What are the benefits of practicing the horse stance?

The horse stance helps you develop stamina and strength. It also helps your body develop a certain balance between your upper and lower body.

What is the horseman pose

Horseman’s pose, or ma bu, is a basic stance in Chinese martial arts, tai chi and qigong, which involves holding the body in a squat with a wide stance.

The horseman’s pose is present in all types of kung fu and is used as an intermediate position from which one can easily move to any other. And holding the pose for a long time can be used in training to develop muscular endurance, willpower and patience.

For those who have never been into martial arts, the horseman pose may be familiar from a funny moment in the movie Drunken Master. You can also Check 6 Best Exercises To Lose Weight At Home

Is it beneficial to do the horseman pose?

There are no scientific studies on the benefits of ma bu. However, there are studies on isometric exercises, in which muscles tense without changing their length. This is exactly what happens in the horseman pose.

In a meta-analysis of 23 studies, scientists found that isometric exercises help build muscle. Especially if the muscle is slightly stretched under load. In the horseman’s pose, the quadriceps are most tense, and when bending the legs at the knees at a right angle, they are in an elongated position.

Thus, the horse stance will stimulate muscle growth, although it is unlikely that you will be able to pump up your legs this way. Classic strength training is quite voluminous, and it will be difficult to create the necessary load with a single static exercise.

As for strength, it will increase, but only in a specific position. In other words, if you often stand in the horseman’s pose, you will be able to beat your friends in “who can hold on longer” challenges. But this will not help you, for example, squat with a lot of weight. After all, in dynamic exercises, your muscles will need to strain in different positions, and they have become stronger only in one.

However, the rider pose can still be useful if:

You are going to practice kung fu or tai chi. In a training video on YouTube, kung fu shifu Carl Romaine explains that in such a stance a person is maximally stable and this can be used in defense. Ma bu also allows you to isolate your legs and practice hand movements – strikes and blocks.
You have pain when doing other leg exercises. If you have an injury that prevents you from doing squats and lunges, but doesn’t bother you while holding the pose, ma bu can be a great way to strengthen your muscles.
You want to “finish off” your muscles at the end of a strength workout. Holding a pose on pre-tired muscles is used in some training regimens. In the case of the horseman pose, this is the safest, since you will not fall out of nowhere and will not drop the equipment on yourself.
You are looking for exercises to do at home without equipment. To pump up your legs without equipment, you can use double and single leg squats, lunges, step-ups and other multi-joint movements. But since the thigh muscles are quite strong and do not tire easily, you can use the horse pose to add load and increase your chances of hypertrophy.
You want to work on your joint mobility. If you have problems with flexibility and it’s hurting your performance in any exercise, the horse pose can help you increase the range of motion in your hip joints. At least if you deepen the pose over time.

Can the horseman pose be harmful?

Overall, this exercise is fairly safe. You may have some muscle soreness the day after the workout, especially if you don’t usually do leg work , but it will go away quickly.

But if during or after the exercise you feel pain in the knee, hip or ankle joints, as well as discomfort in the lower back, you should not continue to practice ma bu. Perhaps, while performing the pose, you are overloading the already not entirely healthy tissues, which in the long run can lead to injury.

How to do the horseman pose correctly

Place your feet shoulder-width apart. Then, leaning on your toes, turn your feet outward with your heels. Transfer your body weight to your heels and turn your toes outward. Then move your heels together again, but this time so that your feet are straight and parallel to each other. This is the desired width.

There is another option: Place your feet together, then make five movements with one foot, alternately turning the heel and toe outward.As a result, there should be a distance of approximately 3.5 lengths of your foot between your legs. You can also use your hands as a guide. To do this, place your palms on your waist and pay attention to your elbows. Your feet should be on the same vertical line as your elbows or slightly beyond it.

Once your feet are the right width apart, lower yourself into a squat and turn your knees out to the sides. If your flexibility allows, squat until your thighs are parallel to the floor or close to it.

To check that you’ve gone low enough, you can place cups of water on your hips or place a stick on them. If the objects don’t fall or roll, you’ve found the perfect height.For those who cannot go that low, you can stop where the pose does not cause discomfort. For example, as in the photo below.The feet can be left straight or turned slightly outward. The latter is especially useful for those who want to sit in a deep pose.

Straighten your back and make sure your pelvis is in line with your back and head. To check this, you can stand sideways in front of a mirror.

If your body leans forward and you can’t hold it, try to rise a little higher and return your back to a vertical position. Your lower back should maintain a natural curve, so don’t try to twist your pelvis or, conversely, arch your back, pushing your butt back.

You can place your hands on your waist, fold them in front of your chest, or stretch them out in front of your body. Try different options and see what feels most comfortable to you.

Distribute your body weight evenly across your feet and imagine that they are growing into the floor. And don’t hold your breath – try to inhale and exhale calmly and evenly. Concentrating on your breathing will distract you from the pain in your legs.

How long to hold the horseman pose

An untrained person will have a hard time holding this pose for even one minute. At the same time, the Shaolin Kung Fu website claims that students must hold ma bu for five minutes, and only then can they perform wushu exercises. Monks can hold it for 30 minutes or even longer.

You can start with 30-60 seconds and gradually increase the duration of the hold. There are several options on how to do this:

Add to your workout . Do the horse pose at the end of your leg routine, whether you’re at the gym or at home. Do one set and hold for as long as you can. Try to hold it a little longer each time.
Perform separately from the session . If you want to train specifically the horse pose, try to practice daily and increase the holding time by 10 seconds each week.
Do this several times a day whenever possible. For example, stand in the pose while brushing your teeth , heating food in the microwave, or waiting for your coffee to pour. You can set a timer for a certain amount of time, or just set a stopwatch and see how long you can hold out this time.

Try the handstand and write in the comments how long you managed to hold it. I held it for 90 seconds, and the last 15 were filled with piercing pain in my muscles.