Puppy Dog Pose: How-to, Benefits & Variations
Puppy dog pose opens the chest and shoulders. From all fours, extend arms forward while hips stay above knees. Deep upper body stretch.
Puppy Dog Pose: How-to, Benefits & Variations
Most people think yoga poses are just about flexibility. They're not. The puppy dog pose is a targeted intervention that addresses specific weakness patterns, especially during perimenopause.
Mish Naidoo includes it in Wellls workouts because the movement builds exactly what daily life breaks down: body awareness, balance, and deep stabilizer strength.
Stretching: Daily Stretching 6
Mish Naidoo
How to Do Puppy Dog Pose
Begin on all fours, hips stacked over knees. Walk your hands forward, extending your arms out in front of you.
Lower your chest and chin toward the mat while keeping your hips high, directly above your knees.
Press your palms into the mat and reach your fingertips forward. Feel the stretch open through your armpits, chest, and upper back.
Hold for 30-60 seconds. Breathe slowly and deeply. Each exhale allows your chest to drop slightly lower.
Come out gently by walking your hands back and sitting onto your heels in a child's pose position.
Muscles Worked
Primary
Primary muscles
The main muscles targeted by the puppy dog pose, responsible for producing the movement force.
Secondary
Stabilizer muscles
Support the primary movers and maintain proper joint alignment throughout the movement.
Why this matters in perimenopause
Women lose lean muscle mass progressively from their 30s, and the decline accelerates during perimenopause as estrogen levels drop. Regular yoga practice directly counteracts this decline by combining isometric strength work with flexibility and nervous system regulation.
Coach's Tips
"Lower your knees until your hips are over your knees, walk the arms forward." That's Mish Naidoo's cue. This detail makes the difference between an effective rep and a wasted one.
Mish Naidoo
"Bring the chest down, hook the chin to the mat." That's Mish Naidoo's cue. This detail makes the difference between an effective rep and a wasted one.
Mish Naidoo
If anything feels sharp rather than challenging, stop immediately. Back off the depth and reassess your alignment. Discomfort is fine. Pain is a message.
Use blocks under your hands or a strap around your feet. Props are not cheating. They are intelligent training.
Why This Matters for You
Yoga during perimenopause addresses the whole symptom cluster, not just one piece. The breathing regulates cortisol. The holds build isometric strength and bone loading. The stretches maintain the connective tissue elasticity that estrogen decline compromises.
A systematic review of yoga interventions for menopausal symptoms found improvements in sleep quality, anxiety, and vasomotor symptoms (hot flashes). The puppy dog pose specifically targets areas where perimenopausal women report the most tension and restriction. It is both therapeutic and preventive, which is exactly the combination this life stage demands.
Variations & Modifications
Benefits
Releases tension your body stores unconsciously
The puppy dog pose opens areas where stress accumulates without your permission. Shoulders, hips, spine. These are not just muscles. They are containers for every deadline, argument, and sleepless night.
Builds strength through stillness
Holding a yoga pose under bodyweight load builds isometric strength that protects joints and improves balance. The research supports it: yoga practitioners show significantly better balance and stability than non-practitioners.
Calms the nervous system
Yoga activates the parasympathetic nervous system, the branch responsible for rest and recovery. During perimenopause, when cortisol runs high and sleep runs short, this matters more than another hard workout.
Improves body awareness
Proprioception declines with age and hormonal changes. Yoga trains your ability to sense where your body is in space, which prevents injuries during both exercise and daily life.
Common Mistakes to Avoid
Forcing depth before the body is ready
Meet your body where it is today. Depth comes with consistent practice, not with force. Forcing creates injury, not flexibility.
Holding the breath
Breath is not optional in yoga. If you cannot breathe steadily in a pose, you have gone too deep. Back off until breathing is easy.
Ignoring alignment for appearance
A correctly aligned pose at 50% depth beats a misaligned pose at full depth every time. Use blocks, straps, or modified positions.
Rushing transitions
The transitions between poses are where injuries happen. Move slowly and deliberately into and out of every position.
Workouts Featuring This Exercise
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Frequently Asked Questions
Related Exercises
Crunches
Complements the puppy dog pose by targeting related muscle groups and movement patterns.
Lateral Raise
Complements the puppy dog pose by targeting related muscle groups and movement patterns.
Romanian Deadlift
Complements the puppy dog pose by targeting related muscle groups and movement patterns.
Bulgarian Split Squat
Complements the puppy dog pose by targeting related muscle groups and movement patterns.
Glute Bridge
Complements the puppy dog pose by targeting related muscle groups and movement patterns.
Get puppy dog pose in a guided workout
Access 4 workouts featuring this exercise, plus personalized plans from Dr. Wellls.
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