In this article, we will learn some yoga poses that can help you reduce the unwanted abs muscles.
Adding yoga poses that concentrate on your abs into your daily routine is a great way to protect your back by strengthening your core.
Our core muscles are what helps our back to stay strong. It provides the support needed to stay upright and not have back issues.
To get good results, you must engage your abs in a great way. Here are some of the poses that would take care of your abs.
20-Minute Yoga Ab Workout You Can Do at Home
Core workout takes less time to do. You can get great abs in no time.
It might not seem like much at first, but if you do this sequence once or even go through it a second time you’ll soon start to feel the burn.
Some of these poses are more resting poses, but you need to be actively engaging your ab muscles in every pose.
1. Mountain Pose (Tadasana)
This is one of the basic yoga poses. It strengthens the legs and feet.
Keep your foot together. You can even relax your feet a little. Now, bend your body so that your hands touch the floor and your hip is still in the air to form the mountain pose. This engages your abs muscles.
Now, breath heavily by keeping the arms at your side. You can even keep the arms on your shoulders, thigh or legs. You can even stretch them out. Now lower your body and relax.
You must stand in this posture for 1 minute. Engage your core muscles and legs.
2. Forward Fold (Uttanasana)
It is very important to engage the core muscles when you go for this posture. This improves your abs since you are folding your whole body.
Bring the hands over your chest. When you inhale, take those palms over your head towards the ceiling. When you exhale, fold in the front and reach the floor behind your legs with your hands. You fold the abs, giving it immense pressure. Make sure that your legs are engaged too.
Continue inhaling and exhaling in this position for 1 minute. Make sure that you engage your core and spine properly.
3. Plank Pose (Kumbhakasana)
This is called the plank pose. You should keep the abs, legs, and shoulders engaged here.
Lower your body and lie flat on the ground. Now, bring your body up by holding the weight of your body by your hands. Make sure that your knees are straight and are not bent. This keeps you in a plank position.
This reduces the core since it targets all the core muscles. You can keep it for a longer period for better results. Breathe heavily throughout your pose.
4. Four-Limbed Staff Pose (Chaturanga Dandasana)
The chaturanga pose is also very useful for the abs.
From the plank posture, you must lower your body downwards by balancing over your hands. You can bend your hands so that your body is almost parallel to the ground. You can even perform pushups between the kumbhakasana and chaturanga poses.
Keep this posture for at least 1 minute. Breathe in and breathe out when you do this posture.
5. Downward Facing Dog (Adho Mukha Shavasana)
This is a core strengthening pose. This is one of the resting poses too. This helps you to center your mind and calm yourself fro all the negative thoughts.
From the chaturanga pose, you can push your body upwards such that you get back to the previous plank pose. Then move your hip still upwards and put your head down so that you get the Adho Mukha Shavasana.
You can keep your feet close by or hip-distance apart. You must try your level best to make your feet reach the ground. Breathe in and breathe out during this pose for 1 to 2 mins.
6. Warrior (Virabhadrasana I)
This is one of the warrior poses. This can bring about the total balance of your body and improves the stamina.
Take and keep any one of your foot forward to form the lunge position. Take your arms overhead and clasp your palms together above your head.
Keep your knee such that it forms 90 degrees to the ground level. Your back foot must be in a 45-degree angle with the ground. Reach as high as you can thus straining your hips and abs.
Hold in this position; breathe in and breathe out for 1 minute. Now, switch the sides and repeat the same.
7. Upward Facing Dog (Urdhva Mukha Svanasana)
This asana is for stretching your core muscles. You can feel the muscles elongate. This is also very good for back muscles and the glutes.
From the Warrior 1 pose, bring your legs to the original position and reach your hands to the ground and balance on them.
Keep your elbows straight and not bent. Bend your front portion of your body upwards so that it makes a curve upwards. Keep your head up ahead so that your neck muscles are strained. Breathe slowly.
You can feel the stretch while doing this. Hold in this position for 1 minute. Breathe heavily.
8. Balancing Table Pose (Dandayamana Bharmanasana)
This is a table pose. You can even add some crunches with this pose.
From your upward facing dog position, bend your knees and bring your feet in front. You should make sure that your feet are exactly under your hip and your palms are exactly under your shoulders.
Extend one of your legs outwards and balancing the whole body on your hands and the other leg. Sometimes, you can also stretch your opposite hand at the same time.
Hold this position for 1 minute.
9. Boat Pose (Navasana)
This is one of the most important balancing poses. The more you follow this pose, the more your core will get strained.
You should do this pose without falling off your balance either in front of you or at your back. You must remember that it is very important to breathe in and out during this pose.
Bend your legs first by having your cop muscles parallel to the ground and your feet stretched to the front. Now, slowly, stretch your hands too so that they make a straight line to your legs. This leaves you balancing on your butt.
It is very difficult to balance, so for beginners, you can try to keep this pose for 30 secs. Do it 3 times.
10. Bridge Pose (Setu Bandha Sarvangasana – Modified)
This is the last pose of the core workout. It strengthens the backside and the upper body. This is great for body7 builders.
From your boat pose, return to a lying position. Bring your legs towards the body by keeping the legs hip-distance apart. Keep your hands at your sides and pull your hip upwards from the ground.
You can keep this position for some time. You can also extend one of your legs upwards to reach the ceiling. Bring back the leg and do the same with the other leg too.
Do a 30 secs hold for 3 times.
11. Corpse Pose (Savasana)
This corpse pose is the end pose for every yoga routine. This is done to bring relaxation to your strained body muscles.
From your bridge pose, come back to the ground lying over your shoulders facing the ceiling. Separate your legs a little apart and keep your hands near the hip, with the palms facing up. Relax your muscles and calm your mind.
You can try to stay in this position for 6 minutes. The longer you keep in this pose, the better you would feel
