Does Yoga Reduce Belly Fat? — Yoga Kali

✅ Fact Checked

1/5 Can you lose belly fat with yoga?

Yes, research shows that yoga can help you burn fat, lose weight, and get more muscle definition.

Physically intensive yoga styles such as Ashtanga, Vinyasa, and Power will help you burn calories and build muscle mass to burn even more calories while you’re not working out.

Yoga is also an effective way to reduce stress, which is an important player in how and where our bodies stores fat. Researchers assume that high cortisol levels are responsible for the increased belly fat which just doesn’t want to go away.

Interestingly, you don’t necessarily need to sweat it out on your mat to tone your belly. One study has also shown that Restorative yoga, where the focus is placed on relaxation and breathing rather than physical postures, has helped overweight women to shed weight, including belly fat.

Lastly, yoga increases mindfulness and body awareness. This, in turn, can help you understand your body’s cues better and respond to those cues accordingly, reducing the incidence of binge-eating or mindless snacking.

To be successful in losing weight and reducing belly fat, you must supplement your yoga routine with significant work in your kitchen. Diet is key to losing weight and burning fat, especially abdominal fat that is often the last one to melt.

Keep In Mind:

There’s limited research on the concept of spot reduction – burning fat in one specific body area. The available studies have shown that you can’t promote fat burning in a certain area of your body by simply targeting it with specific exercises. So a program that promises to burn your belly fat by targeting your abdominals will likely be ineffective. Your body burns fat all over, and by exercising your belly you might as well lose fat in another part of the body.

2/5 Does yoga tone your belly?

Yoga asanas (physical postures) will not only help you relieve tension and relax, but they can also be an excellent way to develop a stronger core and tone your belly.

Yoga poses with a balancing component are one of the best for toning the belly since they involve core muscles to help your body maintain the position. Various yoga breathing techniques also engage your core muscles, thus toning your abs and giving them more definition.

Try these five yoga poses and mini yoga flows to tone your belly:

• Boat Pose – Navasana to Low Boat Flow
• Eagle Pose – Garudasana
• Plank Pose to Side Plank Flow
• Balancing Tabletop
• Chair pose to Balancing Chair

3/5 Is Kapalbhati good for belly fat?

Kapalbhati breathing technique (also known as Skull Shining Breath) is a good addition to your yoga routine and might be effective for toning your belly and burning fat.

Kapalbhati involves strong forceful contractions of the abdominal muscles on an exhale. It requires a good amount of muscular control and strength to perform these contractions fast and precisely.

There’s also some evidence that yoga breathing pranayama stimulates the vagus nerve that impacts our digestive health, including metabolic rate, hunger/fullness sensations, the secretion of digestive enzymes. Thus, practicing yoga breathing including Kapalbhati might also be beneficial to reduce gut issues such as bloating (that make your stomach look bigger) and promote weight loss.

Wondering how to start yoga if you’re overweight? Here’s everything you need to know about starting yoga with a plus-sized body.

4/5 Which yoga is best for belly fat?

Different types of yoga can help you hit different weight loss goals.

For example, fast and flowing yoga styles such as Vinyasa will increase your heart rate and help you burn more calories – an important factor for successful weight loss.

Ashtanga yoga, for example, most likely won’t get your heart rate up but it will help you gain muscle to burn more calories in the future – it’s a great so-called metabolic booster.

Restorative or Yin yoga are both excellent to release, relax, and de-stress.

Try these 8 power yoga moves to burn more calories and lose weight.

5/5 How long does it take to lose belly fat with yoga?

According to Mayo Clinic, you need to cut out 500-1000 calories a day to lose 0.5 kg a week.

If you combine calorie-burning yoga exercise with good eating habits and hit the target calories deficit, you can expect to lose about 2 kg a month and thus see visible results.

How fast you lose fat with yoga depends on the consistency of your practice and how challenging it is. Supplementing your yoga routine with additional cardio exercise will help you burn more calories and thus see faster results, providing your diet is in check.

How can I flatten my stomach naturally?

Losing belly fat isn’t a one-day process. But you can make small lifestyle changes that will gradually help you get a more defined and flatter stomach.

Here are some small steps you can start implementing right now to start losing fat and improve your overall well-being:

1. Get enough sleep. Sleep is a magic pill from a whole handful of diseases. If you’re trying to shed extra pounds, quality sleep for at least 7-8 hours a night should be on the top of your list. Research shows that people who are sleep deprived not only consume more calories than those who get enough sleep but also reach for high-carb and high-calorie foods. What’s worse, skipping only a few hours of sleep can spike your cortisol and make your body store more fat.
2. Practice mindful eating. Not only you’ll be less prone to overeating while consuming the food slowly, but also you might also feel less bloated since your stomach would have an easier time breaking down all that well-chewed food.
3. Choose healthy snacks. Rather than reaching for high-calorie donuts or bars or giving up snacks at all, go for healthier and nutrient-packed alternatives such as hummus, eggs, greek yogurt, nuts. Consuming nuts, for example, has been linked with lower waist circumference.
4. Eat soluble fiber. Avocados, chia seeds, flax seeds, and legumes are excellent sources of soluble fiber. Research shows that they will make you full faster and longer, thus reducing your overall calorie consumption.
5. Walk. You don’t necessarily have to sweat it out in the gym or on the yoga mat to see your stomach getting smaller. Walking is an effective way to burn calories and lose weight as a result. So whenever possible, skip the car drive or elevator ride and walk it off.