I wanted to open this blog by thanking my dear friend Tristan for collaborating with me in his efforts.

His loyal readers might be wondering, Tristan, really!  Why Yoga?

I must address this by saying there is a massive misconception in mainstream society and the fitness community in general, that yoga is for women, elderly and those in touch with their earthy side. Yoga is for everyone!

Yoga serves as a natural compliment to strength training, fat burning, and heart pumping cardio. Regular stretching gives your muscles the ability to fire more efficiently without shutting down in response to stretched tendons and/or ligaments.

Yoga is naturally weight bearing in many of the postures.  As you hold poses and lift your body in amazing ways, you are isometrically contracting your muscles, inadvertently building strength, lengthening muscles, and reducing the chances of osteoporosis.  In addition, yoga has a unique “feel-good” and stress management component that may help prevent or relieve depression, anxiety and numerous other associated medical problems.

I teach Prana Flow Yoga.  Prana Flow Yoga is a type of evolutionary vinyasa yoga developed by Shiva Rea which focuses on the movement of the body initiated and guided by the breath.  Every class is designed to facilitate whole body transformations in strength and fluidity, circulation and centering.  Practicing Prana Flow will help keep your mind, body, and soul refreshed, focused, and connected to the ebb and flow of the natural body rhythms that surrounds your life.

Some people refer to Prana Flow Yoga as an “athletic” form of yoga – 90-minutes of calorie-burning, vigorous, endurance and strength-building kind of yoga practice.  Please take note not all classes are that way!  There are many different kinds of yoga.  Follow the link provided so you can read about, and further research, the different types of yoga.

Cori Fratelli - Yoga Genius.

What will reading this blog help you to achieve?

I am hoping to eradicate any misconceptions you have of yoga by offering you insight into choosing a yoga practice that suits your individual needs.  I will be guiding you in transforming not only your body, but also your mind and spirit, and serving as your guide on this river of life.

B.K.S.Iyengar says it best when he states, “”While the physical aspect of yoga is a legitimate place to begin, it is not the end… Even in simple asanas, one is experiencing the three levels of quest: the external quest, which brings firmness of the body; the internal quest, which brings steadiness of intelligence; and the innermost quest, which brings benevolence of spirit.”

Today we begin our quest together ~ Lets transform ourselves!

Ladies Only Weight Loss Advice – Transform Your Body For Summer & Beyond – Fat Loss & Sexy Tight Thigh & Bun Workouts

abs are made with correct exercise - and in the kitchen!

Ok, to clarify what is common knowledge to some and interesting eye-opening truth for others:  We all have abs, we just need to uncover them to see our true potential.

And this is done with the old favorite – fat loss.

The reality is that our pure abdominal training should certainly be a major factor in our schedule and program planning but the essential of any six pack abs or fitness system is incorporating both exercises that burn the most calories (to melt fat around our waist, hips, and core) and also follow sensible eating habits to allow functional fat burning and ultimately the visual results we crave.

Long gone are the days of hammering out as many ‘crunches’ or sit-ups as possible in the hope our abs will rise from the depths like Atlantis.  Sensible fitness training for six pack abs requires compound / full body resistance and bodyweight exercise, HIIT & Metabolic Resistance Training and diet that allows us to perform intense workouts at the same time as restricting unnecessary calories.

By performing the above type of exercise and workout structures we are able to burn maximum fat at the same time we actually create lean muscle in our abdominal section – because its important to understand and train our midsection as any other muscle group.  To consider the outdated concept that abs are a small muscle group so don’t ‘over-train’ them is really not accurate and is missing the point.  The body should be trained as a whole unit as well as training specific bodyparts and compound moves actually call on the abs and core to assist, stabilize and ultimately work alongside other muscles in certain exercises.

Train correctly to save time and get stunning resul

Our use of compound exercise (that requires stimulation and recruitment of many muscles and muscle groups at the same time) will create stability and synergistic muscle stimulation.  i.e. doing a ‘single leg balanced press up’ will illicit your full core to stabilize as one leg is lifted, AT THE SAME TIME as you perform a push up / press up – you see how this type of exercise will burn more calories by placing demand on numerous muscles all working in different ranges and with different goals? (i.e. some supporting, some doing major work etc) – compare it to say a standard barbell curl for biceps (isolation exercise)

Essentially all exercise is good to incorporate.  but variety is the key.  And for real fat loss to show off our abs we should participate in using compound exercise as much as possible.

So we know diet is important.  But…

Compared to a person solely doing isolation exercises and typical 40 minute cardio sessions, the person who uses compound resistance & bodyweight exercises as well as metabolic resistance training and HIIT will be on absolutely the right path to not only see results much quicker and with shorter workouts times, but also be the proud owner of truly impressive six pack abs and a lean core because fat loss gets ramped up to the levels needed to melt the stubborn body fat most effectively and quickly.

I’ll show you a cool workout in the next posts that you can use right away to blast fat as well as create the best midsection of your life.

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* Go here for the real truth about abs – this covers everything and gives free workouts too! – seriously.

*try this INTENSE Six pack abs workout circuit routine for ripped abs and tight core structure…

*The right way to train for six pack abs – old school style!

*Ladies Only Fat Loss Advice & Tight Flat Tummy Exercises

3 piece jigsaw to six pack abs

A lot of clients I train assume that when we begin structuring our fitness programs that they’ll simply be doing some crunches or sit-ups as their abdominal workout.

That is not the case and in our workouts that could not be further from reality.

What I have all my clients do is a workout for abs & their core that incorporate a three sided approach – or what would be deemed a three piece jigsaw.  They will work lower abs, upper abs and their obliques(sides).  There is no other way to create the complete package and get structured results.  And the order of these three training targets is typically set at doing lower abs, then uppers with obliques added in between or at the end.  (this is another topic I’ll discuss in another post)

You see, sit ups and crunches only work the upper abs (I don’t really think you need to be doing sit-ups ever by the way) but for the complete package you need to work your lower abdominals to create that tight and strong waist as well as train your oblique muscles to enhance torsional flexibility and strength and see the rippled muscles in this area of the midsection.  The uppers are only a third of the  equation.

When you see the models and fitness pros with great midsections that is not from doing solely crunches.  It is because of a complete abdominal 3 sided training approach.

I’ll stress here that I also include a lot of core conditioning and lower back structuring in my programs designed for getting six pack abs and burning belly fat, but in terms of the main exercises concerning the abdominal muscles the three sided approach is always what I  use.

Here is a short list of some of the typical exercises that I use and rotate during ab specific workouts are:

Side open leg oblique crunches

Split frogs

Straight leg alt toe touches

Sky pointers

Leg alternate splits

Swiss ball crunches

Swiss ball roll ins

In & outs

Again, this is just a small selection of what I use with clients in our sessions.

If you train your abdominals correctly and don’t waste time with tired old sit-ups and keep the balance correct between the three sided approach to abs training then results are almost guaranteed if you are on top of your diet and incorporating the movements that will burn the most body fat.

I’ll also mention that this 3 piece jigsaw to abdominal training can also be incorporated during the ‘full body workouts’ that are essential and well advised for real success in getting six pack abs.  I’ll cover that in a new post  so you understand not only why full body workouts with full body exercises / compound body weight exercise is essential but also a description of exercises I like and a few workouts you can try.

*Free Six Pack abs workouts and circuit fat loss workout here..

*Want to know how to do a push up right to eliminate joint pain and skyrocket your results? Clik Here…

*A push up challenge workout video…

*Ladies Only Fat Loss Advice Here! Tone Up That Body For Summer & Beyond…flat tummies here we come!