Reduce Belly Fat With These Yoga Poses
Sedentary work, lack of exercise, unhealthy food habits and stress contribute to a wider waist, flabby tummy and higher level of health problems. Its hard to get rid of the stubborn belly fat. Sometimes, even after maintaining a healthy lifestyle and working out daily, the belly fat refuses to budge. You need to switch to healthy food without any junks and practice yoga along with your exercises to reduce the tummy fat and get a flat belly. Yoga will help you to reduce the belly fat and take control of your body. It will also boost your metabolism and help you maintain that sexy midsection. Yoga will help relieve stress and enhance flexibility. It will engage you abdomen muscles more efficiently than any other core exercises. Read on to know the most effective yoga poses/asanas to sculpt your abs. Also Read – Face Yoga: Make Your Face Look Sharper By Trying These Facial Exercises Using Spoons | Watch Video
The Boat Pose For Flat Abs
This is one of our favorite poses. The boat pose is also known as Paripurna Navasana.
Here is one pose that aggressively works your abs.
Note: If youre performing this yoga workout for ab for the first time, it is more likely that youll feel a burning sensation in your abdominal region.
Youll notice the impact it has had on your abs as you get used to the pose.
The boat pose cannot be performed correctly without engaging the abs.
Explained below is a guide on how to perform the boat pose.
- Begin by lying with your face facing down.
- Bring up both feet and hands.
- Now hug your feet using your hands.
- Maintain this pose for about 30 seconds.
- Gradually increase the time to about 90 seconds as you get used to the pose.
#1 Downward Facing Dog Pose
The downward facing dog pose is one of the commonest yogapose. Thisyoga pose improves muscles flexibility. The aim of this exercise is to helpstretch your hips, hamstrings, calves and quadriceps.
Practicing this yoga exercise, it helps tones your arms andabdomen.
How to do Downward facing dog pose?
To start, lie on your stomach on the floor mat.
While still on the floor, lift your body on all four limbsand bring your hands and feet close to each other to acquire the Mountain-likestructure.
Now you have to hold the pose for some time. When you are performing this pose, you can actually feel your belly area undergoing compression which in real aids weight loss.
Downward Facing Dog Pose
Let us look at the first asana of yoga to reduce belly fat. To do this pose, lie on your stomach on the floor or yoga mat.
Now slowly lift your body on all four limbs and bring your hands and feet close to each other to acquire the Mountain-like structure.
Now you have to hold the pose for some time. When you are performing this pose, you can actually feel your belly area undergoing compression which in real aids weight loss.
Doing this pose helps increase bone density and helps you get rid of fatigue.
This pose also stretches the body and helps you get rid of stiffness and pain, along with increasing the blood circulation in the body.
Eka Pada Adho Mukha Svanasana: A Dog Post With One Leg Downward
Do it by:
- Try the downward-facing dog pose first.
- Then, simply raise the chosen leg up in the air.
- The other leg should remain in the original position while the hands are also intact.
- Breathe in slowly and breathe out more slowly while you bring down the leg and try the same position for another leg.
Duration:
You can easily do 10 reps with one leg at a time as a beginner. While one leg is in the air, try to hold that position for 40-50 seconds in the beginning.
Benefits:
- Your body stretches further: hamstrings and hip flexors are toned.
- It stimulates the blood flow better and puts pressure on your tummy as well.
- You get to honour your confidence by balancing your stomach and whole body on the leg.
Do it by:
- Stand up straight on a mat.
- Use left leg to cross at your right knee while you can close your hands in front of you
- This could be in a Namaskara pose.
- Otherwise, you can stand on one leg with your hands up in the air.
Duration:
For beginners, such a pose to stand with on leg without moving much can be difficult. For starters, holding this position for 40-50 seconds is enough. However, you can easily stand on one leg for more than two to three minutes after quite some time.
You need to repeat this pose with each leg. So, try at least three to five rounds at once.
Benefits:
- It helps you to learn to balance your body.
- When you stretch your arms above your head, it stretches your tummy muscles as well.
Powerful Yoga Poses To Get A Flat Stomach
Everyone has their own idea of what a strong core is. Though six-packs are nice to look at, true core strength comes from working the inner abdominal wall the transverse abdominis and erector spinae that creates a girdle of support in the torso.
Knowing how to engage these muscles is the first chore. Thankfully, the mindfulness and breathing practices present in yoga can not only help you connect to your body, you can also tone your abs.
Before starting any of these asanas, or poses, take a moment to warm up your body with some cleansing pranayama . Lay supine on your back, heels in line with your ischial tuberosities your sitz bones and knees bent to face the sky. In this position, find pelvic neutral.
Pelvic neutral is where your tailbone is neither tipped forward nor back, so there is a natural curve of the spine, your shoulder blades are flat against the earth, and your neck is long. Begin to engage the core by imagining either sides getting corseted together.
The pelvic floor pulls up towards the belly button as the belly button sinks towards the spine. Your ribcage should feel as if it is connected to your hip sockets. Hold for a moment then release with a deep exhale. Repeat several times to warm up the core.
Learning how to control these deep abdominal muscles is key to straightening your posture and working the core. Now, use that same zipping up sensation during these ten yoga poses for flatter abs:
Bridge With Leg Sweep
This amped-up bridge pose sculpts your butt and hamstrings while also using your abdominals as stabilizers to help control the motion of your leg.
Lie on your back with knees bent, feet flat on the floor. Extend your arms by your sides, palms facing down. Brace your abs in tight and press through your heels to bridge your hips off the floor. Keeping your hips lifted and square, extend your left leg up to the ceiling, foot flexed. Sweep your left leg to the right, passing the midline of your body and then sweep back out to the left, slightly past your left hip. That’s one rep. Repeat 10 times with the left leg, and then switch legs and repeat 10 more times before lowering out of bridge.
Try not to let your hips drop as you move your leg back and forth, using your abs and your glutes to keep your pelvis lifted and square. Small, controlled movement is better than big movements with poor form.
What Yoga Does To Your Belly Fat
For shedding fat from your body, burning calories through any physical activity is the most important factor. Though yoga is not that strenuous activity but research of Harvard Health Publishing states that hatha yoga burns 240 to 356 calories per hour as per the practitioners weight.
In the case of many people today, the reason for belly fat gain has observed unhealthy food habits which include high sugar intake. Yoga majorly helps by bringing mindfulness that helps in getting control over unhealthy eating habits or impulsive binge eating.
Experts also suggest restorative yoga for belly fat as an effective practice because it reduces the level of cortisol hormone . Cortisol levels generally rise when you feel stressed and accumulate fat around the belly.
Practicing yoga for belly fat not only tones the stomach but also strengthen abdominal muscles and rejuvenate the entire body.
A 2016 study on abdominally obese women proved that a 12-weeks long yoga intervention is helpful in reducing abdominal obesity. It does so by reducing, perceived stress levels, waist circumference, waist-hip ratio, and BMI values.
Paschimottanasana: Seated Flower Bend Pose
Do it by:
- Sitting on the mat with legs stretched out.
- Make sure your spine is straight and not aching.
- Then slowly bend down with your arms stretched along with your move.
- Keep your head bowed near the knee or beyond that if you can do it.
- Do not forget to inhale slowly while doing so.
- Make sure your hands are touching the soul or at least the Achilles heel area.
Duration:
If you are a beginner, try it for 10-20 seconds. Whereas, advanced practitioners do it for more than 30-40 seconds. You can repeat as per your comfort zone.
Benefits:
- Focuses on stretching your hamstrings.
- Mobilizes the blood around your hips, lower back, and ankles.
- Tones up abdomen and aids in proper digestion.
- Lying down like a corpse on a mat.
- Your legs and arms should be widened.
- Your head should be up and not bent down.
- You will have to continue breathing: inhale calmly and exhale more slowly.
Duration:
This pose is easiest but most difficult to practice for beginners. Thus, it required at least 5-15 minutes where you continuously lie down the mat like a corpse to increase the concentration on breathing.
Benefits:
- Removes tension, unwanted depression, and dispels the stress from the body.
- Gives your body a break from rapid oxygen or blood circulation.
- This relaxes your stomach muscles as well as the respiratory system.
Do it by:
Duration:
Try it out for 30-50 seconds as a beginner. Keep stretching it a minute and more after a months regular practice.
Benefits:
Dont Drink Your Calories
Soda, juice, energy drinks, & blended coffees are all full of empty calories & sugar.
The average 12-ounce can of soda contains 150 calories. Drinking one can per day adds 130,000 calories per year or 15 pounds of fat, for one can per day.
If youve been hitting up the 7-11 or fast food joints its worse: a small drink at up to McDonalds is 16 ounces. 100% Apple juice may sound healthy, but one cup has 120 calories & 28 grams of sugar.
Your body doesnt register liquid calories like food, so you end up consuming more calories & packing on the pounds when you drink sugar-sweetened beverages.
Downward Facing Dog With Knee To Nose
One of the most popular yoga poses, downward facing dog, is a great yoga pose for your abs. That is, if you do this variation. It is good for the lower abs, because you will be squeezing your lower belly tight. Go to downward facing dog position by getting on your hands and knees, pressing your hips up, extending your heels to the floor , and palms on ground. Next, alternate lifting one leg and bringing it as close as you can to your forehead or nose. Keep repeating with alternating legs until your lower abs burn and you canât handle it anymore. Make sure you keep breathing deeply through any tension you might have.
Ardha Purvottanasana: Reverse Post Of A Table Top
Do it by:
- Sitting on the floor with feet against the floor and knees bending.
- Now place your arms at your back, against the floor, at either side.
- Gently, lift your body up, so your face and abs are in the same line.
Duration:
Initially, you must hold this position for 20-30 seconds. As the endurance level increase, stretch the duration as well.
Benefits:
The main benefit of this pose is on the abs. The abdomen muscles are stretched for better toning.
Method 3 Of 4:creating The Illusion Of A Flat Stomach
Here Are 10 Yoga Asanas That Can Help You Get A Flat Belly
While we are eager to try all sorts of exercises to get washboard abs, many times rigorous exercising brings with it side effects like back pain and muscle cramps. Here is where eating the right foods, doing the right exercises and trying these yoga poses can help you.
According to Smt Hansaji Jayadeva Yogendra, Director of The Yoga Institute, ‘Firstly, weight loss is not just about looking good and getting the perfect figure. It is about being healthy and fit so that we can do our duties well and achieve the goals that we have set for ourselves. Calculate how much weight you can lose in a month
To lose weight the yoga way, you need to relax and stop worrying about your body fat. Asanas like Chakrasana the wheel pose, Vakrasana the twisted posture, Yashtikasana the stick pose, Sputa Bhadrasana the lying down butterfly pose, when done regularly, can help you lose your belly fat. The advantage of yoga is that all asanas have a multitude of benefits. You won t just have a flat stomach but a healthier body and a relaxed mind as well. Brisk walking twice a day can also help. Remember to pull your stomach in and let it out at the pace of twice a minute while walking.
Yoga Poses For A Flatter Belly
Get the abs of your dreams with this revolutionary hybrid yoga workout
The Flat Belly Diet! has always promised a flatter belly, no crunches required. We still make good on that promise. In addition to following a diet rich in healthy fats like avocado, nuts and seeds and olive oil, weve now added a yoga component to the program with Flat Belly Yoga! by Kimberly Fowler and the editors of Prevention.
The plan takes the “work” out of working out and offers a hybrid yoga approach that incorporates hand weights and a cardio walking schedule to burn belly fat. The bulk of the plan is a 28-day workout, but first, Kimberly has designed a 4-day jump start to prep you for the next 28 days. We’re sharing that jump start with you right here!
If you like it, we encourage you to try the 28-day plan by joining the Flat Belly Diet! online community or ordering the or .
The jump start combines low-intensity yoga with walking cardio sessions to get you off the couch and moving around. The yoga portion of the jump start, also known as Yoga for Your Core, starts with just a few simple, straightforward moves that happen to be some of Kimberlys favorite easy stretches.
Let’s get started!
There are two types of walking workouts featured in the Flat Belly Yoga! workout. If you want to lose belly fat, your walks need to be real workouts, which means we need to get your heart rate up.
YOUR 4-DAY SCHEDULE
For the daily yoga part of this workout routine, we start with this pose.
Avoid Swallowing Air And Gases
The biggest source of gas in the diet is carbonated beverages such as .
The bubbles in it contain carbon dioxide, which is released from the liquid in your stomach. This may cause stomach distention or bloating.
This can also happen when you chew gum, drink through a straw or talk while eating.
Eating in silence, drinking from a glass and swapping carbonated drinks out for water may help you achieve a flatter stomach.
Bottom Line:
Carbonated drinks and gum may both cause stomach distention and bloating in some people.
Yoga For A Flat Belly
It’s tempting to boil weight gain and loss to a simple game of calories in and calories out and to a certain degree, that’s true. But there’s a lot more than that going on inside your body as it gains or loses weight, and scientists are still working to understand all the different factors that affect this complex mechanism.
One of the best-known factors that can influence weight gain is stress, with the so-called “stress hormone” cortisol as the standard bearer. As exercise physiologists at the University of New Mexico explain, “cortisol directly affects fat storage and weight gain in stressed individuals.”
As an unfortunate bonus, cortisol can even relocate fat cells deep into the abdomen as visceral fat, which is associated with more health risks than subcutaneous abdominal fat. That visceral fat can also create the look of a rounder belly, even on otherwise slender individuals.
But there is hope, and it comes in the form of yoga, Tai Chi and other mind-body practices, which the UNM staff notes are often recommended for stress management. Yoga also encourages the mindfulness that supports other self-care practices, such as meditation, eating well and getting enough sleep all of which can help reduce your stress and inhibit your body’s stress-induced rush to store fat around your belly.
Read more:13 Standing Yoga Poses to Improve Your Balance
The Revolved Side Angle Pose
This pose is also known as the Parivrtta Parsvakonasana.
It is one of the best yoga workouts for absand it also strengthens the abdominal core muscles.
Explained below is a guide on how to perform the revolved side angle pose.
- Begin by kneeling and assuming a praying position.
- Stand on any of your knees and bend it just at a 90-degree angle.
- Then extend your other leg and make sure you balance on the toes.
- Bend your body to the other side. You can also face forward in order to aid your balance.
- Maintain this position for about 30 seconds.
Why Stretches Won’t Work
Stretching your abdomen promotes greater range of motion, loosens up stiff muscles and joints, promotes better posture and reduces tension.
What stretching can’t do is burn a ton of calories like cardio or stimulate fat loss like strength training. You may feel like you’re working and targeting the area from which you want to reduce excess poundage, but your body doesn’t lose fat that way.
Even if you do all the “right” things to lose fat, you’re not guaranteed to get a completely flat stomach, either. Fat is gained and lost throughout your body — not just in one particular area. **Some areas tend to be stubborn when it comes to losing pounds, and for many people the stomach is one of them .
** To get a stomach that’s completely flat, you may have to sustain extremely diligent dietary and fitness habits. Remember, you can be of a healthy weight and body fat level without swimsuit-perfect abs.
- Stretching your abdomen promotes greater range of motion, loosens up stiff muscles and joints, promotes better posture and reduces tension.
- You may feel like you’re working and targeting the area from which you want to reduce excess poundage, but your body doesn’t lose fat that way.
Padahastasana: Standing Forward Bend Pose
Do it by:
- Standing up straight and then bending your upper body slowly downwards.
- Reach to the point that your head faces the calves and your hands can touch your feet.
Duration:
Hold this position for 40 seconds to a minute initially. Try at least four to five reps at once.
Benefits:
- Helps to harmonize the dosha like Vata that is causing problems like indigestion or constipation.
- Reduces the Tamas from your body that is responsible for causing laziness and heaviness around the stomach.
- Increases flexibility for thighs, lower back, focuses on reducing love handles.
- Resting your body against the floor with the stomach.
- Begin to bend your knees by bringing the legs back up near to the hips.
- Arch your upper body simultaneously, providing your legs with the support of your arms to hold onto that bow like position.
Duration:
For beginners, this position can be a hassle but try to hold it for 30 seconds to a minute. Then repeat it at least four to five times.
Benefits:
- Improves constipation and indigestion
I have been following these Yoga poses for quite some time. I absolutely love the results they render ones body with. Guys, tell me about your experience in the comment section below if you got any special tips about these poses. I will be waiting to hear your toning the abs story.
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Method 4 Of 4:eating To Flatten Your Stomach
Method 2 Of 4:exercising To Flatten Your Stomach
Adho Mukha Svanasana: Downward Facing Dog
Do it by:
- Using your hands to bend across the floor.
- Your feet should be wide, and your whole body should try and make a 90-degree posture.
- Your face should be bent and facing back the legs, or at least, the floor.
- Do not bend or go lenient with legs or arms. They should be straight.
Duration:
For a minimum of 3 minutes, you should be in this position. As you practice reps regularly, you can continue to do it for longer periods.
Benefits:
- Helps in toning hip bones and flexors.
- Strengthens your thighs and arms.
- Tones the abs and increases your endurance level.
- Tones your buttocks as well.
