Happy Baby Pose

Muscles worked by the Happy Baby Pose

Primary

AdductorsHip AdductorsGlutesGluteus Maximus

Secondary

Lower BackErector SpinaeHamstringsHamstring Muscles

Also called: hip adductors, inner thigh, adductor muscles, groin, glute, glutes.

Equipment

No equipment — this is a bodyweight exercise.

How to do the Happy Baby Pose

1. Lie on your back and draw both knees towards the chest.
2. Take hold of the outside edges of the feet, or the shins if the feet are out of reach.
3. Open the knees wider than the ribs and stack the ankles above the knees, soles facing up.
4. Press the feet gently into the hands and hold for the prescribed time with the lower back on the floor.
5. Release the feet and lower the legs.

Form tips

• Keep the tailbone heavy on the floor rather than rolling onto the upper back.
• Hold the shins or use a strap around the feet if the grip forces the shoulders off the mat.
• Rock gently side to side to massage the lower back if it feels tight.

At a glance

Happy Baby Pose in German & Spanish

Descriptions, instructions and tips ship in all three languages in the JSON.

Related exercises

• Banded Adductor Stretch
• Banded Figure-4 Stretch
• Banded Glute Bridge
• Banded Good Morning
• Banded Hip Thrust
• Banded Kneeling Hip Thrust
• Banded Romanian Deadlift
• Banded Squat

Exercise data (JSON)

The record below is exactly what exercises.json ships for this exercise — names, descriptions, instructions and tips in English, German and Spanish.

{
  "id": "happy-baby",
  "name_en": "Happy Baby Pose",
  "name_de": "Glückliches Baby",
  "name_es": "Postura del Bebé Feliz",
  "description_en": "A supine hip opener in which the knees are drawn towards the armpits and the feet are held from the outside, releasing the inner thighs and lower back.",
  "description_de": "Ein Hüftöffner in Rückenlage: die Knie ziehen Richtung Achseln, die Füße werden von außen gehalten - löst Innenschenkel und unteren Rücken.",
  "description_es": "Una apertura de cadera boca arriba en la que las rodillas se acercan a las axilas y los pies se sujetan por fuera, liberando la cara interna de los muslos y la zona lumbar.",
  "category": "stretching",
  "force_type": "static",
  "mechanic": "compound",
  "difficulty": "beginner",
  "body_part": "upper_legs",
  "primary_muscles": [
    "adductors",
    "gluteus_maximus"
  ],
  "secondary_muscles": [
    "erector_spinae",
    "hamstrings"
  ],
  "goals": [
    "mobility"
  ],
  "tags": [
    "mobility",
    "stretching"
  ],
  "is_unilateral": false,
  "is_bodyweight": true,
  "instructions_en": [
    "Lie on your back and draw both knees towards the chest.",
    "Take hold of the outside edges of the feet, or the shins if the feet are out of reach.",
    "Open the knees wider than the ribs and stack the ankles above the knees, soles facing up.",
    "Press the feet gently into the hands and hold for the prescribed time with the lower back on the floor.",
    "Release the feet and lower the legs."
  ],
  "instructions_de": [
    "Leg dich auf den Rücken und zieh beide Knie zur Brust.",
    "Greif die Außenkanten der Füße oder die Schienbeine, wenn die Füße zu weit weg sind.",
    "Öffne die Knie weiter als die Rippen und bring die Sprunggelenke über die Knie, die Sohlen zeigen nach oben.",
    "Druck die Füße sanft in die Hände und halte für die vorgegebene Zeit, der untere Rücken bleibt am Boden.",
    "Lös die Füße und leg die Beine ab."
  ],
  "instructions_es": [
    "Túmbate boca arriba y acerca ambas rodillas al pecho.",
    "Agarra los bordes externos de los pies, o las espinillas si los pies quedan lejos.",
    "Abre las rodillas más allá de las costillas y coloca los tobillos sobre las rodillas, con las plantas hacia arriba.",
    "Empuja suavemente los pies contra las manos y mantén durante el tiempo indicado, con la zona lumbar en el suelo.",
    "Suelta los pies y baja las piernas."
  ],
  "tips_en": [
    "Keep the tailbone heavy on the floor rather than rolling onto the upper back.",
    "Hold the shins or use a strap around the feet if the grip forces the shoulders off the mat.",
    "Rock gently side to side to massage the lower back if it feels tight."
  ],
  "tips_de": [
    "Lass das Steißbein schwer am Boden, statt auf den oberen Rücken zu rollen.",
    "Greif die Schienbeine oder nimm einen Gurt, wenn der Griff die Schultern von der Matte zieht.",
    "Schaukel sanft zur Seite, wenn der untere Rücken fest wirkt."
  ],
  "tips_es": [
    "Mantén el coxis pesado en el suelo en lugar de rodar hacia la espalda alta.",
    "Agarra las espinillas o usa una cinta si el agarre despega los hombros de la esterilla.",
    "Balancéate suavemente de lado a lado si notas tensión en la zona lumbar."
  ],
  "met": 5.0,
  "images": {
    "flat": {
      "main": "images/flat/happy-baby-main.webp"
    }
  }
}

Fetch just this exercise

const { exercises } = await fetch(
  "https://exercise-dataset.com/exercises.json"
).then(r => r.json());
const ex = exercises.find(e => e.id === "happy-baby");

Free for personal and commercial in-app use with attribution (“Exercise data by RepDB”) — see the license and ready-made attribution snippets. Redistributing the data as a dataset or API is not permitted.