Weight Loss
Harder-Core Yoga
By Nicole Kwan
Build strong abdominals with a series of simple moves
You want that bikini-ready body—but the thought of doing a hundred crunches a day makes you want to reach for the Dove bars. Too often in the quest for a tight tummy we improperly do exercises that pinch our necks and shoulders, and compromise the lower back.
You can reach your goal of a tight middle without doing situps. As NFL yoga trainer Hilary Lindsay says, unless you need your abs to protect you like armor, you don’t need crunches. The solution is a series of yoga moves that builds strength in the core, where you need it as central support for your entire body.
So unless you’re planning a few rounds in the ring, start with this series of focused poses from Robin Whitney Levine of Intelligent Yoga in New York City. Do these moves in a series every other day of the week. Your entire body will thank you.
1.
Cobra
Lying on your stomach, put your palms on the floor under your shoulders, fingers facing forward. Press the tops of your feet into the floor while straightening your knees and lifting the knees slightly off the floor. Lift your chest up and forward, keeping your arms bent along your body so you are reaching your chest, not your chin, toward the ceiling. Then straighten your arms. Lift and lengthen your abs and the front of your legs as you make sure to tuck your tailbone in. You should feel this stretching above the top ribs. Make sure your shoulder blades are together and down as if your body was hanging from your collarbone. Hold for 5 breaths.
Advanced: You can move from Cobra into Upward Facing Dog to tone the abdomen even further.
Comments
05 Jun 2008, 01:40
