How yoga can help to reduce belly fat while most people do little things here and there to stay in shape or watch their weight?with a multi-billion dollar industry springing up around those who try to do just a little bit more?less common are the targeted approaches aiming to accomplish particular tasks as opposed to an overall healthier state.
One common instance is when figuring out how to lose belly fat.
Thankfully, instructors already discovered millennia ago the best yoga to reduce belly fat and give you a shapelier silhouette.
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Top Ten yoga exercises to reduce tummy fat
When selecting yoga exercises to reduce tummy fat, it is important to know what actually causes the “unsightly” bulge and what you can do to change it in a healthy way.
For instance, even “average” women with a small bump will not be able to simply work that away, because it is composed of their organs and the only way to shrink it is to malnourish the organs.
However, you can avoid trying to shrink your stomach altogether if you can change the way that the tissues which give it shape are formed.
While most people think that this is accomplished with situps or similar exercises which work the abdominal muscle groups, it is actually the muscles which are commonly referred to as “core” muscles which shape your midsection most.
As such, when you are planning to use yoga for a flat tummy, it is important to make sure that the yoga asanas for flat stomach all in some way either target or augment the core muscles.
1. Locust Pose ? While this is not really the most important pose for strengthening the core, it is one of the easier to accomplish.
That said, the primary reason to include this pose into any core-building routine is that it strengthens the lower back which, while fewer in number and function than the anterior core muscles, still need to be developed in appropriate measure.
This can also be a great pose to help those with a limited range of motion loosen up.
2. Low/Boat ? This is technically two different poses, but they can be combined and alternated to form a common workout and are extremely fluid in transition.
It also does not hurt that the position and transition itself are easy to do without the stricter limits forced by more challenging positions.
Even if you cannot move far, fast, or often, most people can at least accomplish some range between these two poses.
While this may look like an aforementioned situp, it should be noted that the position actually forces the use of different, deeper core muscles.
? 3. Dolphin Plank ? This is the specific plank, because there are numerous variations, that most westerners think of when they think of the “plank” position.
This is a great position to begin building your core muscles because it is fairly easy for everyone to do and uses more core muscles than most exercises.
This allows you to rapidly develop multiple core muscles to be used for the more advanced poses later on.
This is also a great pose to help build core muscle endurance once the strength ceiling has been reached for the pose.
4. Dolphin Pose ? The Dolphin Pose may look fairly easy?and may even seem easier than the Dolphin Plank, but because this pose removes your arms from having to support your body, the core muscles tend to be targeted more directly.
That said, more people will be able to get into this pose assuming they can open their hips?for which there are variations if you cannot maintain that degree of a stretch.
The point is to force your core to hold your body in position in a more stable position.
5. Side/Star Plank ? This is arguably the first pose where people will begin to drop out simply because they do not have the strength to do it.
This is still a great pose to help you tackle those pesky core muscles that affect your obliques and sides.
If you find that you cannot support yourself on a single arm fully extended, then try to do the position supporting yourself with your forearm instead of your hand.
6. Bird Dog ? Again, like the two previous poses, the Bird Dog pose will begin to challenge some people, but most should be able to accomplish this pose without too much issue.
Unlike the Dolphin Pose, the Bird Dog will not test the range of motion nor will it really test the performer’s strength like the side and star planks will. Instead, the Bird Dog pose will test the balance of the performer as they must maintain their strength through transitioning motion.
7. Chair Pose ? For those who have already done plenty of isometric workouts in their lifetimes, you will probably recognize this as the squat position.
The primary and subtle difference between those two poses is that the chair pose requires you to hold your arms up in the air.
This takes some of the strain off of your back and forces most of the work keeping you upright to be done by your core muscles.
8. Scale ? Though it may look incredibly complicated, the scale pose is actually not too terribly difficult for a reasonably practiced user.
While it clearly requires some degree of upper body strength to get into the pose, when done properly, you are not using nearly as much energy keeping yourself in position thanks to the large trapezius muscle.
Instead, it is more a matter of keeping your bum raised off of the ground which requires a strong set of core muscles.
While this will obviously exclude certain people with strength, range of motion, or other biomechanical limitations, the scale does have a tendency to be less restrictive than most because the shoulders are not as common an issue in general as many of the smaller joints.
9. Eagle ? Okay, there is no getting around the fact that if you have not already built up your core muscles to some extent with the earlier poses, then this one will be exceedingly difficult to hold for any length of time.
To be fair, this pose is actually fairly difficult to hold for extended periods of time even for experienced practitioners primarily because it forces a three-dimensional stress having to account for the muscle groups which control contraction along all major planes.
10. The Crane ? At the end of our list, we have the most challenging and the most restrictive in terms of those who will be able to actually pull this pose off.
This pose requires a significant level of the three primary components to difficulty with a pose on our list: upper body strength, core strength, and range of motion.
This is essentially a scale pose with the upper body and core muscles working together to hold the body up.
Daily yoga practice for a flat tummy
To get a shapely silhouette and smooth tummy, you need to identify yoga asanas for flat stomach specifically. While most yoga practices will at the least activate your metabolism in the moment with the overwhelming majority of them providing elevated metabolic rates long after the routine when practiced regularly.
However, yoga routines for a flat tummy, in particular, will need to accomplish different tasks while still providing many of the same benefits that yoga offers in general.
Metabolism?? As mentioned prior, yoga will inherently increase your metabolism, but some routines accomplish this better than others.
Most of these routines feature?advanced yoga poses?and make use of fluid transitions to maintain an elevated heart rate.
Thankfully, the best way to raise your metabolism while practicing yoga is often to perform the more advanced techniques which specifically target your core.
Cardio?? This may seem a bit contentious considering the continued development of yoga and the conflict that creates, but there are plenty of different yoga practices which incorporate the effects of cardio into their routines.
However, yoga does not do this under the premise that burning more calories will shrink your stomach as much as it recognizes that an increased heart rate will further increase your metabolism.
Core?? The main point when trying to get a flat tummy is to work out your core muscles.
This is because your core muscles hold your organs in place, and if the muscles are weak, the organs will be able to sag more easily.
Conversely, if your core muscles are well-developed, they will be taut and keep everything more compact?which, coincidentally, will also increase the internal body temperature and help get to a thermogenic state.
Benefits of Yoga from Home
When doing yoga, one of the more common methods of doing so is at a large, professional studio where an instructor will instruct dozens of students in a class-like structure.
That said, it is often far more convenient and an overall better experience to practice yoga in the comfort of your own home.
The issue then comes from figuring out how to get the same type of quality instruction that you otherwise would in a professional studio right at home.
One of the easiest ways is to simply go to YouTube to find a free yoga instructional video?of which there are literally thousands.
This also presents the issue of finding the right kind of yoga routine to specifically target your stomach to help you lose tummy fat.
On top of that, it can be difficult to identify the quality of the instructor or the routine ahead of time.
As such, one of the more common alternatives to the free, but unregulated, YouTube market is to get a professional DVD or online walkthrough.
While this will generally cost money?as opposed to YouTube being primarily free?it also often ensures that the organization providing the instruction has plenty of market-driven credentials and follows tested methods for success.
That said, this market too can be a bit saturated and difficult to navigate, but we have found one in particular that shines a little bit brighter than the rest: Zoe Bray Cotton’s Yoga Burn.
Yoga Burn by Zoe Bray Cotton
When you turn to a professional instructor for this purpose, you expect them to tell you how to lose belly fat without any double talk.
One of the best things about this yoga program is that everything is clearly designated and explained so you know why you are doing what you are doing at any given time.
That said, Yoga Burn is so effective not simply because of the quality of Cotton’s instruction but because the program is designed to highlight yoga for a flat tummy to exclusion.
Targeted?Easily the most important quality of any yoga program which will be used to accomplish a more specific purpose than general well being is how the routine?the poses and transitions?stress the body.
With Yoga Burn, not only are there a number of specialized routines, with belly fat reduction among them, but the entire program is designed to target that goal meaning that there is no wasted movement.
This allows you to achieve your desired results much quicker than a less focused program otherwise would.
Progressive?? Another great thing about Yoga Burn is that it offers something for everyone regardless of your level of skill or physical condition?with some extreme exceptions.
That said, there is no denying that some of the more advanced and challenging poses will require a significant level of practice and conditioning.
Thankfully, every Yoga Burn program is designed to not only offer multiple levels of difficulty to challenge various skill sets but does so with the addition of subtle, optional tweaks to the routine rather than making separate programs.
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Conclusion
When using yoga to reduce belly fat, it is important to understand that not all poses will provide the same results with some targeting the core muscles?which shape your body more than the others?and some providing different focused benefits.
While you can always find a studio to practice, it can far more convenient and pleasant to do so in the comfort of your own home.
Of course, in that situation, you need the right instruction to make sure you do everything properly and get the desired results.
Because of her experience and measured approach to routine design, Zoe Bray Cotton’s Yoga Burn offers arguably one of the best ways to reduce belly fat and get in shape.