What Are Dolphin Pushups in Yoga? Tips, Technique, Correct Form, Benefits and Common Mistakes

Dolphin Pushups are a great exercise to add to your routine if you are looking to tone and strengthen your arms and shoulders. Having strong arms and shoulders helps perform daily activities without strain or difficulty. The constant pressure experienced by these body parts in daily life can cause them to tense up and weaken over time if not maintained through exercise.

Performing dolphin pushups is an excellent way to challenge and tone the muscles in your arms and shoulders. The exercise primarily engages your side shoulder, front shoulder, triceps, and middle-chest muscle groups.

Dolphin pushups will also tone your abdominal muscles, hamstrings and calves. They are great for people who are looking to improve their posture. Since the dolphin pose improves blood circulation to your brain, it can also be beneficial for your nervous system.

You may include the dolphin pose as part of a flow yoga sequence or as part of a total body workout or core workout.

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Dolphin Pushups in Yoga: Technique and Correct Form

Here's how you can perform a dolphin pushup:

• Start by getting into the forearm plank position. Bring your forearms parallel to each other with your palms facing down.
• Before you step back into the plank, push down through your forearms to establish solid activation and awareness of the shoulders. Focus on pushing the ground away.
• Now step back into the plank, keeping your feet hip-width apart. Keep pushing your elbows into the ground and focus on driving the forearms back towards the body to really feel the serratus anterior muscles turn on (this is essential for proper movement of the shoulder blades).
• Now, walk your feet towards you to lift your hips towards the ceiling. This is the dolphin pose; hold it for a brief moment. You may bend your knees here if your hamstrings are tight and/or you feel restricted in the legs or hips.
• Now start walking your feet back into the plank; once you arrive in the forearm plank, shift the body forward like you're sawing the floor. Your shoulders will pass your elbows as you shift your weight back to your upper body. This completes one pushup.
• Walk your feet back in, and lift or pike the hips up towards the ceiling to return to the dolphin pose. Complete the desired number of repetitions.

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Tips for Beginners

Follow these tips to ensure you are maintaining the correct form while performing dolphin pushups:

• While lowering yourself into a plank position, make sure that your stance is stable and you are performing the movement slowly.
• When you’re in a downward-facing dog pose, keep your lower back engaged. When leaning forward, don't let your hips dip, or else you may get injured.
• Keep your body stretched and lengthened from your head through your glutes to your feet. This will help you to maintain balance and engage the targeted muscle groups.
• Use your shoulders to push your body back, not your hips. This will help you build and tone your shoulders.

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Dolphin Pushups: Benefits

Core strength and upper body strength are essential for advanced yoga practice. Asanas that involve inversions, arm balances, and standing balances require power that radiates from the core.

The Dolphin Pushup combines the stretch and inversion of Dolphin Pose (Ardha Pincha Mayurasana) with a pushup. The entire movement is great for strengthening your arms and shoulders, however, your abs and core muscles are also needed to stabilize your torso.

Your hamstrings and calves are stretched. Deltoids, pectorals, triceps, biceps, and erector spinae all come into play during pushups. The abdominal muscles, rectus abdominis and transversus abdominis, are used to hold the body rigid during pushups.

Since the entire movement involves multiple joints, it is a compound exercise. This pushup helps you develop functional fitness and will serve you in all of the pushing activities of daily life. Dolphin Pushups are a good variation that will challenge your body in new ways.

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Common Mistakes

Avoid these common errors to get the most benefit out of this exercise:

1) Sagging Lower Back and Spine

When you are moving back to the plank position, don't let your lower back collapse and hips to dip below a straight line with your shoulders, as this can lead to strain. Keep your abs engaged throughout the movement.

2) Extending the Neck

Your neck and chin should be in line with your arms and back at all times. Don't crane your neck or lift your chin to look around.

3) Shoulders Much Too Forward

Your shoulders should be stacked over your elbows in the plank position. While moving into the plank position, your shoulders may shift too far forward over your elbows; you must prevent this. In the correct form, your shoulders will remain above your elbows.

Dolphin pushups are an excellent option to increase the variety in your pushup routine. Try them out during your next workout session and see if this exercise deserves to be part of your fitness regime.