10-Minute Yoga to Strengthen Your Entire Upper Body

When you think about building upper body strength, your mind might immediately come up with a list of cringey “shoulds.” As in, “I should learn how to lift weights” or “I should be able to hold Plank without shaking so much.” But upper body strength isn’t something you need to think about in such all-or-nothing terms.

Instead of measuring your own progress against an arbitrary benchmark, instead focus on how working toward upper body strength can serve you—not the other way around. (No gym membership or gimmicky personal trainer required.)

Maybe you want to hold your own on the pickleball court, swiftly lift your luggage into the overhead bin with confidence, or pick up your grandkids without struggling. Strong shoulders and arms can help with that. And you can build that strength on your yoga mat by practicing poses you already know how to do. A 10-minute routine that easily fits into your day is all it takes.

10-Minute Yoga for Upper Body Strength

The following yoga pose variations strengthen and stretch your upper back, shoulders, and arms. All you need is a mat or another supportive surface to practice on and a few minutes.

1. Crocodile Pose

Lie on your belly with your feet about mat-width apart. Stack your hands on top of each other with your palms facing down. Rest your forehead against the back of your top hand and release your weight into the mat in Crocodile Pose. Take a few deep breaths.

2. Locust Pose Variation

From Crocodile Pose, plant your palms on the mat on either side of your rib cage. Point your elbows toward the wall behind you and squeeze your upper arms in toward your midline. Gaze at the floor a few inches in front of you. Press the tops of your feet against the mat (your kneecaps might lift off the mat). Lift your palms an inch above the mat and pause in this Locust Pose variation for a few breaths.

Then lift the tops of your feet off the mat and reach your arms back toward your feet with your palms facing down. Pause here for a few breaths.

Keeping your left arm where it is, reach your right arm toward the wall in front of you. Pause here, then switch arms. Repeat that a few times on each side. Then release into Crocodile Pose.

3. Broken Wing Variation

Draw your left arm into a cactus position. Press your right hand into the mat to help you slowly roll onto your left hip. Bend your knees and stack them on top of each other. Rest the left side of your head on the mat. Keep your right fingertips pressing into the mat for balance. Pause for several breaths here.

Straighten your legs, roll onto your belly, and repeat on the opposite side. End in Crocodile Pose.

4. Locust Pose Lifts

From Crocodile Pose, lift your feet off the mat. Then lift your chest and arms off the mat, keeping your hands stacked and the top hand pressed against your forehead in a Locust Pose lift. Pause here, then at the same time, slowly lower your legs, chest, and arms back to the mat. Repeat 1-2 more Locust Pose lifts. Then return to Crocodile Pose.

5. Child’s Pose Variation

From Crocodile Pose, press your palms into the mat, tuck your toes, and shift your hips back toward your heels in a Child’s Pose variation. Press your elbows into the mat as you bend them and bring your hands together behind your neck. Pause here for a few breaths.

6. Cobra Pull-Throughs

From Child’s Pose variation, lower your forearms and palms to the mat in front of you. In one fluid motion, shift your hips forward, come onto your belly, and lift your chest slightly as you extend your legs straight behind you in Cobra Pose. Take a breath here. Press into your forearms and shift your hips back to Child’s Pose with your arms reaching forward. Repeat Cobra Pull-Throughs 2 more times, ending in Child’s Pose.

7. Upward-Facing Dog

From Child’s Pose, shift your hips forward, come onto your belly, and lift your chest slightly  (as you did in Cobra Pull-Through). Then press into your hands and the tops of your feet so your knees lift off the mat in Upward-Facing Dog. Pause for a few breaths, then return to Crocodile Pose.

8. Cobra Lifts

From Crocodile Pose, bend your arms and press your fingertips into the mat about shoulder-width apart. Lift your chest slightly and press the tops of your feet into the mat in a Cobra Pose variation. Then slowly roll your chest back onto the mat. Repeat Cobra Lifts 2-3 more times. End in Crocodile Pose.

9. Shoulder Rolls

Come into a comfortable seated position. Roll your shoulders in a circular motion in one direction several times, then switch directions.