The Most Powerful Exercise You Are Probably Not Doing 

When I've been in certain public restrooms I've used this stance and felt the burn. I didn't realize there was a name for it. Thank you for breaking it down

“It’s extraordinary uncomfortable and it doesn’t take long for the pain to set in so it’s very easy to quit but every passing second is an opportunity to push yourself further than you think you can and continuously experience and overcome a very difficult moment. It literally recalibrates your perception of what is difficult.” Oh man, that’s deep…. not just for muscles and physical exercises.

One of my Kajukenbo teachers in the 80s', the late Dr. Vincent Black, said that you can't consider yourself mentally tough until you can sit a "good" horse stance for 30 minutes. Doing the practice literally changed my mind. Rest In Peace, Vince.

Man. He was so focussed and calm that the rabbit didn't bother to jump into the video. He embraced the nature with this level of focus.

This exercise actually once saved my life: burglars broke into my house and took everything out, thankfully I was at the balcony doing martial art horse stance.

In Karate the stance is called Shiko dachi. After many years of training, the discomfort goes away and a certain sense of calmness replaces it. The body's center of gravity is lowered and there is a feeling of stability, of being rooted to the earth with bare feet. The focus is on the tanden, a point just below the navel. Shiko dachi is believed to activate the tanden, the source of chi, the awakening of the Kudalini.

In a similar vein I would also mention dead hanging from a bar for long duration. I’m a climber and I never thought my grip was a limiting factor in my pull-ups. On a whim I decided to try a max dead hang and I could just barely clear 90 seconds. I started incorporating dead hangs into my grip routine and as my duration started to increase, my pull-ups improved drastically. In 6 weeks I was hanging for 2 minués 10 sec and my pull-up max increased by almost 25%. The mental gains of pushing through the pain in these isometric postures cannot be understated. Looking forward to adding this to my next cycle

I love these exercises that look hilariously easy, but turn out to be insanely punishing. Reminds me of the time a friend challenged me to try and do any exercise, however easy, with the lightest dumbbell ... but the catch was I had to do 300 non-stop reps. Doing 300 curls with a can of beans was hard work.

Started doing this 2 months ago. 50 seconds then, now 2.30 mins stance at 60 years of age. And, helped my squats and cycling

Did that horse stance 45 years ago; and others. All good times. One thing everyone needs to keep in mind: Do as much physical activity as one can while "young" because at a certain time Things are no longer as easy. One grows old, things breaks down. Also, save money. Lots of Money.

I'm in my 70s and do a simpler version of this but only for about 1 min, but it has vastly improved my leg strength and general mobility ,now I will try and get a wider stance for longer periods, thank you very much . Anything to keep mobility in old age !

I like that you get straight too the point , with short videos . Everything you say is educational . Thank you

There is a reason the Chinese do this in martial arts training and we, in America, are so quick to find this boring. The horse is crucial for body development, rooting energy and focus. Great video.

Felt like i overcome the world just by doing horse stance from start until the very last second of this video. My legs shook up like crazy. Most intense exercise i felt ever.

I did this for one minute after watching this video and it was already hard. Just starting to work out again after a long hiatus due to an injury and laziness. Going to make this part of my daily grind. Thanks, man.

This is one of the top 1-2 exercise/fitness sites on You Tube; this man really knows the how and why.

Bro your back is insane, your physique in general is really impressive but your back looks crazy

I trained in traditional Japanese marital arts years ago and this and variations. It builds tremendous leg strength without weights. One variation is to practice punch and blocking combinations while in the stance. It tends to take your mind off the pain in your thighs.

Tried it now. 1 min is all I could manage. Wow. Hard work. 43 years old and reasonably fit. Will incorporate this exercise for sure. Thanks.

Just found this channel and already implementing some of the new exercises I am learning. Thanks we appreciate what you do 🙏💪💯

A way I increase hold times is to simply hold the position for 1 second longer than I did before. It doesn't seem like much at the time but after 30 days, you've just increased by 30 seconds. I don't do more because since it is such a small increase, it's very easy to accomplish, but gives you a long term increase to your baseline, which is the end goal. Focusing on your breath is also very helpful. Good Luck!

However, one of the biggest benefits of the horse stance is that holding it for at least 1:47 minutes will unlock the "summon bunny" skill.

Quick, simple, useful, and no ads! Bless you kind sir. Great video, I'm going to try this starting tomorrow.

I did Shotokan karate years ago and every year we did a difficult training weekend and we would start with a 90min horse stance. We would have breakfast after followed by 1000 leg kicking practice (a thousand kicks so we wouldn’t cramp up from session one.) We did 8 different sessions over the weekend. I was always amazed what we could do physically and of course it opened up a new world of what you could do mentally.

Just did a minute of this, man does this wake you up! Never thought pain could be fun! Incorporating this from now

I just attempted this exercise and could barely hold it for a minute and 20 seconds, I’m definitely gonna be adding this to my daily training

Thanks so much for the reminder of the benefits ! I'm going to incorporate it into my hockey training.!

This exercise literally fixed my lower back pain ! Amazing, I do it almost every day

Static stances, like the horse stance, not only strengthens your legs but improves your balance and teaches you to relax those muscles that are not being used. Relaxation is one of the keys to power in any martial art. Even the rabbit took notes.

I tried it out and immediately felt something I've never felt before. Thank you for your effort, subscribed!

Man, You are such a gem on YT. Not only by quality of information, but also by doing short videos straight to the point, no bullhits, no intros and no stupid clips from the video itself on its beginning. Great job and thank You.

Great description and motivation..Thanks.

1:47 - Bunny Rabbit pops in frame on the left side lol aww.

1:55 You know you're doing it right when you're still enough that a rabbit doesn't even notice your presence.

The explanation and the demonstration can't be anywhere more clear than this.. kudos bro..

Thanks for giving the relatively unknown greats some props. And thanks for the notations, the video of your playing the lines and the chord naming.

Very great channel mate! Keep it up. ✊🏽 -Gabo

I have been doing 5 min hold daily for last 30 day...and it has increased my internal strength and will tremendously.

I'm going for it, thanks!

really powerful!!!thank you!!!

Good to see someone actually acknowledging this, I tried yoga and more body related exercises a few years back after a spinal injury and the horse stance was always one of those things I initially hated doing but if you do it enough, most things will really seem a lot easier. Between this and holding a malasana squat for an extended duration, your legs will drastically improve in overall strength and mobility.

I have a mobility/endurance day twice a week where I do horse stance, back bridge and a front fold and it's done wonders for me so far.

As someone whos not doing any exercise I agree 100% with the title and I see this as an absolute win

Thanks for this video!

We used to do these in Uni in dance courses. Once a teacher made us hold the position for 15 minutes straight... It was hell. And she said the same thing about improving our endurance, mobility for splits and also that damn mental strength. It's good to see that you also recommend these!

your content is killer man. clear, concise, digestible (short) blocks of info. like beastlikepro said, your overall physique is insane but the back, is that mainly from various forms of pull-ups? i know you do rows as well. thanks so much, always look forward to new videos. i’ll start incorporating these horse stances immediately. out 👊🏼

I will add that to my training/exercise list, Thanks.

these same exercises or stances have been used in sports for 60 plus years. we did something similar in the late 70's high school basketball... by "sitting on the wall" knees at 90 degree or hamstring level to floor. we do 10 sets of 2 min each along with other calisthenics and drills. You are correct 💯 when you say it dramatically improves all other exercises and personal best in sprinting, jumping and strength training. We actually won a state championship in hoops using this as part of our training program 👍. Way to bring back old school strength training... Awesome! 😎

We used to do this the first 10 minutes of martial arts class when I was a youngster. Well, first 2-5 minutes for most of us. My legs would shake so bad it looked like I was tap dancing. Talk about building endurance and balance. Total game changer. Thanks for the inspiration. Going to give this a go now at 40.

i just did my first, 1 min, 2 sets....holy cow holy cow. this is NO joke feels amazing after. thank you! 🙏

Wow , thanks bro 💪🏼

Honestly feeling lucky to find your channel. mind blowing content

The flow of movements in this video are mesmerizing and mindblowing. Jokes aside: great video.

I'm in the midst of lumbar stress fractures that have been agonizingly slow to heal. This is one of the only intense workouts I can do without back pain, and I learned about it from this video. Now I walk up to my favorite spot in the woods every day and do this. Thank you so much for sharing.

Had to do horse stance for about 30 minutes straight, everyday from about 6 yrs through 9yrs old (Kenpo Karate), until I started surfing and everything else took a back seat. Horse stance pertains to most things you do in life.💪💪🤙🤙

I really enjoyed this. Highly informative.

Wow. A workout video with 0 bs. Just straight up info and enthusiasm. You deserve a sub.

I've been doing a less pronounced version of this: the holding ball stance in Qi Gong. But I will definitely try to work my way up to the horse stance. The science about why extended isometric exercise produces such great health benefits was fascinating! Thanks. I will definitely check out your site.

Been looking stuff up to help me up my normal back squat. Looks like a good way to stay tall and avoid turning squat into good morning. That rabbit that came to check on you was nice.

As a teen during my martial arts training, I too had to hold horse stance - 5 minutes. We also had to hold several others for less time , like twist stances, lunges, cat stance etc... but hold them low. I wonder how other isometric exercises would affect strength... Say - hold a push up , arms bent at 90degrees for a few mins. Might be worth a try.

Great content, I've decided to do this every morning as I get off the bed. Apart from giving me a huge pump, it really wakes me up and improves my energy level early in the morning, must be all the focus and pain. Thanks a lot this channel is pure gold

i started doing horse stance and I would say 50% of my knee pain when I play basketball has subsided. I can only do 90 seconds right now but it's much better than the 30 seconds I started at. I hope to reach 5 minutes and I'm confident my knee pain will be reduced even more. Also, I noticed a ton of hypertrophy from this movement! probably because my body is so shocked from doing it, like about to collapse at 90 seconds. I'm so glad I found this movement, truly.

Great info, thanks for this! Subscribed, sir!

During my black belt grading we had to hold this position as our rest. By the end of my 4 hours grading I had held it for probably an hours worth of time, not to mention how many times I did it in my kata. It creates incredibly strong legs and seemed to be be of the reasons I could jump so high. Not sure the research on isometric leg holds and jump height but it seemed the better I got at sumo stance the better my verticals got!

This stance was a punishment in primary school. Teachers called it the "Okada", a local name for motorcycle. Little did they know they were helping us become black belters :)

Learned this stance in different schools of Karate, very interesting to see the science of it in this channel.

Awesome! I’ll get in contact with in a few month. This is gooodd!

I just started this today for 30 minutes spread out through the day and for one minute isometric hold is no joke… thanks for bringing this exercise to my attention!

First time trying this. I'm impressed I managed to last 2 minutes! Definitely going to start practicing this. Thanks!

You are correct about the benefits...and even more will be revealed if you practice daily. However, i'd like to respectully point out that your knees and toes should be straight not turned out. and, lowerback straight. tuck in the tail bone slightly.

Love your content bro

i'll have to try incorporating these in my training. i've done 2 sets of 50 deep bodyweight squats every single day since dec 1, 2021. i always start my workout with these along with 2 sets of 50 standing wall pushups. i have previously commented here that i've achieved the pistol squat just by doing these deep squats daily. i also use them for mental toughness and conditioning. i usually start feeling a pretty good lactic acid burn around rep 25 of the squats. i kind of want to continue the 100 reps every day into march, where i'll have completed 10,000 reps. i'm a day or two away from 5,000 now. this routine might sound easy for some of you, but i'm 67 y/o doing this...

Now this is the first exercise I do every morning. Such a great warmup!

Other than the obvious topic, the description and mechanics of how isometrics work is top notch.

This reminds me of my old days in my middle school's basketball team (when I was in China). At the time weight training was not popular nor scientific in China. The first training my coach let us do was this - horse stance 马步. I could still remember vividly how painful it was and how my coach would always stretch out those 10-second count down, which stretched to 30 seconds I think. Good old days.

I tried this a year ago for couple of weeks and got just barely 3 minutes by the end of that. The burn just settles in about after 1 minute for me, so that just feels insane to even start shooting for even 5 mins. I thought that I won't return to this move, but that leg endurance part does sound tempting, so I might give it some new shots, since it's just couple minutes. Cheers.

Another super informative video. I think I’ve watched nearly all your videos at this point. So many gems of knowledge.

This guy knows his stuff lm liking it

Great job!

I adore your content. Seriously I can't tell why, it's probably your energy and seriousness, it's just so motivating. I've already heard Hybrid Calisthenics talk about this exercise, which was great, but you've given way more information so I definitely feel like trying it

Another great video. I hope I will be able to do this one day. I am still really weak and unflexible, but I am progressing slowly. Have been working so hard recently, and my diet is definitely on point with that meal plan I got from Next Level Diet. The most important thing IMO is that I believe in myself.

Great video - Thanks for sharing!

This was very informative thank you

Love what you do! Thank you for sharing these videos with us

I would have never thought of this exercise. Amazing….just tried it for a few seconds and just an insane response.

You got a new subber. Definitely into this kinda exercises. Very similar to the standing tree chi gong exercise.

Incredible.

This is so great. You have brought attention to many under-looked ways of achieving fitness. You have earned a sub. Good on you. This was one of those exercises you see but never ever take seriously. Kind of like how you do wall sits in gym class but ignore it in adulthood.

Been doing this since I was 6 1963 Traditional Karate Training... Still do this .. it will never go away... if you throw some punches L & R it makes it even harder.... check it out on youTube straight punches at the same area the other persons face ,Throat, solar Plexlex,stomach ect... in a peaceful way ...breathing out hard at every punch... now youre working With The Breath as well.... Great boges

Thanks for sharing.

Thank you! Just started this last week and already feel the balance and leaping ability improved.

Definitely gonna give this a go. Might even try the rabbit stance, too!

I tried it instantly (when the video started - I just wanted to do some kind of work) - after wasting time for several hours on RU-vid - It was my first time doing this movement and I gave up at 2:48 - minutes after it, I still feel the pain! This is a really great exercise. I'll do this 2 - to 3 times a week now. Thanks for the help man. Great content!!

Sumo wrestlers incorporate this a lot with leg raises to stomps, known as Shiko. I know it was a favorite of some of the earlier knockdown karate fighters for building strong legs and kicks.

Looks excruciating, respect.

A couple days ago, I started holding a horse stance while doing an archer's pull movement with yoga bands. Two great exercises at once. Will definitely keep up and expand the horse stance work.

Greetings Sir. I am glad that someone put forward the benefits of the Horse Stance. Not so popular among people when the topic arrives against doing Squats, but the endurance it develops in both mind and body is comparatively much higher. One thing I would like to mention about is the implementation of Tai Chi. With all due respect, I have no intention of flattery. As you have mentioned, Horse Stance primarily is an Isometric workout. Tai Chi on the other hand is a Pseudo-Isometric workout. In Horse Stance you focus on a particular points in the body to maintain the posture. In Tai Chi, the tension you experience while doing Horse Stance, is allowed to be delivered other parts of the lower body as well. In general, you keep yourself level as you have shown in the video and shift body weight to alternate legs. Not fast, but in a way that you can feel how the tension is shifting from one muscle group to the next. In other words, in the level you are in the video, you move around trying not to stumble or lose your balance. (you move, set you feet in all possible positions so that different muscle groups get hit.) All the posture that they do in upper body, I have no idea about those. But I try to keep my hands at eyes' level while moving around. Hope you are having a good day. Keep Smiling. Stay Healthy.

Thank you sir

Wow!!! Ever since all my health issues my endurance and cardio and flexibility has suffered tremendously. I'm 33 and my hips are sooo tight I feel like I'm 80. I tried this today for the first time and I was able to do 30 secs and then another go of 50 sec. This made my thighs, butt and hips really feel the burn. Gonna try and do this every day or every other day.

Love your videos. They've really helped me with this whole staying at home situation. One suggestion for your videos: Moving your webcam video square to the top right instead of the top left would be easy on the viewer. Having it on the top left makes it look like you're looking off-screen, my eyes follow your eyes, however the video of you working out is on the right. Moving it from top-left to top-right could help with this.