• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
Breaking Muscle

Breaking Muscle

Breaking Muscle

  • Fitness
  • Workouts
    • Best Shoulder Workouts
    • Best Chest Workouts
    • Best Leg Workouts
    • Best Leg Exercises
    • Best Biceps Exercises
    • Best Kettlebell Exercises
    • Best Back Workouts
    • Best HIIT Workouts
    • Best Triceps Exercises
    • Best Arm Workouts
  • Reviews
    • Supplements
      • Best Pre-Workout
      • Best BCAAs
      • Best Testosterone Boosters
      • Best Bodybuilding Supplements
      • Best Creatine
      • Best Supplements for Weight Loss
      • Best Multivitamins
      • Best Collagen Supplement
      • Best Probiotic
      • Best Non-Stim Pre-Workout
      • Best Greens Powder
      • Best Magnesium Supplements
    • Protein
      • Best Protein Powder
      • Best Whey Protein
      • Best Protein Powders for Muscle Gain
      • Best Tasting Protein Powder
      • Best Vegan Protein
      • Best Mass Gainer
      • Best Protein Shakes
      • Best Organic Protein Powder
      • Best Pea Protein Powder
      • Best Protein Bars
    • Strength Equipment
      • Best Home Gym Equipment
      • Best Squat Racks
      • Best Barbells
      • Best Weightlifting Belts
      • Best Weight Benches
      • Best Functional Trainers
      • Best Dumbbells
      • Best Adjustable Dumbbells
      • Best Kettlebells
      • Best Resistance Bands
      • Best Trap Bars
    • Cardio Equipment
      • Best Cardio Machines
      • Best Rowing Machines
      • Best Treadmills
      • Best Weighted Vests
      • Concept2 RowErg Review
      • Hydrow Wave Review
      • Best Jump Ropes
  • News
  • Exercise Guides
    • Legs
      • Back Squat
      • Bulgarian Split Squat
      • Goblet Squat
      • Zercher Squat
      • Standing Calf Raise
      • Hack Squat
    • Chest
      • Bench Press
      • Dumbbell Bench Press
      • Close-Grip Bench Press
      • Incline Bench Press
    • Shoulders
      • Overhead Dumbbell Press
      • Lateral Raise
    • Arms
      • Chin-Up
      • Weighted Pull-Up
      • Triceps Pushdown
    • Back
      • Deadlift
      • Trap Bar Deadlift
      • Lat Pulldown
      • Inverted Row
      • Bent-Over Barbell Row
      • Single-Arm Dumbbell Row
      • Pendlay Row
Fitness

Strength Training for Yogis: Lift From the Floor to Move Well

Training the clean and deadlift will help you move with more ease in your yoga, and in life.

Stephanie Ring

Written by Stephanie Ring Last updated on Sep 19, 2023

Take the time to learn this week’s moves. Not only will they make you stronger, but they will help you improve your body mechanics. What does that mean? It means you will move with more ease. And everyone, especially yogis, loves to move with ease.

Building Life Skills

Knowing how to safely pick something up off of the ground is an essential life skill you use every day. Understanding the proper way to bend and lift prevents injuries and increases overall strength. When you lift correctly, you build strength in the hamstrings, glutes, and lower back. But beyond that, these movements are functional, real life movements.

The most basic lift is a deadlift. We bend down with straight arms and pick an object up. Once we understand the concept of the deadlift, we can incorporate the clean, a more dynamic movement that move weight from the ground to the shoulders. These two movements allow us to pick up heavy objects and move them from point A to point B.

5 Points of a Solid Deadlift

Remember these five simple points of performance for a solid kettlebell deadlift: 

  1. Start with feet shoulder distance apart. Line the kettlebell up directly between the feet with the handle running horizontal with the arches of the feet.
  2. Draw the shoulders down and the shoulder blades together.
  3. With a flat back, send your hips back, bend the knees, and grab a hold of the kettlebell.
  4. Ground down through the heels and push up. Keep the chest lifted and keep the kettlebell in close to the body.
  5. Extend the hips fully at the top. Be careful not to hyper-extend the back or knees. Stand up straight.

5 Points of a Perfect Power Clean

Here are five points of performance for a perfect dumbbell power clean:

  1. Start with the dumbbells near the ankles. Set the feet hip-width apart, or even a bit wider. Send your hips back, then bend the knees with shoulders over the dumbbells. Keep the back flat.
  2. Draw the dumbbells off the floor by driving down through the feet and extending fully through the hips and knees.
  3. Pull the body under the dumbbells as you bend the elbows and catch the dumbbells on the shoulders.
  4. Stand up after the catch.
  5. Return the dumbbells to the mid-thigh position and lower them down to the original starting point.

From the Floor: 3 Strength Building Workouts

When choosing a kettlebell or dumbbell weight, your top priority is good form through all repetitions. Start with a lighter weight than you think you need. Work up to a heavier weight once you feel comfortable with the movement. The end goal is to choose weight that offers challenge but also allows you to do high-rep workouts.

Warm Up:

  • Jump rope 2 minutes
  • 5 sun salutations
  • 30 second plank
  • 30 second hang on the pull up bar
  • 30 second plank
  • 5 sun salutations
  • Jump rope 2 minutes

Workout #1

8 minute EMOM:

  • 8 dumbbell power cleans

3 rounds for time:

  • 30 kettlebell deadlifts
  • 15 pull up (jumping or banded)
  • 20 goblet squats

Workout #2

  • 5×10 kettlebell deadlifts

12 Min AMRAP:

  • 10 dumbbell power cleans
  • 12 box step up
  • 10 dumbbell push press

Workout #3

10 rounds for time:

  • 8 kettlebell deadlifts
  • 5 burpees

More Ways to Make Your Yoga Strong

  • Strength Training for Yogis: Pull Ups for Upper Body Athleticism
  • Strength Training for Yogis: Push Ups for a Powerful Chaturanga
  • Strength Training for Yogis: Presses for Upper Body Strength
  • New on Breaking Muscle Today

Teaser photo courtesy of Shutterstock.

Stephanie Ring

About Stephanie Ring

Creator of Endure Yoga, Stephanie is an athlete who loves yoga and understands the benefits of it as part of athletic training. Movement has always been an important part of her life, starting with ballet at age three and moving to competitive cheerleading at age sixteen. She started practicing yoga in college but it was years later when she started training for triathlons that her yoga practice was taken to the next level. Stephanie utilized yoga as cross-training and as a way to increase her overall performance, prevent injuries and improve recovery time. She completed more than a dozen races including two marathons, a century ride, and two half Ironmans.

Eventually, her love of endurance sports began to wane. It was then that her interest in gymnastics and CrossFit started to grow. When she was introduced to CrossFit in 2013, it wasn’t long before her training days out numbered the days on the yoga mat. It was around this time when she created WOD Recovery Yoga. A yoga practice designed to help athletes recover mentally and physically from training.

Beyond coaching, she is a student at heart. She loves learning new forms of movement to improve her performance and the performance of her athletes. She challenges herself daily to move past physical and mental barriers. She is a CrossFit Level 2 Coach coaching at Crossfit Marin and certified 500 Hour Yoga Teacher teaching at Yoga Flow SF.

View All Articles

Related Posts

Fergus Crawley 5K Run Tips Photo
Fergus Crawley Shares 5 Tips For Running a Better 5K
Actor Chris Hemsworth in gym performing dumbbell row
Chris Hemsworth Diagrams a Killer Upper Body Workout Fit For an Action Star
Hugh Jackman Deadpool 3 Workouts Spring:Winter 2023
Hugh Jackman Returns to Wolverine Condition in Workouts for “Deadpool 3”
Method Man Incline Dumbbell Presses December 2022
Check Out Rapper Method Man Cruising Through 120-Pound Incline Dumbbell Presses for 10 Reps

Primary Sidebar

Latest Articles

New Year’s Fitness Sales (2025)

XWERKS Motion BCAA Review (2025): A Registered Dietitian’s Honest Thoughts

Assault Fitness AssaultBike Pro X Review (2025): Assault’s Best Bike Yet?

13 Best Exercise Bikes for Home Gyms (2025)

Transparent Labs BCAA Glutamine Review (2025): The Key to Post-Workout Recovery?

Latest Reviews

Element 26 Hybrid Leather Weightlifting Belt

Element 26 Hybrid Leather Weightlifting Belt Review (2025)

Omre NMN + Resveratrol, Lifeforce Peak NMN, and partiQlar NMN on a red background

Best NMN Supplement: Fountain of Youth in a Bottle? (2025)

The Titan Series Adjustable Bench on a red background

Titan Series Adjustable Bench Review (2025)

A photo of the NordicTrack Select-a-Weight Dumbbells on a red background

NordicTrack Adjustable Dumbbell Review (2025): Are These Value Dumbbells Worth It?

woman lifting barbell

Be the smartest person in your gym

The Breaking Muscle newsletter is everything you need to know about strength in a 3 minute read.

I WANT IN!

Breaking Muscle is the fitness world’s preeminent destination for timely, high-quality information on exercise, fitness, health, and nutrition. Our audience encompasses the entire spectrum of the fitness community: consumers, aficionados, fitness professionals, and business owners. We seek to inform, educate and advocate for this community.

  • Reviews
  • Healthy Eating
  • Workouts
  • Fitness
  • News

Follow Us

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Instagram
  • Pinterest
  • RSS Feed

© 2025 · Breaking Muscle · Terms of Use · Privacy Policy · Affiliate Disclaimer · Accessibility · About