Burn Fat With Baron

Kick your yoga into high gear with Baron Baptiste's fat-burning workout

While yoga boot camp might be the last thing on your to-do list as you hurdle through the boot camp called life, you can still get a taste of Baron Baptiste’s Power Vinyasa Yoga without even leaving home. “Power Vinyasa works to help you lose weight, but it also tones and strengthens, increases your flexibility, improves your breathing, increases and sharpens your mental focus, and helps prevent injury by building strong muscles and bones,” says Baptiste. He recommends this sequence of Sun Salutations as a way to warm up the body, boost metabolism, build strength and flexibility, and create a platform for a deeper, longer yoga practice. Do the sequence below as many times as you can, but at least 5 to 8 sequences to reap its weight loss benefits.

From downward facing dog, jump or step your feet to your hands. Inhale and lift your chest, coming into a flat-back (or half-lift) position, with your fingertips on the floor by your toes. Then, step back to a high pushup, or plank, position. Hold this for a few breaths, then lower slowly to a low pushup position, elbows squeezing in by your sides and your elbows over your wrists. Hover, a few inches above the floor. Then, press up to an upward facing dog and back to downward dog. Repeat 3 times.

On the third downward dog, jump or step your feet forward. Lifting up to a flat back, bow forward, then drop your hips to as close to 90 degrees as you can, lifting your arms up to the sky. Sit deeply into your heels; this is called Thunderbolt. Hold for five breaths. Bow forward and lift up to a flat back. Step or jump back to high to low pushup. Proceed through upward dog and end in downward dog.

From downward dog, lunge your right foot forward and press your back foot flat on the floor with your heel solidly into the ground. Sweep your arms up high. This is Warrior I. Hold for five breaths, sinking your hips down low and pulling your belly button in toward your spine.

Release, and drop to a low pushup. Proceed through upward dog and downward dog and repeat on the left side.

Repeat sequence 3 to 5 times on each side.