How To Tone At Home, Thanks To Our Friend Yoga

There's a certain rhythm we lost in lockdown. The hit-the-gym, book-the-yoga-studio, do-a-class rhythm. And while we worked out from home, sometimes – truth be told – we'd get a little, erm, distracted. (By this, this and also this.)

But that was then and this is now. So how can we tone up for our post lockdown life? Enter: our friend yoga. We checked in with cult-worthy yoga studio Humming Puppy's William Wong (@willy_wongka_) for the how-to when it comes to namaste and tone.

Yoga = toning. True or false? 
"True. While the intention of yoga at its core is not to 'tone’, the holistic approach yoga takes really encompasses every part of your body. This is everything from wrist activation in your plank pose to grounding your feet in a standing Warrior sequence. What gives yoga the extra kick is that it is also about the mind, focus and intention. So tone your body and your mind, sounds like a win-win."

Are some moves more tone-friendly than others? 
"There are a whole range of postures (asana) and transitions that provide an array of benefits. Some poses may focus on flexibility and range of motion, while others may focus on building strength and lean muscle mass, sometimes they do both. Understanding where to focus the activation of certain muscle groups in each pose is where the toning comes in. 

"A simple one, which is in every practice is downward facing dog (Adho Mukha Svanasana). Within this pose people can often focus just on the legs BUT understanding that by placing focus into your upper body, wrapping the triceps and forearms to the centre line, will strengthen the shoulders and tone the arms instead of just pushing into your hamstrings, which alternatively we should be aiming on lengthening and relaxing."

What are the best moves that you should include in your sequence to tone?
"Virtually any pose practised actively and consciously with full body engagement can be used to tone the physical body. Additionally, safe alignment, body awareness and muscular activation are all important factors to consider."

The tone-low-down:

Arms
"Low plank (chaturanga dandasana), targets the arms while also encouraging the shoulders to draw back for safe alignment. Arm balances such a Crow pose (bakasana), supporting your body on your hands is the ultimate way to target the arms and also incorporates a tonne of lower core engagement to allow you to fly."

Legs
"Warrior (virabhadrasana) one and two and Crescent lunge (anjaneyasana), often theses poses have a lengthening and strengthening aspect with each leg moving in opposing directions. For example in Warrior Two, the front leg is activating the front quad, firing it up providing support and stability, while also engaging the glutes to support and open the pelvis."

Butt
"Warrior (virabhadrasana) Three and Half moon (ardha chandrasana) these balancing poses will really fire up those glutes using a lot of focus and playful energy to flow into. Goddess Pose, sit into a deep squat keeping the up torso lifted, want a challenge start playing with raising onto your toes."

And ... All over? 
"If you want all-over toning, you cannot pass by the traditional Sun salutations (Surya Namaskar). Enjoy extensions of the spine, shoulder and arm activation in downward dog, deep core activation in plank pose, lengthening of the hamstrings in forward folds and many more benefits. Connecting your breath to this flow will build the fire within and wake up your body and muscles for your practice. Tonnes of variations to add spice like jumping from your forward fold to chaturanga dandasana will allow you to get creative with your flow."