving in and out of a pose, especially if you do it mindfully (which you should anyway!) makes it easier to keep your mind engaged on your practice. A held pose, on the other, might cause you to brood. So during difficult times when you really don’t want to think, slow dynamic poses could be very helpful; be careful not to do them too quickly as that may over-stimulate you.
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