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| Greetings all,
I am a 36 year old male. I am thin overall except my abdomenal area where a lot of fat has been accumulated. I have just started Bikram Yoga.
I am interested to hear feedback from folks on how much ab fat they have been able to burn off ? Any do's or dont's ? I am sure with the 90 min class and all the sweating due to the heat, that should work on burning off the fat. However, unlike a gym where you do crunches, there does not seem to be much emphasis on that in Bikram Yoga.
Again, I am very new to Yoga - so I apologize for any stupid/ignorant remarks above. I appreciate your help.
Thanks,
Kevin |
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| Your body stores fat and/or burns fat based on the ratio of what you consume versus expend. It is a simple equation. If calories consumed > calories expended, then you will gain weight (fat). If calories expended > calories consumed, then you will lose weight (fat).
Typically, excess fat stores begin to accumulate around the abdomen. That is also typically the last place where you will burn fat.
Contrary to popular belief, there is no such thing as spot reducing fat through isolated exercises targeting a particular body area (IE- burning abdominal fat by doing crunches) If you want to burn fat, you just need to either increase your activity level, decrease your calorie consumption, or both.
There are other factor regarding 'what' it is you consume that can impact your metabolism, but as a general rule what I stated above holds true. |
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| I'm new to hot yoga. But I think hot yoga(or Bikram) do have somewhat of emphasis in your abs. I think we're suppose to keep sucking in your stomaches to massage internal organs and this helps you to lose abdominal fat as well as learn to focus on breathing through this state(which with floor bow pulling pose i'm having hard time understanding). Also in savasana to other asana transitions during floor series you are making transition through doing sit-ups, where you are suppose to stick your legs mounted on the floor and arms by your ears. If you go look at some sites that explains what certain asanas are doing to your body to improve it, certain asanas such as half-moon actually help with abdominal obesety. The site i use frequently to learn it again and again is: http://www.bikram-yoga-noosa-australia.com/Postures/Members/index.htm
But I'm not sure if series alone is enough to gain some washboard-abs you see in models and movie stars!
Anyways, I hope I could've been some help and if I'm wrong on any information(again, I'm really new to yoga as well) any others who are more well versed on the matter can help shading some light.
Oh, forgot to also mention. I DID notice on how my body craves more healthy food, and I'm actually becoming not a big fan of a sweets(I used to be chocoholic) which is added bonus to your body. Because from my personal experience in the past, gym did no such thing to my body. I've been doing 25 classes straight so far and I did not notice any weight loss, but my body's muscle has gained definite tones, I'm learnig to be more positive(but this comes from beyond just going to bikram classes it's trying to learn about yoga in deeper sense?), and I'm less stressed. Whether you lose weight or not I hope your experience would be great like mine is! 
Edited by tabula_rasa 2007-06-26 3:25 PM
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| when I got very serious about a daily asana practice with an intensity of having a mat soaking sweat and maintained that practice for about three years, I saw a dramatic loss of fat.
but, children have a way of messing with your sleep schedule and that is a very intense commitment to make,
so, exercise is good
sleep trumps all |
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| O,
I'm 37
and when I stopped drinking alcohol and started to eliminate sugar and fat from my diet is when I got really serious about asana being a part of my daily practice
I went from over 400 lbs to under 270 lbs, and I'm a big guy at 6'9'' tall
I pegged the scale at the doctors office, that's when I knew something had to change......it took years, but my life is very different now compared to then.
Yoga isn't simply a physical fitness system, however you can gain tremendous benefits from making asana a part of your daily routine, make sure you be careful and not hurt yourself.
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| Wow - thanks to everyone responding. It is truly inspirational to hear your beautiful experiences. |
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| kevin01 - 2007-06-26 7:16 PM
Wow - thanks to everyone responding. It is truly inspirational to hear your beautiful experiences.
I recommend the following:
- Avoid yoga exercise in heated room.
- Discard the concept of burning off the fat.
- Change the diet to low fat diet (not artificial, but fruit diet may be) until the abdomen is reduced to your liking.
- Slowly build up stamina for exercise, and not do it a lot to burn the fat off.
Best Luck. |
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| kulkarnn - 2007-06-26 8:43 PM
kevin01 - 2007-06-26 7:16 PM
Wow - thanks to everyone responding. It is truly inspirational to hear your beautiful experiences.
I recommend the following:
- Avoid yoga exercise in heated room.
- Discard the concept of burning off the fat.
- Change the diet to low fat diet (not artificial, but fruit diet may be ) until the abdomen is reduced to your liking.
- Slowly build up stamina for exercise, and not do it a lot to burn the fat off.
Best Luck.
This is very good advice
for years I hoped that the exercise would make me see results, but it doesn't work if you eat fatty or sugary stuff
you have to make over your entire life, and Yoga is a great way to do that, make time for some meditation, or just some time to sort out what it is that you want to do, and go about it happily!
exercise
diet
good for the physical
that's a good place to start but don't forget to nurture the rest of yourself, the body is just the vessel |
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| This sort of thing seems to come up fairly frequently.
Asana practice, in the classical sense, was not devised to lose weight. It was not devised for a human being who had a big buttocks to have a smaller one, it was not devised as a system to make a belly smaller. It was devised to bring wellness to the gross matter called the physical body. And I am, of course speaking in generalities as there are some "other reasons" for asana of course.
But the definition of "wellness" in a Western context is a tiny butt and a washboard abdominal set. Neither of which particularly serves wellness unless one is refering to these things making you feel better about yourself. And there is some value in that as long as the physical body is not the only catalyst for one to "feel" good about themselves.
The belly or peritoneum is covered by the omentum. Its job is to store fat. The idea that doing crunches, which work the rectus abdominus and the surrounding musculature (in theory) does not specifically aid in the reduction of belly fat. Now it would develop the muscles being worked and it would contribute to caloric expenditure and thus adds to the formula for weight loss (or gain).
When you do not have belly fat (or an excess thereof) AND you have belly muscles that do not efficiently flex the trunk and lumbar vertebra, in that case it is appropriate, perhaps even necessary to work the abdominals. Otherwise, in the case of excess belly fat there does not appear to be a correlation between ab exercises and reductions in belly fat. So the fact that one's yoga asana practice works the abs or not is mostly irrelevant if the topic is "ab work to lose belly fat". Burn calories, sure. Reduce belly fat, no.
Here's more info on that if you are curious -
Msn Health & Fitness
Hungry for Answers
Edited by purnayoga 2007-06-27 12:23 AM
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Reducing abdomenal fat
