You're busy. We get it. But you still want every benefit possible from the time you spend in practice—power, strength, energy, and endurance—without spending hours on the mat. To help, we've asked four top yoga experts to choose their favorite poses to create the ultimate yoga workout. It’s a virtual yoga buffet where you can fill up on all your favorites in one stop, and still have a little time to tackle the rest of your life.
In this series, we've pulled over 20 poses from ashtanga (better than a Hollywood weight trainer), vinyasa (the Ironman of yoga), kundalini (could be called ginseng yoga), and power yoga (equal to power lifting), pick the ones you need for your workout goals, and get started on the body you want.
FITNESS GOAL: Strength
STYLE: Ashtanga is made up of six set series of increasing difficulty. Even at level one you can feel the burn because you use your body like a free weight set. “This makes your muscles longer and there’s strength in length,” says Nicki Doane.
EXPERT: Doane, cofounder of Maya Yoga on Maui, could kick The Rock’s you-know-what. She’s also one of the few Americans who has the Indian Oprah of yoga (Pattabhi Jois) on speed dial.
Practice the first Ashthanga sequence, Sun Salutation A (Surya Namaskar A) 5-10 times a day using Ujjayi breathing: with mouth closed, inhale through the nose, sipping breath up back of throat and exhaling as if fogging up a window.
Upward Salute (Urdhva Hastasana)
Stand in Mountain Pose, feet hip-width apart, weight balanced between feet. Inhale and bring hands out and overhead, palms together.
Forward Bend (Uttanasana)
Inhale, fold forward. Exhale, lift chest up, and flatten back. Hands can come up to shins or fingertips touch floor. Forward Bends not only sync your mind with your body at the start of practice, they also stretch hamstrings, hips, and back as you warm up.
Plank (Chaturanga Dandasana)
Exhale and jump back into a pushup position. Hands are shoulder-width apart, feet hip- width apart. Lower down, keeping elbows hugged into ribs. Harder than 100 crunches, the yoga pushup bulks up the biceps and builds back and core strength.
Upward Facing Dog (Urdha Mukha Svanasana)
Inhale, ground palms into floor as you push torso up and off the ground. Lift hips and expand through chest. If your legs aren’t working hard enough, you’ll feel pain in your lower back. Press tops of feet into the ground, stretch legs vigorously, and roll shoulders back to transfer the work to your legs.
Downward Facing Dog (Adho Mukha Svanasana)
Exhale and shift back and up. Curl toes under and lift sit bones toward the ceiling while straightening arms. Draw thighs toward the back of the room and chest towards thighs. Keep the weight on the inner triads of your hands- the index finger knuckle, base of thumb, and inner wrist. Get the legs to work by pressing them back and drawing shoulders away from ears so you don’t collapse your upper body. Hold here for five breaths. In this “resting pose” you elongate every muscle while building ankle and ab strength and shaping legs.
Forward Bend (Uttanasana)
Look forward and exhale in Down Dog. Jump to the front of your mat. Exhale, return to Forward Bend. Inhale, flatten back, and expand chest. Exhale, release back down.
Upward Salute (Urdhva Hastasana)
Inhale and return to Upward Salute, looking up to slightly bend the back. Exhale, return to Mountain. To maintain stability in a standing backbend you must engage the glutes and firm the thighs, which gets you a tush that’s high and tight.
For more goal-specific workouts, follow any of these links:
FITNESS GOAL: Weight Loss
FITNESS GOAL: Endurance
FITNESS GOAL: Energy
