You must have fantasised striking a pose like the beautiful flamingo bird for a glamorous photo op. Or dreamt about a dancing posture like the slender pink-plumed beauty to post a reel. Gigi Hadid, Kendall
Jenner, Eva Longoria have all done it with enviable grace.
Now awaken a flamingo inside you to power your workout routine for achieving greater balance and core strength.
Claim to fame
Celebrity fitness trainer and yoga expert Giri Yadav defines a flamingo squat to be “a single-leg position where the other rear limb is lifted off the ground, resembling a flamingo’s posture, hence the name.”
Incidentally, a flamingo often stands on one leg with the other folded in its layers of feathers or being obliquely bent. This slanting of one hind limb with the other held in a strong upright position copies the elegant posture of a flamingo. That’s why the exercise is dubbed a flamingo squat. Interestingly, the same is applied to ‘flamingo test’ for assessing an individual’s physical fitness levels by adjudging his/her balance and leg strength.
Renowned fitness expert, wellness coach and author Deanne Panday explains the basic movement. “With one leg tucked behind the other leg’s knee, squat down as low as you can with your back up under control. Aim to maintain knee alignment and stability throughout,” she says. Prima facie, this stylised bend also looks like a yoga pose.
Manner of performance
The flamingo squat requires control and coordination. “To execute it with perfection, you need to shift your weight onto one leg and lift the opposite leg slightly behind you, almost as if you are mid-stride or striking a flamingo pose. From thereon, you lower your body into a squat position on the erect leg, keeping your chest straight up and the core engaged. Your lifted leg doesn’t touch the ground; it just hovers. It’s a slow, regulated movement and that’s what makes it so effective.
There’s no momentum to hide behind. Your muscles have to do all the hard work,” elaborates strength and conditioning coach Hemant Dhingra in detail.
Yadav advises to “concentrate on the core and return to standing while squatting down on the leg in vertical stance”.
