With great Indian food, come the great Indian tummy issues. Indian people love to eat and enjoy their food and that’s why it is high time that they start loving working out too. Sometimes the tummy develops even when you are not a big foodie and this may be because of incorrect postures and laziness. In this article we’ll learn how to deal with all kind of tummy fats and work on our abdomen to make it lean and sexy!
To start any training you need to begin with warm up. Here are few asanas recommended for warm up:
Tadasana
stand with feet together and then stretch your arms up interlocking your fingers. Then breathe deep and slowly come on your toes. Stretching the hands up more, stretches the tummy and also erects the spine. Thus making the posture better and warming up the spine for abdomen exercise. Repeat 3 times.
Katichakrasana
Stand with your feet hip distance apart. Take your hands forwards, arms straight parallel to each other. Now slowly exhale and turn your torso to the right side and remember not to turn the hips too much as we have to concentrate on the upper body. And now do the same on the left side. Repeat 5 times each side.
Surya Namaskar
This is the ultimate body warm up. Doing the 12 steps of Surya Namaskar with proper breathing and channeling your concentration on your abdomen can activate the core for further exercises. Repeat 5 cycles.
View how to Suryanamaskar
After completing the above three warm ups you are ready for the 5 ultimate tummy fat burning yoga asanas:
Plank pose/ Utthita Chaturdandasana:
Keep your feet together and while exhaling take your arms straight down. Now bend your knees and take your legs back one by one. Balance yourself on your toes and palms. As the name suggests you have to act like a plank that is straight from your shoulders to your heels. For that you will have to align yourself by keeping your back flat. You will also have to push your body a little forward, so you align you wrist, elbows and shoulders in the same line. Hold this pose for 30 seconds to 1 minute and repeat for three times, by taking 15 seconds break in between. Remember while holding the plank pose, one should look forward and take short breaths squeezing the abdomen and concentrating on the naval. This will activate the core and warm it up.
Boat Pose (Naukasana )
Lie down on your back and slowly take your legs up one by one. Keep the legs straight up and point your toes. If you have back pain you can bend your knees a little bit while taking your legs up. Now slowly inhale deep and while exhaling lift your upper body up and push your hands parallel to the legs. Balance your body by making your hips and lower back as fulcrum. Beginners can bend their knees a little to avoid back pain and balance better. Hold for 15 seconds and repeat at least three times.
Downward facing dog to upward facing dog shift/ Adho much svanasana to udho much svanasana
This is a combination to tighten the loose belly fat and also relax your back at the same time. To do this come in the plank pose and then as you inhale deep, push your chest forward, opening your shoulder blades. You have to keep your knees up and leg straight and just push your upper body and hips forward towards the hands. This pose is the upward facing dog.
After this you have to exhale and transition to downward facing dog. Now as you exhale, you have to bring your hips back and up by keeping your heels down. Your head should be down now, sinking into your shoulder blades. Now we have to inhale and transition to upward facing dog and exhale to return to downward facing dog. Doing this for 10-15 times.
Uttan padasana/Leg Raising pose
Lie down on your back and keep your palms under your hips to support your back. Remember your palms are facing down on the mat. You can also challenge yourself by keeping the hands near the thighs, but it is advisable to do once your practice is thorough and your back is healthy. Now once you have a good support of your back raise your legs to an angle of 30 degrees. Point your toes forward and keep your legs straight. Breathe through your nose and concentrate on your tummy while breathing. Hold for at least 10 seconds and then slowly bring your legs down. Now repeat the same hold to the angles of 60 and 90 degrees respectively.
Uttan padasana variation: Leg drops
Lie down on your back and keep your palms under your hips to support your back. Remember your palms are facing down on the mat. Take your legs 90 degrees up and drop your right leg straight down till 2 inches above the ground. Remember you are not touching your feet down on the mat. Exhale and take the leg up and now drop the left leg down in the same way. Now keep alternating the legs one by one. You can do this 10-10 times each side. Now you can do another variationof uttan padasana.
Take the legs 90 degrees up and then take both the legs down together. Keep the legs straight and stop almost two inches above the ground. Now exhale and take the legs 90 degrees up. Now you can follow this variation for 10 times.
In both these variations you can bend your knees a little in case you have strain in your back.
RELAXATION ASANA
Rabbit pose
Sit on your heels and take your hands and head forward. Close your eyes and relax by taking deep breaths
Pawanmuktasana
Lie down on your back, bend your knees and hug your knees from outside. Now take your chin
