Beginner Yoga Workout to Tone Your Booty
There IS such thing as a “yoga booty, and this beginner yoga workout to tone your booty will help you get this seemingly mythical achievement!
While a great yoga workout will definitely help you find your Zen, the practice isn’t just about breathing and meditating.
In fact, if you do the poses in the right combination you can burn serious calories, and tone and sculpt your muscles.
The health benefits of yoga are plentiful too.
The National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health says that studies find that people who practice yoga regularly have an improved quality of life.
Other perks include reduced stress, a lower resting heart rate and blood pressure, less anxiety, improved low-back pain and function, relieving depression and insomnia, and better overall fitness, strength, and flexibility.
And let’s not forget the phenomenon of the yoga booty.
What was once a term you could only find in Urban Dictionary has evolved into everyday language to describe a tight, high, sculpted rear end that looks perfect in yoga pants.
Here we’ve put together a series of poses that are perfect for beginners that will help you build your yoga booty by focusing on movements that activate your glutes and core to build an amazing physique.
All you need is a yoga mat, a quiet space, and a comfy outfit and you’re ready to get started.
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1. Standing Forward Bend
Start with your feet hip distance apart and take a deep breath in bringing your hands overhead.
As you exhale, lift your kneecaps, extend through your spine and fold forward. Keep your knees straight and your head neutral as you reach towards the floor.
This movement will activate your glutes and lower back, and give you a nice stretch on the way down.
Hold at the bottom, then inhale and reverse the position coming back to standing.
2. Chair Pose
Start with your feet hip-distance apart, hands relaxed at your sides, and your spine in a neutral alignment.
Inhale and raise your arms over your head with your palms facing each other, then exhale sitting your glutes back as if you’re sitting down in a chair. Work to get your thighs as close to parallel to the floor as possible.
Yoga experts at Yoga Outlet recommend that you keep around 80 percent of your weight in your heels during this pose so that you’re able to wiggle your toes while holding it.
Breathe deeply and focus on dropping your hips while pressing your shoulder blades down and extending through your fingertips. Hold this pose for five to ten breaths, or up to one minute.
3. Downward Facing Dog
Set up this pose by starting on your hands and knees with your wrists directly beneath your shoulders and your knees under your hips. Spread your fingers wide and make sure that you’re evenly applying pressure into each knuckle.
Inhale and tuck your toes, then exhale and lift your hips towards the ceiling while extending through your legs. Think about making your body into an inverted “V” shape, with a straight line from your heels to your tailbone, and from your wrists to your tailbone.
Keep your head and neck neutral and relaxed, gazing towards your belly button. Work to press your heels into the mat while drawing your shoulder blades down your spine to keep your shoulders away from your ears.
Breathe deeply for three to five breaths, then release and repeat the movement.
4. Warrior 1
All of the Warrior poses, Warrior 1, 2, and 3, are great choices to target your booty. You can transition easily into each of the three poses, but Warrior 1 is very beginner-friendly.
Yoga Journal also recommends this pose as a great therapeutic option for anyone with sciatica pain.
To do the pose, begin with your feet hip-distance apart, arms relaxed at your sides, and your spine in a neutral position. Inhale, and then when you exhale step your feet to between 3.5 and 4 feet apart and lift your arms to parallel to the floor.
Next, turn your left foot to a 45-degree angle and your right foot to a 90-degree angle facing outward. Make sure that your heels are aligned in a straight line.
Then, exhale and turn your torso to the right, facing your front foot and anchoring both heels to the mat. When you feel grounded, bend your front knee deeply trying to bring your thigh parallel to the floor.
Finally, raise your arms overhead with your plans facing each other. Extend through your rib cage and hold this pose for five to ten breaths.
5. Reverse Plank
Reverse plank or upward plank pose is an effective way to target your glutes and core.
To do it, begin sitting on the floor with your legs extended straight out in front of you. Place your palms on your mat right behind your hips with your fingertips facing your body and your fingers spread wide.
Inhale, and as you exhale press through your palms and heels while tightening through the back of your body to lift your hips up off the floor. Think about creating a straight line from your heels to your shoulders.
Keep your head and neck in neutral alignment, and focus on the ceiling. Drop your shoulders away from your ears and pull your belly button in towards your spine to stabilize your lower back and activate your abdominals.
Hold this pose for five breaths, or about 30 seconds, and then release back to your mat. For an added bonus, sit tall and fold forward to stretch the muscles you just worked before doing another rep.
Next up in our beginner yoga workout to tone your booty is a GREAT one for the glutes!
6. Bridge
Finish off your booty building workout with bridge pose. Not only will it tone your tush, but experts at Yoga Basics believe it will stimulate your endocrine and nervous system too.
To execute the pose, start laying on your mat flat on your back. Bend your knees and bring your heels close to your glutes keeping them hip-distance apart.
Place your arms down alongside your body with your palms pressing into the mat. Try to bring your heels close enough that your fingertips and heels are touching.
Inhale, then on the exhale, lift your hips towards the ceiling pressing through your shoulders and toes to create a straight line through your torso.
If you are able to do so comfortably, tighten your glutes further and extend your hips higher towards the ceiling. Breathe deeply and hold this pose for five or more breaths before slowly releasing back down to your mat.
If you are looking for more beginner poses to transform your body with yoga, our Yoga Fat Loss Bible for Beginners is a great place to start!
It comes with everything you need to get started, including a complete 6-week workout plan, a flexibility guide, and a beginner’s guide to meditation!
It’s a great solution around for those looking to lose weight, get more flexible, and relieve aches and pains with a calm yoga practice.
It will show you exactly how to melt away stubborn body fat with a regular yoga practice and has the top 50 fat-burning yoga poses every beginner should learn.
Click here to check out the Yoga Fat Loss Bible!
Always remember that the most difficult part of doing yoga SHOWING UP. Make sure to show up today and give your best to this workout. You deserve it!
Leave a comment below if you enjoyed this beginner yoga workout to tone your booty or have any questions!