Flat Belly Yoga! : The 4-Week Plan to Strengthen Your Core

This book is intended as a reference volume only, not as a medical manual. The information given here is designed to help you make informed decisions about your health. It is not intended as a substitute for any treatment that may have been prescribed by your doctor. If you suspect that you have a medical problem, we urge you to seek competent medical help.

The information in this book is meant to supplement, not replace, proper exercise training. All forms of exercise pose some inherent risks. The editors and publisher advise readers to take full responsibility for their safety and know their limits. Before practicing the exercises in this book, be sure that your equipment is well-maintained, and do not take risks beyond your level of experience, aptitude, training, and fitness. The exercise and dietary programs in this book are not intended as a substitute for any exercise routine or dietary regimen that may have been prescribed by your doctor. As with all exercise and dietary programs, you should get your doctors approval before beginning.

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Internet addresses and telephone numbers given in this book were accurate at the time it went to press.

Direct mail edition published by Rodale Inc. in February 2013.

Trade edition published by Rodale Inc. in August 2013.

2013 by Rodale Inc.

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Illustration by Karen Kuchar

Photographs by Beth Bischoff

Book design by Carol Angstadt

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is on file with the publisher.

ISBN 9781609619381 direct hardcover

ISBN 9781609619442 trade paperback

eISBN 9781609619398

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To those who want to turn the dream of a Flat Belly into a realityno crunches required

Welcome to Flat Belly Yoga! Im excited that youve picked up this bookit sends a loud and clear signal that you are ready to take action. You want to feel better about your body and your health. You want the support and direction to take on what, for many of us, is a top-level challenge: tightening up our bellies. You want a program that will leave you stronger, fitter, andlets get right down to itlooking better.

Im excited to be going on this journey with you. Im here to guide you as you make the transition from the couch to the yoga mat. Think of me as your personal coach as we head down this road of shedding unhealthy belly fat and gaining better, healthier lives. (Well also have some fun along the way!)

Flat Belly Yoga! is the newest installment in the Flat Belly Diet! series and was designed with many of the same principles. So you can easily do this new, cutting-edge workout and follow the Flat Belly Diet! at the same time. The Flat Belly Diet! is effective because it not only provides a realistic path to health, but also because it inspires us to take that pathto change the way we think about food, about eating, and about ourselves. When you get down to it, that kind of inspiration is what enables us to change our lives.

Giving people that moment of inspiration that creates change is one of the most important things in my life. Making workouts something people feel comfortable doing (and actually look forward to) has been my primary goal since I opened my first YAS (Yoga and Spinning) Fitness Center back in 2001.

I know how challenging it can be to set a goal and see it through. The road to Flat Belly Yoga!, as well as the rest of my career, has taken many twists and turns. Ive faced many challenges to get here. And thats why I want to guide you through this one.

Back when I opened the original YAS Fitness Center in a rough part of Venice, California, it was a neighborhood where gunshots and police helicopters were all too frequently part of the background noise outside my studio. (Not exactly the best place for an upscale, innovative gym, right?) But I hung in there.

As my yoga workouts became more popular, the neighborhood changed around me. Today, more than 500 students come through YAS Venice each day. And the street where all this happens, Abbot Kinney Boulevard, was named the Coolest Block in America by GQ magazine in their April 2012 issue. YAS Fitness Centers has now expanded beyond YAS Venice and is headed nationwide.

One of the most gratifying aspects of this success has been being able to give back by helping people get into better shapewithout a single om. Just to be clear, I have great respect for yoga traditions and their spiritual components. However, my goal is to transform the way everyday peoplethose who are simply looking for a good workoutthink about yoga.

I do that by developing approachable, no-crunch results-oriented workouts that use the best of what yoga has to offer. The centerpiece of every one of my efforts to get people off the couch and onto the mat is an innovation in mixing the most effective parts of different exercises together. As a result, Ive earned the nickname Godmother of Hybrids. And Ill take it!

When I first opened the doors of YAS Venice, no one had ever combined yoga with indoor cycling before. And certainly, no one had dared to build a studio dedicated to the combination.

My initial hybrid workout combined hard-charging Spinning with straightforward yoga in the same class (or in back-to-back classes). But that is just one example of a hybrid workout. Another example is my yoga-with-weights workout. Of course, these days people have come up with all kinds of hybrids: yoga and Pilates, yoga and stand-up paddle surfing, disco yogathe combinations are endless.

Hybrid workouts have become todays most popular approach to fitness, and for good reason. The strengthening, flexibility, stress-reducing, and fat-burning benefits of modified yoga workouts combined with resistance training and/or cardio are, in so many ways, just what the doctor ordered. Good hybrid workouts provide a safe, well-rounded, and effective approach to fitness. And the Flat Belly Yoga! does this so well that you might say it is hybrid to its core (no pun intended). Combining the yoga-with-weights workouts with cardio exercise gives you a perfect storm of fat burning and core strengthening to leave your belly flatter and sassier than ever!

The whole workout plan is 32 days, which studies show is just enough time to make a lifestyle change. After your 32 days are finished, you will have the tools to keep your belly flat for life. So make sure you start with the 4-Day Jump Start, then move right into the 4-Week Workout.