Yoga for Strength and Endurance Challenge

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Challenge Outline

2 Weeks to complete

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Section 1

  • How to Approach This Program

    6m
  • Ready for a short, strengthening lower-body-focused flow? You’ll start with a brief warm-up from hands and knees, then move on to the flow, which includes air squats (or jump squats), power chairs, power lunges, lunge switches, and more! You'll do this simple yet challenging flow two times on each side. Throughout, Kat offers plenty of options so that you can customize the poses to suit your individual needs and goals.
Section 2
  • Learn yoga-inspired upper-body drills for strength and endurance! After a quick warmup with mountain climbers, you'll move into high-intensity interval training (HIIT) drills that include (more!) mountain climbers and "yoga burpees," followed by a 30-second forearm plank, push-ups; and more. The last drill you'll do is a knee-hover with a kick through, which is really a total body workout! Kat provides variations for wrist concerns throughout, and you'll close the experience with a feel-good forearm massage.
Section 3
  • Keep it up! Your next class includes a transition from downward facing dog to lunge, which, though common in yoga classes, can be challenging for yogis of all levels. In this module, Kat provides some tips that can make this transition a lot more accessible.
  • Prepare for a short (yet-potent) core strength flow! After a warmup up on hands and knees, you'll move onto the flow, which includes dynamic lunges, a balance-challenging transition to seated from a supported warrior III, boat pose variations, and more. After doing the flow twice on each side, you'll wind down with a hip-flexor stretch before concluding in a rest pose of your choice.
Section 4
  • Learn lower-body-focused yoga-inspired drills for strength and endurance! You’ll warm up with calf raises and horse pose pulses, then move on to HIIT drills that include jump squats (or air squats) from chair pose and horse pose. You'll also do supported warrior III kicks, one-minute chair holds, and dynamic lunges. Kat provides variations for knee-concerns throughout and cools you down with some feel-good stretches.
Section 5
  • Ready for a quick and strengthening upper-body-focused flow? After a brief warm-up that includes a cat-cow variation and heel pivots in downdog (with an option to transition into side plank), you'll move into the flow where you'll do plank walks, mountain climbers, a chaturanga-to-cobra vinyasa option, side plank, and more. You'll move through the flow twice on each side, and Kat provides variations for wrist-concerns throughout. Wind down with padahastasana (hand under foot pose) and conclude in an optional savasana.
Section 6
  • Practice yoga-inspired core drills for strength and endurance! After a quick ab-igniting warmup, you'll head right into the drills, which include dynamic plank variations, core-powered HIIT drills, forearm side plank push-ups, and more. When you're done, rest on your back and enjoy a nice side stretch.
Section 7
  • Well done! You've almost completed week one of Yoga for Strength and Endurance. Your next class is a feel-good stretch practice. Enjoy!
  • Enjoy this feel-good stretch class! You'll start by centering in child's pose or another rest pose of your choice. After that you'll do a foot stretch, a side-stretch in downdog, long holds in lizard pose(with an optional quad stretch), a sweet shoulder stretch, and more. To top it all off, lie back and enjoy a restful savasana.
Section 8
  • This lower body-strengthening sequence includes chair to power chair transitions, an active supported warrior three variation, jump squats (or air squats) from horse pose, a dynamic lizard pose and more. After moving through the flow twice on each side, you'll cool down with another lizard pose that you can into an (optional) quad stretch.
Section 9
  • Up for some upper body drills? You'll start with "shoulder flossing" (a mobility exercise that involves a strap). Then you'll move on to knee to upper arm work in forearm plank (or dolphin); HIIT drills that include a mountain climber variation, downdog jumps, and classic burpees; and a 30-second forearm plank hold. Wind down with feel-good shoulder and wrist stretches when you're done!
Section 10
  • Keep it up! Your second core-strength flow is up next. It involves some weight-bearing through the hands and wrists, so remember that you can come down to forearms whenever you like and/or skip anything that doesn't feel good in your body.
  • Enjoy this core-focused flow, which includes plenty of side body strengthening and a little back body strengthening too After a short warm-up, you’ll begin the flow where you'll do side plank scoops, a core-powered side angle variation, "super locust," and more After moving through the flow twice on each side, you'll wind down with a supine side-body stretch and an optional savasana.
Section 11
  • Get ready for some yoga-inspired lower-body drills! You'll warm up with a short chair pose flow and then move onto a cardio-boosting chair to lunge drill; HIIT drills that include kneeling half moon leg lifts, jump squats, and side kicks in horse pose; and a one-minute chair pose hold. Wind down with a nice lower-body stretch in pigeon pose or another lateral hip stretch of your choice.
Section 12
  • After a quick warm-up, you'll head right into a short yet powerful flow that includes lots of arm strengthening plank and side plank variations. You'll do the flow twice on each side and then wind down with simple backbends, wrist stretches, and shoulder stretches before concluding with a rest pose of your choice.
Section 13
  • Time for core drills! After a super-short cardio warmup, you'll move onto HIIT drills that include heel taps and criss-cross leg lifts, 30-second twisted side plank holds, a one-minute locust pose, and more.
Section 14
  • Well done! You've made it to your final class. The flow that's up next is designed to build whole-body strength and endurance and it integrates everything you've done so far. You've got this!
  • This whole-body flow is designed to boost your endurance and strengthen your upper body, lower body, and core. After a short warm-up, you'll learn a simple (yet challenging) vinyasa sequence that you'll do twice on each side before winding down with a few feel-good stretches. Conclude in your favorite rest pose and stay there as long as you like. You deserve it!

Challenge Overview

Build strength and endurance with this two-week program that's designed to be accessible for most levels of yoga experience, including newer practitioners who are up for a challenge.

Sign up and each day you'll get one simple (yet potent) 20-minute class, each of which builds upon the last. This progressive program is broken down into three key focuses (lower body, upper body, and core), and the classes alternate each day between strength-building vinyasa flows and yoga-inspired strength and endurance drills. Midway through, you'll get a feel-good stretch class, and for your final class, you do a whole-body strengthening flow that ties everything together.

Throughout, Kat provides plenty of variations so that you can customize the poses and drills to suit your needs and goals. If you're seeking a strength-building, cardio-boosting yoga experience that's easy to fit into a busy schedule, start here!

Meet Your Teacher

teacher avatar image
Kat Heagberg (Rebar)
Hi, I’m Kat! I’m a teacher for Yoga International and co-author of Yoga Where You Are with Dianne Bondy... Read more

Frequently Asked Questions

Absolutely, you can include this challenge in your Yoga Alliance training hours, with each hour equivalent to one continuing education credit.
This challenge is entirely self- paced, allowing you to learn at your convenience.There are no imposed deadlines or time constraints for Challenge completion.
No prerequisites are required; this challenge is open to anyone interested in deepening their knowledge and practice.
No, the challenge is accessible to all individuals interested in enriching their understanding and practice of yoga.Yoga teaching certification is not a prerequisite.