How To Get Those Fab Abs?

Lifestyle plays a huge part in gaining or losing weight. But one can burn belly fat using simple yogasanas, says SHAMEEM AKHTER

Most abdomen tighteners used in different forms of exercises are borrowed from yoga. However, in yoga one is discouraged from developing a six-pack because such tautness implies a weak breath due to the unnatural pressure on the large respiratory muscle called diaphragm. Also, internationally, the anorexic supermodels who flaunt a boyishly flat stomach have done the unthinkable: They have removed the last pair of the rib bones to get washboard abs! In yoga, such drastic interference is deemed unnecessary when you have intense and well-designed asanas complemented by regular pranayam (breathing practice) that involves breath retention and bandhas (energy locks). Then you, too, can boast of yogic abs without recourse to either starvation or surgery.

Lifestyle plays a huge part in one’s gaining or losing weight. Fighting weight has a lot to do with your state of mind and habits. Below are a few yogic lifestyle suggestions that you must use to boost your yoga regimen.

Control your stress
Even slender people, who are chronic worriers, tend to lard on at the waist. This is because the stress hormone cortisol affects the lipogenic and lipolytic enzymes. These control the flow of fat in and out of the cells where it is stored, thereby increasing body weight. Control your stress level through meditation, belly-breathing, relaxing pranayam or pursuing breathing practices like ujjayi, soothing forward bends (both standing and seated).

Only crunches won’t help
Spot reduction does not really work since you need to work the entire body for that perfect hip-waist ratio. Combine an effective exercise regime, at least for 45 minutes, five days a week with diet checks.

Cut down alcohol intake
Apart from making you gorge on greasy stuff during the binge, alcohol seems to affect the brain’s satiety signal, which indicates when you have eaten to your fill, as well as tampering with detoxifying organs like liver involved with fat storage. One needs to follow the asanas (see the box) to fight the flab that rests on your abs.

Naukasana (Boat pose)
Instructions:

• Sit up straight with hands on either side of the body.
• Inhale as you lift up legs. Move hands up to either side of the knees.
• Hold the pose, breathing normally as long as you can.
• To return to the starting pose, gently lower legs to the floor as you exhale.
• Over a few weeks build up stamina in the final pose, so you can hold it for a minute or more. In a few months, you must learn to hold it for three minutes or more for proper impact.

Avoid: If you have severe lower backache.

Benefits: It is a cellulite-fighter. Tones the stomach, thighs and powers the abdominal muscles. Boosts metabolism, aiding weight loss due to the pressure on abdomen and liver.

Naukasana (The crunch version)
This is easier for beginners. Those with advanced practice may hold hands on side or hold them locked behind the head.

Instructions:

• Get in the boat pose following the above instructions.
• Inhale. As you exhale, move knees closer to chest, using hands to hug the knees. From this crunched position, move back into the boat pose again, inhaling. This is one round.
• This must be done in a dynamic fashion, continuously flowing from the starting boat pose into its crunch variation.

Caution: This is easier after you acquire mastery over the first version. Also, the lower you drop your body back in the boat pose, the greater the effort of the stomach muscles and greater the impact.

Avoid: If you suffer from severe lower backache.

Benefits: It is a powerful ab crunch and has all the above benefits in a higher degree.

Viparitakarani mudra (Psychic union pose, crunch version)

Instructions:

• Lie on your back.
• Fold legs at the knees so they are at a right angle to the ground.
• Inhale. While exhaling, raise head and neck.
• Simultaneously raise hands, placing them alongside knees.
• Hold the pose breathing normally.
• Inhale, relax back to the starting position.
• Learn to hold the final pose for longer to enjoy greater impact. This must be learnt in a graded fashion over a few weeks.

Caution: Do not over-exert. Allow the neck muscles to strengthen by phasing this over a few weeks.

Avoid: If you face neck problems.

Benefits: A powerful ab crunch. Boosts metabolism, aiding weight loss. Tones the spine.

Dwipada uttanasana (Double leg drop)

Instructions:

• Lie on the floor, hands by the side or fingers linked to hold the back of head.
• Inhale, raise both legs at 90° to torso.
• Continue to breathe as you slowly lower both legs. If you have slack stomach muscles, this can be excruciating. So as a beginner it is better to do it fast, increasing stamina over a few days.
• You may also place hands, palms flat under your hips to take the strain off the lower back.

Benefits: It is one of the best poses to control abdominal bulge. It also improves mood, is therapeutic in most ailments, including circulatory problems (improves skin tone), removes varicose veins, tightens flesh around hips and thighs.