If you’re one of those many people who think yoga is all about stretching, the splits and being spiritual, then think again. While all yoga styles involve stretching (and yes, being flexible will help your strength), there are some forms of yoga which focus on toning and defining your body. One of those styles that I have adopted is Vinyasa HIIT.
Vinyasa, (it’s our Amodrn yoga expert Kate Kendall primary style) is one of the most widely practiced forms of yoga and is all about breath work and flowing smoothly from one pose to the next. It’s very angelic to watch and very serene to be a part of. Your breath is the anchor. I call it my moving meditation.
Vinyasa HIIT (high intensity interval training) is exactly the same, but involves flowing from one move to the next in a series of repetitions (pictured above). So for the above workout I would repeat this 12 times going as slow as possible so my muscles really switch on to balance and hold me steady. After the 12 sequence reps, I then chill in down dog for one minute taking deep breaths that fill my lungs and then exhaling slowly to bring heart rate down. This is one of my favourite sequences for an awesome ab workout. And trust me, it’s a core worker.
Want to try it? You’ll need a few things before we get started.
Vinyasa HIIT Workout
Location Flow Athletic
1. DownDog
2. Three-Legged Dog
3. Tiger Curl or knee to Chin (try to kiss your knee)
4. Three-Legged Dog
5. Knee to right tricep
6. Three-Legged Dog
7. Knee to left tricep
8. Three Legged Dog
9. DownDog
Repeat
