4 Creative Core Strengthening Exercises to Practice in Yoga

It’s become a universal joke that core strengthening exercises are sorta the worst. Cue the shiver down your spine when the yoga teacher says, “We’re going to focus on core strength today!” The humor lies, in part, in the notion that core work is challenging in a muscle-shaking, sweat-dripping, counting-the-seconds-until-it’s-over kind of way.

But perhaps another reason core work is famously dreaded is because so many of us practice the same movements again and again—Plank, Bird Dog, Side Plank, Boat Pose—and, as a result, those movements get pretty stale.

Wondering how to break this vicious cycle? There are creative ways to incorporate core strength-building into a yoga sequence that don’t involve “doing a bunch of crunches in a row,” according to longtime yoga teachers yoga teachers Bradshaw Wish and Giana Gambino of C.A.Y.A. Yoga School. “Sometimes core work is strongest when students don’t realize they’re doing it.”

4 Creative Core Strength Exercises to Do in Yoga

Wish and Gambino recommend adding the following dynamic exercises to your core-strengthening routine. Practice them consistently and, over time, you’ll experience improved posture, balance, and coordination on and off the mat.

1. Reverse Tabletop Curl With Block Squeeze

This exercise quickly builds heat in the core and helps build pelvic stability. Bonus: Squeezing a block between the legs also strengthens the inner thigh muscles.

How to:

2. Lie on your back with your knees stacked over your hips and your shins parallel to the mat in Reverse Tabletop.
3. Place a block between your thighs and gently squeeze.
4. Reach your arms toward the wall in front of you as you lift your head, neck, and shoulders off the mat. Draw your knees slightly toward your chest. Breathe here.

2. Low Boat Pose Hover 

Boat Pose is a typical posture cued for core strength. This variation adds an endurance challenge and helps improve muscle control.

How to:

1. Lie on your back with your legs in Reverse Tabletop.
2. Reach your arms toward the wall in front of you as you lift your head, neck, and shoulders off the mat. Straighten your legs and lift them a couple inches off the mat. Hover here, keeping your low back rounded and drawing your navel toward your spine.

3. Dynamic Boat Pose 

Another way to mix up your core routine is this dynamic variation of Boat Pose, which strengthens your hip flexors and teaches you to control your movements through transitions.

How to:

1. Come into Boat Pose. Draw your navel toward your spine as you slowly lower your upper body halfway back and your legs toward the mat, keeping your shoulders and legs lifted off the mat. Inhale here.
2. Exhale as you lift back into Boat Pose. You can practice this once or several times in repetition.

4. Chair Pose With Block Squeeze

Using a block to engage your inner thighs not only builds heat in your core, quads, and glutes, but helps you maintain safer alignment in your hips and knees.

How to:

1. Stand with your feet hip-width apart. Place a block between your thighs and squeeze to hold it in place.
2. Bend your knees in Chair Pose, keeping your weight in your heels. Reach your arms overhead as you keep squeezing the block. Breathe here.