21/09/2020
One of the poses is misaligned. Can you guess which one?
If you guessed that the first photo is misaligned, well you guessed right!
Now it might appear that I'm doing a full warrior 3, but if you look closely, my hip is not stacked over my knee and ankle, hence leading to extreme weight on my ankle joint. Also my lifted leg (in this case, right leg) is not internally rotated from the hip. By careful inspection you will see that my right toes are slightly turned outward. This will lead to my right hip externally rotating, causing more instability and hence more weight and pressure on my knees.
In the second picture, I may not have my whole upper body parallel to the floor, but my joints in the leg are stacked one over the other and hence allows me to protect the joints while engaging all the muscles of the leg. Additionally my toes of the lifted leg are turned down and hips internally rotated.
Even though I may not be as deep in my warrior 3, I'm still balancing with complete alignment.
And this is why it's important to know that it's not about how deep we get into a pose. It's how we are taking care of the body and keeping the joints safe by engaging correct muscle sets. Once comfortable and aligned, we will be able to move into deeper variations with ease.
Warrior 3 is the toughest warrior for me and I struggled with this pose quite a bit when I started out. Not only because it's a balancing pose, but also 'cause it's a pose that uses immense leg strength and can strain the knees if we don't engage the glutes and quads enough. And more importantly like other balancing poses, it relies on functional core strength and stability which in warrior 3 can be harder as there is a tendency for the lower back to over-arch (anterior pelvic tilt) which can disengage the core.
So the next time your try warrior 3, try these Micro-movements and do let me know about your experience!
