6 Best Yoga Asanas to Help You Lose Belly Fat
There are several forms of workouts available today to help you lose weight.
Despite the variety of fitness programs, yoga remains one of the most trusted and effective methods for toning your body.
Many people think that yoga is all about stretching and trying to maintain inner peace through breathing exercises.
But yoga is a lot more than that. It’s an efficient way to boost up your calorie burn and develop muscular strength.
Yoga classes can also improve the health of your heart and reproductive system. We can say that it is a magic pill for improving the overall health of your body.
So, let’s have a look at the best yoga positions for weight loss. These asanas will help you lose belly fat in less time.
Can Yoga Help You Lose Weight
Yoga may burn fewer calories than a traditional aerobic workout such as running or weight training but still, it has high effectiveness.
The reason behind this is that when you enroll yourself in yoga classes, you are not committed to it just during the class timings.
Yoga becomes a lifestyle once you start practicing it. A yogi makes healthy choices in his life and focuses on their goal of maintaining a sound mind and body.
Other than that, there are different types of yoga for specific goals. Different yoga poses can help you tone muscles and burn fat at the same time.
Adopt Healthy Eating
Practicing yoga benefits mindful eating. You’re more likely to be motivated towards your goals of improving your overall health.
Mindful eating can be described as eating without the awareness of physical and psychological sensations with eating.
It means that most of the time, people don’t like to eat healthy food because it’s not tasty.
But people who practice yoga are more likely to choose what they want to eat strictly based on its nutritional value.
If you are a mindful eater then there is no doubt that you can lose weight easily. Sticking to a healthy diet will prevent you from gaining weight in the first place.
You might think that it’s easy for me to give up on those scrumptious meals full of sauces but in reality, it could be a really tough decision.
That’s where yoga steps in, it makes you a mindful eater so you don’t make eating choices based on how it tastes and feels.
Better Metabolism
Metabolism is the process by which our body transfers food into energy. Now, you might wonder how a fast metabolism can help you lose weight?
When food remains in our body for longer periods, it ends up producing fat cells. When you do any type of exercise this food is catalyzed to produce energy to keep you running.
Most of the yoga exercises focus on the core, which is where the majority of the digestive tract is located.
The yoga poses help to wring out the digestive tract and detoxify organs and this in return boosts your metabolism.
Yoga is also beneficial for improving blood circulation in your body when your body is not receiving blood at the required rate, all of the organs are affected.
Due to the inefficiency of the circulatory system, metabolism is directly affected. As the blood circulation is improved, the metabolism rate is also increased.
Burns Calories
Yes, yoga also burns calories effectively. The number of calories you burn varies with the type of yoga you are doing, the length of the class, and the intensity.
While practicing yoga large muscle groups are targeted automatically. To engage them properly a large amount of energy is needed that is produced through the burning of calories.
These large muscle groups also recruit the smaller muscles to achieve certain yoga poses properly.
As a result, you also tone the muscles in your body while burning fat at the same time. The more muscles we engage, the more calories are burned to increase metabolic rate.
Types of Yoga for Weight Loss
Almost all types of yoga can help you with losing fat but, there are few which can have a greater contribution towards weight loss.
Remember that the types of yoga which are best for burning fat are also used to build muscles.
You won’t be seeing big results in the first few days of practicing yoga. But, Once you start losing weight then the process will be quicker and long-lasting as compared to aerobic exercises.
Vinyasa Yoga
Vinyasa is a fast-paced type of yoga, there is no rest, and goes non-stop from start to finish. It is commonly heard that if you want to burn fat faster than you need to burn more calories than you eat.
In Vinyasa, the key point is to move quickly from one pose to another so you can elevate your heart rate, increase the metabolism process, and thus burn more calories.
This type of yoga is similar to any high-intensity workout. If you are a beginner, start with some basic poses and then gradually increase the time of the session somewhere between 60 to 90 minutes.
If you feel like your body is used to the routine then, it’s time to push yourself harder. To increase the intensity, try going faster than you were going before.
Forrest Yoga
You might have not heard this name normally in yoga, Forrest is a style of yoga that was developed by the great yogi Ana T. Forest.
It is highly beneficial for losing belly fat because of its long holding position that engages the core muscles throughout the session.
Forrest is a modern type of yoga; it addresses modern-day lifestyle ailments. All of us spend most of the time of our day hunched over laptops and phones.
This results in weakened back muscles, a loose core, and stiff shoulders. Due to the long holds and intense pose sequences, it helps in strengthening major muscles in your body and burn fat at the same time.
Another great benefit of Forrest yoga is the relief of muscular tension due to the increased oxygenation to the cells of the body.
Bikram Yoga
Bikram is also an intense style of yoga comprising almost 26 different poses. It’s performed mostly in a heated classroom.
The reason for performing it in a heated classroom is that you sweat more. But, you should not be carried away by the misconception that you burn fat by sweating.
You may see a drop on the weight scale after any intense exercise because of the loss of water weight in the form of sweat.
It doesn’t mean that you have burned fat due to sweat. But, due to higher temperature, your heart rate increases more rapidly and leads to more calories being burned.
Bikram consists of continued fast-paced movements that help in engaging the major muscles in the body to promote weight loss.
Through sweat, your body is intoxicated efficiently this results in better blood circulation and an increase in metabolism. These factors also help in weight loss.
According to researchers, a single Bikram yoga session can burn up to 500 calories. Remember to bring a water bottle along with you to a Bikram yoga session.
Best Yoga Poses for Weight Loss
As we have discussed the different types of yoga for effective weight loss, now let’s have a look at some of the best poses to incorporate fat loss.
Yoga is all about consistency and being patient for results, you will only see positive results after some months of practicing yoga.
Before trying the specific poses to target your belly fat first, you need to perfect your basic positions.
Don’t rush yourself in trying difficult poses, they will only be beneficial for you if you have developed flexibility through the basics.
Chair Pose Yoga (Utkatasana)
This is a simple yet effective Asana for toning your body. Doing this will help you get lean and burn belly fat faster.
The chair pose is also efficient for getting toned legs and a round butt in a matter of a few days.
Maintaining this position for a long time can be challenging especially if you are a beginner. An easy way to perform it is by imagining that you are sitting on a chair.
How to Do It
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Stand on the mat with your feet just a little apart.
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Stretch your arms in front of you with palms facing each other.
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Bend your knees and push your pelvis down.
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To increase the intensity, bend your upper body in the forwarding direction.
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Maintain this position for 30 seconds and focus on breathing.
Camel Pose Yoga (Ustrasana)
The camel pose is performed to stretch the full upper body. This is a slightly difficult pose so don’t perform if you have back issues.
In addition to fat loss, the camel pose can help deal with neck stiffness or back pain due to slouching.
It also stretches your ankles and thighs which makes the camel pose a full stretch for the entire front of your body.
How to Do It
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Kneel on the mat with knees hip-width apart and thighs perpendicular to the floor.
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Your hands should be on your buttocks, fingers should be pointing downwards.
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Start arching your back inwards, keep leaning back and hold your heels with your hands.
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Hold this pose for 30 sec to 1 min.
Bow Pose Yoga (Dhanurasana)
The bow pose is an intermediate yoga pose, you should not perform it as a beginner. It is highly beneficial for stimulating digestion.
Good digestion is crucial for losing weight if you are suffering from digestive problems then you could have a hard time losing weight.
Bow pose is also highly effective for improving your posture as it helps in relieving tightness from the body.
This pose could be
How to Do It
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Lie with your belly on the mat.
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Grab your ankles by slightly lifting your upper body.
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Bend your knees and press your feet together.
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Bring your feet close to your butt.
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Lift your heels while lifting your thighs away from the floor, this should also raise your head and upper body.
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Hold this position for 15 to 30 sec.
Cobra Pose Yoga (Bhujangasana)
The cobra pose could be the best and simplest method of losing belly fat. You can easily execute this pose as a beginner.
The cobra pose is beneficial for the male and female reproductive systems. It also helps in dealing with irregular menstrual cycles in females.
It also gives a radiant glow to your face due to the improved blood flow towards your face.
How to Do It
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Lie down flat with your belly on the mat, stretch your legs back with your toes out on the floor.
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Press your feet and thighs firmly into the floor.
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Press your palms into the floor and straighten to lift your chest off the floor.
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You should only lift till your navel region, the pelvic region should be in contact with the mat.
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Hold this pose for 15 to 20 seconds and breathe softly.
Side Plank Yoga (Vasisthasana)
Getting rid of love handles can be a really difficult job. To deal with stubborn fat at the sides of your belly, side planks come in handy.
This yoga pose is efficient for strengthening your core without stressing the back. While other exercises such as crunches can put pressure on your lower back.
The side planks can also be very helpful to you for improving balance. In this position, all the muscles in the upper and lower body are engaged to help you keep your position.
How to Do It
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Lie with your right side on a mat with legs straight and feet on top of each other.
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Position your right elbow under the right shoulder, your forearm will be pointing away from you.
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Lift your hips off the mat, your body should be in a straight line from head to ankles.
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Hold this position for 30 to 60 sec and focus on breathing.
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Repeat the same with your left side.
Boat Pose Yoga (Paripurna Navasana)
This is one of the well-known yoga poses for core strength. This asana is beneficial for toning all the muscles in your core as well as strengthening the lower back.
The boat pose is effective for stimulating the thyroid and prostate glands, they help in increasing metabolism rate and relieving stress.
Through this pose, you can work on the majority of muscle groups in your body other than the core including neck, spine, hips, and hamstrings.
How to Do It
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Start by sitting on a mat with your legs stretched in front of you and hands-on sides.
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Raise your legs, keep a slight bend in your knees.
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Push your upper torso away from your legs.
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You will be making a ‘V’ position by doing this.
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Hold this position for 30 secs to 1 min
Conclusion
People are more likely to take up cardio or weight training for losing weight due to the aerobic nature of these workouts.
But if you are looking to have long-lasting effects and adapting to a healthy lifestyle for the future then yoga has got your back.
Practicing these asanas will not help you to lose weight rapidly but will also have positive impacts on your psychological health.
Make sure that you make healthy choices in your diet. To check out effective diet plans for losing belly fat, click here.