The Best Yoga Poses for Guys

If you think you're too manly for yoga, we have some bad news: You're already doing it.

Those planks you add to every core session? Yoga. That stretch before your pickup game? Yoga. The deep breaths you take to center yourself when you're stressed? Yoga. If you think a style of exercise should be gendered, you should probably find yourself some way to travel back in time, because that's the only place those types of rigid, restrictive ideas still exist.

Yoga can be extremely beneficial for everyone - but especially for men. Taking one yoga class per week or doing a couple of pre-workout poses can increase endurance, build strength, prevent injuries, and may even stave off heart disease.

How? “Men often suffer from tightness particularly in the hips, hamstrings, and shoulders that can lead to injury or weakness,” Baron Baptiste, creator of Baptiste Power Vinyasa Yoga and former assistant coach with the Philadelphia Eagles told MensHealth.com. “Over-training in any one sport can cause repetitive stress and other more serious injuries. Yoga is a full-body workout that creates both strength and flexibility. You need to have both. One without the other is a recipe for disaster.”

Not sure where to start with your brand new commitment to yoga? Practice these 10 poses in this order, which Baptiste claimed can benefit men because they stretch out guys’ tightest spots (like the shoulders, hips, and groin) and strengthen muscles that get no love during workouts (like the low back and knees).