Warrior II

How to do it

Stand wide, feet about a leg's length apart. Turn the right foot to point straight forward; turn the left foot so it's parallel to the back edge of the mat. Hips and shoulders face the long side of the mat — not the front. Bend the right knee until it stacks over the right ankle; the left leg stays straight. Arms extend out to the sides at shoulder height, palms down. Gaze travels over the right fingertips. Hold and breathe, then switch sides.

Why it's good for runners

Running is a sagittal-plane sport — your hips almost never go into the wide-stance abduction that Warrior II demands. Holding the shape opens the inner thighs and the outer hips at the same time, and the isometric load on the bent leg builds the kind of low-grade hip stability that protects the knee on uneven ground.

Common mistakes

Don't let the front knee collapse inward — it tracks over the front ankle, in line with the second toe. Don't lean the torso forward toward the front leg; the spine stays vertical, stacked over the pelvis. And don't grip the shoulders up by the ears — they slide down even as the arms reach out long.