Hero's Journey

Don't let tight quadriceps keep you from one of yoga's most relaxing poses.

By Julie Gudmestad

Supta Virasana (Reclining Hero Pose) is a passive backbend and a wonderful chest opener that's extremely relaxing and restorative. It's the perfect antidote to an overstressed life—as long as your knees and lower back aren't screaming in agony. Why do some students experience such pleasure and others pure pain in this pose?

It's likely that it has to do with the length in the muscles of your front body. Supta Virasana is a classic front-opening pose. As you sit between your heels, it stretches the fronts of your ankles and lower legs. As you lie back, your quadriceps and abdominal muscles lengthen and open. Extending your arms overhead adds a shoulder and chest stretch. All in all, it's a wonderful position for spacious, relaxed breathing.

But sometimes your lower body doesn't cooperate. If you have knee and back pain in this pose, the culprit is often tightness in your quadriceps, specifically the rectus femoris (RF). I recommend working on this muscle if you're having difficulties in Supta Virasana. One caveat, though: If you have persistent pain in your lower back or knees in the pose, consult your health care provider to rule out structural problems or injuries, then find an experienced teacher for guidance. If you're uncomfortable doing the pose even with skilled supervision, substitute another supported backbend, like Supta Baddha Konasana (Reclining Bound Angle Pose) or supported Setu Bandha Sarvangasana (Bridge Pose).

The RF is one of the four muscles that form the quadriceps on the front of the thigh. It sits directly under the skin, running right down the center of the thigh between hip and knee. This muscle originates on the front pelvis above the hip socket, and then crosses the front of the hip to join the other three quads: the vastus lateralis, v. intermedius, and v. medialis. The three vastus muscles originate on the femur, and all four quadriceps converge into a common tendon, which attaches to the kneecap. This tendon then extends down past the knee, becoming the patellar ligament, which inserts on the shinbone. All four muscles contract to extend (straighten) the knee. Because RF crosses the hip, it also acts to flex (bend) the hip when the thigh and torso are pulled toward each other.

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