Better abs with yoga?

I noticed a video today that claimed you could get better abs just by doing 20 minutes of yoga per day? Is this possible? Every time I do yoga I always get sore afterwards?! help needed

[Piper]

I doubt it... Have you seen anyone of the yoga masters? none of them have good abs...

As far as I know it just makes the muscles more dense and stronger, but I don't think it makes much of a physical difference to them?

Bikram yoga (I think this is the one) is a yoga that you have a very hot room and do very intense stretching and Ashtanga yoga is called "Power yoga" because of it's intensiveness, but I'm still not convinced that you can lose weight or get bigger muscles or abs because of it... just better flexibility/lungs/blood flow/etc...

[galileo]

A clean diet will give you good abs. If they are strong and dense they will show well. Yoga + diet = Abs.

[Piper]

Danugi... I looked it up... Yoga doesn't give you better abs, it makes the muscles more flexible, stronger and more effective... meaning if anything you will be firmer, but not better abs...

I know there are some postures or asanas that work your abs, but according to this book from the great B.K.S. Iyengar himself it will only make them all of those that I said earlier...

[sammo33]

a 10 min ab routine 3 days a week and some fat loss will give you great abs
a whole lot less time than 20 min/day doing yoga

[Fudomyo]

I do 18 reps per week. I have good abs. A tad too much fat, but I'm under 10%.

Abs build just like any other muscle. With overload. Mine might look even better if the machines at my gym had any more weight on the stack.

After traps, they are about the easiest muscle to add strength too.

Fudo

[cursor]

I see references to so many people doing a ton of reps when they workout their abdominals. I can't see that your abs would benefit from that any more than you biceps would grow from curling 8 lb weights. Where's the resistance?

I add resistance in the form of a dumbbell underneath my head.

Place a dumbbell (you pick the weight) under your head, as if it were a pillow. Grasp the two heads of the dumbbell with your hands. Now lift your head slightly, maintaining an inch or so of space between the dumbbell and the back of your head.

With your feet elevated on a low bench (this forces your lower back to the floor—avoiding injury), pull your shoulderblades off the floor as you come up on your crunch—bring the dumbbell with you. Count by seconds:

1-2-3-4-5-one (full seconds between counts)
1-2-3-4-5-two (...now don't count too fast!)
...and so on.

When at the count of 2, you should be at the top, air expelled, shoulderblades off the floor, abs totally contracted. Hold that (and intensify all the while) for the remaining portion of the count, 3-4-5. Now slowly drop down, keeping the abs contracted & dumbbell off the floor (don't forget to maintain space between your head and the dumbbell). Now do your second one. By the time you reach ten of them you will be maxed out. If not, then you're not clinching/contracting your abs tightly enough (or you need more weight).

Try it & tell me what you think.

cursor, i just tried that technique, and its great. i really feel the burn. i kind of have a big clumsy dumbell, but if i had a nice ergonomic one, it would be even better, but anyways, i'm def going to add this to my ab routine. thanks.

[JD03]

Cursor, not to say that I don't believe that this ab exercise won't get results, but I've heard somewhere that doing abs w/ weights can lead to bulgy abs rather than leaner abs... that true?
JD

[Fudomyo]

[Carbon]

Bulgy Abs and Lean abs lol.

I thought the point was to make your muscles bigger, and by bulgy abs that sounds bigger.

I would much rather have bigger ab muscles and stronger ones with 5% BF then have weak ones with 5% BF.

[cursor]

JD03: I'm certain that whoever might have said that didn't know what the hell they were talking about. First of all, abdominal muscles just don't get that big and "bulgy." In fact you won't see quality definition until you lower your body fat to an overall low point. I suspect that the source of your referenced statement didn't have a great deal of control over their nutritional program.

Working hard at getting solid muscle is the name of the game, baby.

[Edward]

Cursor what about putting a dumbell on your chest and then doing the ab routine?? Or is best to do it with the weight behind your head?

Cheers
Ed

[.V.]

Edward, if it's ok, I'll answer this one.

Either way is fine. Behind the head is harder - I can get 75lb behind the head maximum for 10 reps. I can get 115 on my chest for reps. The reason I can only get 75 is because it starts to hurt my upper back and neck. Maybe I'm doing it wrong, maybe it's just the way my body bends. Try them both, see what you like best and do it that way.

I do behind the head for warmup and acclimation and on the chest for the heavy work.