Yoga for Toning Abs: Get Better Abs With These 7 Yoga Poses

Being physically fit is one of the important things to maintain the balance between your mental, physical and social life. When you are physically fit, all your body parts are functionally active and keep your mind fresh and balanced. Some people prefer modern fitness training to achieve that balance while some prefer the ancient yoga practice.

In the last decade, Yoga has gained a lot of awareness and people all over the world are getting more and more involved in it. Yoga refers to union of soul with the mind and body. Yoga is an exercise which has the capacity to unfold the potential of the human mind and soul. Yoga is one of the best ways to energize your body, increase your concentration and purify the blood to name a few. In this modern age of lifestyle, people focus on their physique and looks. To attend an amazing physique people go to fitness centres, workout rigorously for hours and do every possible thing to attain a good health and physique. Whereas practicing yoga daily for an hour can give you a better health and physique with no investments.

Yes, yoga does help in toning the abs and giving you better abs. It is repeatedly found that people with a bigger tummy or an apple-shaped body are prone to various illnesses like diabetes, cardiovascular diseases and most commonly obesity and related disorders. A person with a pear-shaped body or a flat abdomen is more-or-less supposed to be healthy, more energetic and also assumed to have a better physique. Due to the growing concern over the cardiovascular diseases, respiratory ailments and diabetes; more and more people are trying to opt for yoga for better overall health, abs and much more. Let’s have a look at some of the yoga poses that help in toning abs and giving a better overall look to your physique.

Ardha chakrasana is pronounced as Ardhah-Chak-rah-asana.

• Stand straight with your feet together balancing the body weight equally on both feet and arms alongside the body.
• Breathe in and extend your arms overhead with both the palms facing each other.
• Breathing out, bend backward pushing your pelvis forward, keeping the arms straight in line with your ears, elbows and knees straight, head facing upwards and chest lifting towards the ceiling.
• Breathe in and come back to your standing position. While breathing out, bring your arms down and relax.

Benefits of Ardha Chakrasana: The following are the benefits of this yoga asana:

• Practicing this yoga pose strengthens and tones the back and abdominal muscles, brings you back to shape and thus gives you better abs.
• The organs in the abdomen, including digestive, excretory and reproductive organs get toned by practicing this yoga pose.
• This yoga pose also helps in rectifying all back and postural problems.
• Cautions People with spine and hip problems, high blood pressure, patients with ulcers and hernia and also pregnant women must not perform this yoga asana.

This yoga pose is commonly known to be ‘Hand to Foot pose.’ This yoga pose is part of Surya Namaskara (Sun Salutation) series of yoga asanas.

• Stand straight on your feet.
• While exhaling, bend forward slowly and let your arms go downwards as far as is possible without straining.
• Bend a little further and try to touch the floor with your palms and your knees with the forehead.
• Stay in this position for some time.
• Breathe in and come back to the normal standing position.

• This yoga pose helps to make the body more flexible and also stretches the muscles in back and legs.
• This yoga pose makes your spine flexible and also help get rid of many stomach problems and reduces constipation. Padahastasana also helps in toning the nerves.
• Padahastasana yoga pose also helps in eliminating the extra fat present in the body near the back and sides of the waist and hence tones the abs.

Caution. Patients suffering from spondylitis, cervical pain, lower back injuries or any back and spine problems must not do this yoga pose or asana.

This yoga pose is also called as ‘The Mountain Pose’ and again, it is the part of Surya Namaskara series of asanas. In Sanskrit ‘Parvat’ word refers to a mountain.

• Lie down on your stomach with your hands folded and placed at the side of your chest.
• While breathing out, raise your hips and pelvis making the shape of an inverted ‘V,’ while your chest is faced downwards. Your head must be in between both the hands facing inwards.
• Hold this position for some time. From the side, this posture looks like a mountain.
• Now, breathe in and lower your body to reach the floor and relax.

• This yoga pose strengthens the muscles of the arms and legs and gives them a good shape.
• This yoga pose also tones the spinal nerve and balances the flow of blood in the spinal regions.
• Parvatasana helps in toning the abdominal muscles and organs and thus give you better and tones Abs.
• Caution. People suffering from headache, low blood pressure and insomnia must avoid doing this yoga pose/asana.

Bhujangasana is considered to be one of the main backward bending asana. As this yoga pose resembles the pose of cobra with a raised hood, hence this yoga pose is also known as ‘The Cobra Pose’. Most of the people these days, keep complaining of back pains, stooping and various other back problems. In such scenario, Bhujangasana is the easiest way to get rid of all such back problems as performing this yoga pose strengthens your back muscles.

• Lay down on your stomach with hands placed beside and toes touching each other.
• Now bring your hands in front till shoulder level, with palms placed on the floor, and slowly lift your head and trunk with help of palms alone, with your arms bending at the elbows.
• Take your neck slightly backwards to give it a look of a cobra with raised hood, and keep breathing normally.

• This yoga pose tones the organs in the lower abdomen and also the digestive, urinary and reproductive organs. And hence this yoga pose gives a better look to your abs.
• Performing this yoga pose/asana also increases flexibility in spinal muscles and also makes the back muscles strong.
• Caution. Pregnant woman must not do this Bhujangasana yoga pose/asana. Avoid performing this yoga pose if you have Carpel Tunnel Syndrome, fractured wrists and ribs, or had a recent abdominal surgery viz., hernia.

Commonly this yoga pose is also known as ‘The Bow Pose,’ as while performing this yoga pose, the body and the legs take the pose of a bow and the hands look like a string.

• Lie down flat on your stomach with your hands beside, stay relaxed and breathe normally.
• Bend your knees in the backward direction to touch the back of your buttocks.
• Lift your head & neck upwards and backwards.
• Slowly move both your hands back to grab hold of your lower legs at the ankles.
• Now take a deep breath, expand your chest and pull the legs upwards and lift your trunk upwards and backwards.
• Hold this pose for a few seconds.
• Now, leave your feet, lower your hands and feet and bring them back to the ground in the resting position.

• This yoga pose is the best fat burner of the abdomen and helps in toning the muscles and thus provides you with better abs.
• This yoga pose massages the internal organs of the abdomen and hence is good for diabetic patients.
• The Dhanurasana yoga pose also expands the chest and gives a better look to the body.
• Caution. People suffering from migraine, headaches, back pain, high blood pressure, hernia and those who had a recent abdominal surgery must avoid doing Dhanurasana yoga pose. Women must avoid doing this yoga pose during their menstrual cycles and when pregnant.

The final yoga pose of this asana series to tone your abs looks like a boat; and hence the Sanskrit name Naukasana or also known as ‘The Boat Pose’.

• Lie down on your back, on the yoga mat, keeping your hands by your side.
• Relax in this resting position keeping your breathing normal.
• While inhaling, raise both your legs. Make sure that your legs don’t bend.
• Slowly, raise your head and chest till your abdomen. Your hands must be in front, trying to touch your feet. The angles maintained must be 45 degrees.
• Hold this position for 10 seconds and come back to the relaxed position.

• Naukasana Yoga Pose strengthens and tones the abdominal muscles. This yoga pose is one of the main exercises for reducing belly fat and for developing six pack abs.
• Naukasana Yoga Pose improves digestion and enhances the function of lungs, liver and pancreas.
• Naukasana Yoga Pose helps in improving blood circulation and is very good for diabetic patients.
• Naukasana Yoga Pose also strengthens the neck, shoulder, hips and thigh muscles.
• Caution. Naukasana yoga pose/asana must not be performed by pregnant women, during menstrual cycle, people suffering from high or low blood pressure, pain in the hip joint, arthritis, migraine and headaches, and also from hernia and ulcer.

Pranayamas are a great way to relax your mind and body along with stimulating the organs for achieving better metabolism. Kapalbhati, a type of pranayama also helps in burning abdominal fat and toning the abdominal muscles. Let us have a look at the ways how it is done.

• Sit with your legs folded on the mat. Your spine must be straight and eyes closed.
• Rest your hands on the knees.
• Slowly breathe in making your lungs full. Now breathe out with full force so that your stomach goes in with each breathe out.
• Start with 15 cycles in one go and slowly increase the number as you get habituated to it.

• Kapalbhati Pranayama is a great yoga exercise for burning belly fat and toning abs.
• Kapalbhati Pranayama helps in removing carbon dioxide from your lungs and purifies the body.
• Kapalbhati Pranayama also helps in curing acidity and digestion related problems, asthma, sinus, constipation and is great for treating breast cancer as well.
• Caution. The Kapalbhati Pranayama must always be done on an empty stomach. People having respiratory problems should always consult their doctor before starting with this yoga exercise. Pregnant woman must always avoid doing Kapalbhati Pranayama.

Yoga is supposedly the best way for achieving better and toned abs, more so for its long lasting effects. Yoga also helps in providing a healthy mind and body along with flat belly and better abs. Practising yoga daily can also help in keeping various diseases and disorders at bay.

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