I practice the following exercise after sun salutations a or b. The goal is to stretch the hip flexor.
The exercise has a dynamic part and a static part. It starts after adho mukha svanasana. First I place the feet side by side without spacing. Then I raise the verses so that the weight of the body is on the hands and balls of the feet. Now comes the actual exercise. I swing the right leg stretched upwards. The feet are also stretched. The hips remain parallel if possible. I repeat this dynamic movement up to twelve times. I very often read that you should repeat dynamic exercise eight to 15 times. If you do even more repetitions, the exercise becomes an endurance exercise. Then change sides. More than three rounds are not necessary. At the end of the exercise you can hold the stretched leg. This completes the exercise.
The exercise warms up the body.
I don't necessarily feel this exercise is very intense. But it is a good introduction for what is to come.
Note on the side:
Hanumanasana (forward split) is an asana from the 3rd Ashtanga yoga series (Advanced A).
Samakonasana (side split) is an asana from the 4th Ashtanga yoga series (Advanced B).
Already the standing postures contain postures that prepare the splits. I am thinking of utthita hasta padangusthasana and utthita parsvasahita.
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