Ripped – summer’s mantra…GNC’s promise stuck on its latest blend of weight-loss supplements. That one thing that we all long for.  Oh, how we want that lean and flat belly.  And we’re ready for anything to get there -liposuction, fat-burning teas and crazy cardio workouts. True, diet, supplements and a rigorous aerobic routine will help you melt belly fat, but won’t actually give you the definition that you desire.

The real secret to getting strong and ripped abdominals lies in isometric contractions paired with repetitive leg crunches. Imagine those forearm planks that we do in almost every workout – whether in yoga or a cardio class. Just add a dynamic pulsing movement that is ongoing to get your heart rate up and urges you to change levels and intensity in rhythmic intervals. I have been sophisticating this concept in my abdominal classes and can actually see the results in my flat belly that was all flabby just a couple of months ago.

My biggest discovery was to incorporate a push-pull action in every pose and resist against gravity, using my personal weight as a lever. Resistance is a very essential part of training for weight loss, and is actually far more effective than doing cardio – in fact you do not have to do too much cardio to get ripped. I took this weight training concept to the mat and made compound asana that provide multi-joint exercise by recruiting multiple body parts, including those that are not able to be exhausted in the same way with isolation exercises. Ironically, in a gym setting, these exercises are identical to those that help you build most muscle mass. The only difference is the number of sets and reps, and the recovery period between sets.

So instead of rolling through the same “vinyasas” that the body is accustomed to and have become somehow ineffective, I started to add rep-based contractions within some key poses, which allowed for torsion and rotation and squeezed the central and oblique abdominals – ringing the fat out. The compound action of pushing and pulling; of twisting and curling, toned the waist line by contracting with or against gravity. The additional pulsing engaged the muscles in a dynamic way – to bring about the desired trimming and toning effect. The moments of rest while in a contraction triggered the fat burning and body sculpting process even more.

After seeing the results from this unique abs training, I started incorporating some of the principles in my weekly yoga class. The core power made students so empowered and confident that every time I asked for requests at the beginning of class, they would say: “core work, please.” I don’t blame them. When the core is strong, the posture is aligned, the gait is graceful and the weight is distributed evenly through all joints.

And funny enough your gut clears out so you can go with your gut, whenever you need to.

Abs Toning Yoga Routine: Ripped (open level)

This Yoga routine alternates between resistance strength training and compound stretching to tone muscles, trim belly fat and zip the core.