Nardini's practice is full of twisting, inversions, endurance moves and belly work—all to engage muscles and make you sweat. She believes it's important to watch the length and intensity of your workouts, as "over-exercising has been shown to trigger hunger hormones and shut down your fat-burning mechanisms."
Nardini advocates for moving smarter during your yoga sessions so you experience relaxation and also burn calories. Here's a series of core poses that she says will "build long, lean muscle, amp up your digestive fire and spark your metabolism so you become a calorie-torching furnace all day and night long."
Chair Pose
1 of 10
To begin, come into a chair pose. Start with your right side and perform the following seven moves in succession. Once completed, repeat the sequence starting with your left side.
Twisted Chair
2 of 10
While in a chair pose, keep your hips and knees back so you don't pressurize your joints. Inhale and reach your arms overhead. Exhale, place your palms together and twist to the right, touching your left elbow to your right knee. Inhale and come back into a chair pose.
Stand up here if the moves become too hard. Exhale and twist to the other side. After one minute, hold the pose with your left elbow on your right knee, twisting to the right.
Twisted Lunge
3 of 10
From the previous position, step your left leg back into a twisted lunge. Put your back knee down on a blanket or mat if the full pose is too challenging. Lift your belly away from your front thigh and lengthen your spine. Take five breaths in this position.
High Lunge
4 of 10
After the breaths in the twisted lunge position, lift through your belly and reach your arms into the air for a full lunge. Take a deep breath in.
Fists of Fire Lunge
5 of 10
Exhale, lean forward and bring "fists of fire" into your hips. Repeat 5 to 10 times. Place your hands at the front of the mat with your fingers wide, and fingertips and palms evenly grounding down.
Down Dog Pose to Twisted Dog
6 of 10
Beginning from the previous position, place your hands at the front of the mat with your fingers wide, and fingertips and palms evenly grounding down. Step back into a down dog pose. Then, bend both knees and spin them to the right into a twisted dog position. Breathe into your belly and hips for five breaths.
Side Plank
7 of 10
Next, straighten your legs, still with one foot in front of the other. Ground down through your left hand and lift your right arm up toward the ceiling in a side plank pose. Keep your hips lifted to tone the side waist. Hold this pose for five breaths.
Dog Pose
8 of 10
Come back into a down dog pose. Hop or walk your feet forward. Roll up into a chair pose and repeat the sequence starting with your left side.
Detox Block
9 of 10
Once done with both sides, lie down with a yoga block, sturdy books or pillows under your hips. Lift your legs up and spend one minute in this pose, slowing your breath and letting your lower back release and detoxify with this cleansing inversion. Rest for a while on your back before finishing.
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