The Hidden Muscle Imbalance in Yoga That No One Talks About {And How to Fix It}

Okay, let’s get real.

Yoga is often sold as a “balanced” practice.
Mind-body. Yin-yang. Strength-flexibility.
Breathe in, breathe out. You know the drill.

Buuuuut if you peek under the hood of a typical vinyasa or Ashtanga class?

It’s like a flexion factory in there.

Your front body is folding, crunching, reaching, pushing, over and over.

And your back body? The one responsible for holding you upright, stabilizing your spine, and keeping your posture from collapsing?

That whole region is so often neglected. Repeatedly. For years.

Traditional Yoga and the Strength Imbalances

Here’s what blew my mind when I really started looking at movement patterns in yoga {shoutout to anatomy-based teacher like Jason Crandell} for sparking my interest:

Yoga, especially the traditional kind, gives our “pushing” muscles a LOT of love.

Think:

• Chaturanga

• Upward Dog

• Downward Dog

• Arm balances

• Handstands

All of these? Push, push, push.

But the pulling muscles? The ones that stabilize your shoulder blades, balance your rotator cuff, and keep your upper back from collapsing into itself?

Crickets.

And it’s not just shoulders. Your glutes, hamstrings, spinal stabilizers? Often ghosted entirely.

🧠 Fun fact: A typical Sun Salutation A, the cornerstone of vinyasa and Ashtanga yoga.

1. You fold forward.

2. You maybe halfway lift (with barely any actual spinal extension).

3. You Chaturanga.

4. You lift into Upward Dog {One glorious backbend!}.

5. You push back to Down Dog.

6. Repeat. Again. And again. And again.

It includes 5 flexion-based movements for every 1 backbend. That’s a 5:1 IMBALANCE!

Multiply that across an hour-long class, several times a week, for years?

You’re training an imbalance, without even realizing it.

How This Imbalance Shows Up {Even if You’re “Strong”}

🧐 You know that persistent low back tightness you keep stretching… but it never really goes away?

🧐 Or that slouchy shoulder feeling, even when you’re standing “tall”?

🧐 Or why your yoga practice feels good in the moment, but doesn’t seem to be building long-term strength?

That’s not your imagination. That’s the imbalance in action.

It’s not just age, or your posture. It’s PATTERN.

And the pattern is this: overtraining the front, undertraining the back.

What to Do Instead {Spoiler: You Don’t Have to Quit Yoga}

Let me be clear: I’m not here to trash talk yoga.

I LOVE yoga. I TEACH yoga.

But after years of teaching and practicing, I’ve learned that yoga, beautiful as it is, isn’t always complete when it comes to strength.

^^^ Especially if you're a woman in your 40s or beyond, when your body starts whispering {or yelling}, “Hey... something’s off.”

So here’s what I started doing differently, and what I now teach all my students.

These small shifts? Total game-changers.

1. Upgrade Your Halfway Lift

Most people barely lift.

Halfway lift becomes more of a “meh-lift.” But done right? This move lights. you. up.

When you engage intentionally, you:

• Fire up your spinal stabilizers

• Engage your hamstrings and glutes

• Activate your back body like you mean it

✨ Try this cue: Reach your chest forward, gently draw your shoulder blades together, and lengthen through the crown of your head like you’re aiming for the front row.

Your spine stays long. Your muscles switch on. Your posture improves in real time.

2. Add Lunges to Activate Glutes + Hip Stability

Before I plank, I lunge.

Why?

👉 Lunges create hip extension = glute + hamstring activation
👉 They also stretch your tight hip flexors = less compression in the low back
👉 You build real-world strength across your hips and pelvis = injury prevention 101

Lunges aren’t just “leg work.” They’re back body gold.

3. Use Cobra, Locust + Resistance Bands to Strengthen Your Posterior Chain

I used to love Up Dog. Until I realized I was basically dumping into my low back and bypassing every stabilizer I should have been using.

Now?

I linger in Cobra. I pulse in Locust. I row with a resistance band in Dandasana and feel muscles light up I didn’t even know I had.

✨ Pro tip inspired by Jenni Rawlings: Adding simple pulling movements, like resistance band rows or even reverse table/Purvottanasana, can help restore shoulder balance that yoga often misses.

And no, it’s not “cheating” to bring a prop into class. It’s evolution.

4. Train Shoulder Extension (Because Stretching Isn’t Strengthening)

Almost every pose in flow has your arms overhead: Warrior I, Chair, Down Dog…

But how often do you move your arms behind your body?

Try this next time: In Halfway Lift or a Lunge, reach your arms back, palms down, fingers long.

• Boom. Upper back engagement. Rear delts. Rhomboids. Lats. Postural gold.

Suddenly, you're not just holding shapes. You're training strength, control, and stability.

---

Check In With Your Strength

A 5-Day Yoga Strength Series for Women 40+ Who Are Ready to Feel Strong Again

If you’ve been rolling out your mat thinking:

• “Why am I not getting stronger?”

• “Shouldn’t I be seeing more progress by now?”

• “Is yoga even working for me anymore?”

You’re NOT broken. You’ve just never been taught in a way your 40-something body can actually hear.

This series is different.

✨ No overtraining. ✨ No random moves.✨ No guesswork.

Just real, repeatable, grounded strength-building designed specifically for women like you.

• Short practices you can actually stick with

• Lifetime access to move at your own rhythm

• Real progress you can feel in your joints, your breath, your posture—and your LIFE

This Isn’t Just About One Pose. It’s About Rebalancing Your Whole Practice.

😟 If your low back always feels tight...

😟 If your shoulders slump no matter how much you stretch...

😟 If your strength just isn’t translating off the mat...

It’s not because you’re doing yoga wrong. It’s because traditional yoga, beautiful as it is, was never designed to train every muscle evenly.

^^^ Especially not the ones behind you.

So NO. You don’t need a complete overhaul. But you do need to wake up the other half of your body.

• YOUR GLUTES DESERVE A SEAT AT THE TABLE.

• YOUR SHOULDERS DESERVE TO BE PULLED BACK, NOT JUST PUSHED FORWARD AGAIN AND AGAIN.

• YOUR BACK BODY DESERVES YOUR ATTENTION, STARTING NOW.