Legs · Bodyweight
Cobra Yoga Pose
How to do the cobra yoga pose, the muscles it works, and the mistakes to avoid. Pulled straight from the Kovo app's exercise library.
- Equipment
- Bodyweight
- Difficulty
- Beginner
- Logged as
- time
- Movement
- Extension
- Mechanic
- Isolation
How to do it
Lie face down with your hands under your shoulders and elbows close to your sides. Press lightly into your hands and lift your chest off the floor into a gentle backbend, keeping your hips down. Hold while breathing steadily, then lower with control.
- 1A gentle backbend stretching the chest, abs, and hip flexors
- 2Elbows hugged close to your sides
- 3Glutes lightly engaged to support the low back
Common mistakes
- Locking the elbows or forcing yourself up
- Compressing the low back instead of lengthening
- Shrugging the shoulders toward your ears
Muscles worked
The cobra yoga pose mainly works the hip flexors, with the upper chest, lower back, upper abs, and lower abs assisting.
- Hip FlexorsPrimary
- Upper ChestSupport
- Lower BackSupport
- Upper AbsSupport
- Lower AbsSupport
- TricepsMinor
- Lower TrapsMinor
- GlutesMinor
- Front DeltsMinor
Kovo programs the cobra yoga pose for you and tracks it every session.
We build your whole program, drop the right lifts into each workout, and adjust your weights as you get stronger. Free on iOS and Android.
More hips & adductors exercises
- How to do the butterfly stretch
- How to do the external rotation
- How to do the cable hip adduction
- How to do the internal rotation
- How to do the cobra pose
- How to do the core scrunch
Last reviewed June 2026.