Fire Hydrant Pose gets its name from a dog peeing on a fire hydrant. I find that quite delightful, and my students love it. It always creates a buzz of laughter in the class, and allows my students a little time out from "serious life" so they can take themselves less seriously. So, at least in my mind, it's a highly therapeutic pose to give students.
But once your students have got to grips with basic Fire Hydrant Pose, it's time to ask them to up their game and try one or more modified versions of peeing on a fire hydrant.
Standing Fire Hydrant Pose
Stand with legs hip-width apart. Bend the left leg to 90 degrees. Lean trunk forward. Engage core. Raise the leg to 45 degrees. Lower leg to start to complete one rep.
Standing Fire Hydrant With Resistant Band Pose
Stand with legs hip-width apart. Bend the left leg to 90 degrees. Lean trunk forward. Engage core. Raise the leg to 45 degrees. Lower leg to start to complete one rep. Place a resistance band loop just above the knees.
Fire Hydrant With Resistance Band Pose
Fire hydrant pose can be done with a resistance band loop around both legs. The band forces your hips and glutes to work against resistance. Wrap a resistance band loop above your knees, and do Fire Hydrant pose.
Fire Hydrant Kick Pose
Adding a kick to Fire Hydrant pose will intensify the move. When you lift your leg, straighten your leg in a quick kicking motion.
Fire Hydrant Pulses Pose
When you lift your leg, pulse 5 to 7 times. Lower your leg to complete 1 rep. As you get stronger, increase the number of pulses.
Fire Hydrant Arm Lift Pose
To give your core a good workout, raise the opposite arm during Fire Hydrant pose (e.g. if raising the left leg raise the right arm parallel to the ground).
Side Fire Hydrant Pose
Lie on your left side. Place head on the left arm. Rest the right hand on the right hip. Bend both legs to 45 degrees stacked on top of one another). Align hips and shoulders. Squeeze glutes. Lift top knee. Return to start.
Okay, that's enough modifications.
But don't stop there! You can have a lot of fun teaching this pose.
During the class, you could weave some factoids and say something like:
"Why do dogs like peeing on Fire Hydrants?" If you've ever found yourself pondering that question, then today is your lucky day. Dogs like marking their territory, and what better place to mark your territory than a prominent brightly coloured object that sticks up out of the street. This is also the reason that dogs like telephone poles, tree trunks, and any other object that prominently sticks out of the ground. Dogs instinctually look for these types of objects to mark their territory. They urinate on those objects to let other dogs know where they've been. Dogs pee on higher up objects and lift their leg to spray their urine higher because doing so will make the scent more noticeable and will allow the scent to be carried by a breeze so that other dogs can smell it. Some theorise that lifting their leg makes the urine land higher up, which makes the dog seem bigger than he actually is, thus warning other dogs who may otherwise encroach on his territory."
And if you have a hankering to truly rock your students' world, how about giving them an analogy on how humans do something similar?
For example, you could weave it into a psychological theme. Read this article on Superiority: A Characteristic of Insecure People, and give a little talk about it in your class. You could print the article, take it to class, and read it out as part of your: "Why Do Dogs Pee On Fire Hydrants" pilates class theme.
