30-Minute Yoga Sculpt
Sweat, sculpt and tone at home with this full-body yoga sculpt class! This fusion-style yoga workout combines powerful, muscle-building yoga poses with resistance training and quick cardio bursts for a high-energy strength and mobility workout. Beginner and advanced modifications are provided for all fitness levels.
If you’ve done any of my workouts, you know that my style of training leans more towards intense power flows and athletic yoga HIIT than relaxing yoga flows.
As someone who tends to be more high-energy and less zen, yoga sculpt is my ideal yoga class. It combines the benefits of yoga flows with strength training, high-intensity cardio intervals and mat abs, resulting in an effective total-body fusion workout that will target the entire body and get your heart rate up quickly.
In a yoga sculpt class, you can expect a fast-paced workout that’s typically choreographed to music and in a heated studio. These aren’t “typical” relaxing yoga classes; they tend to be more of a HIIT class with yoga elements incorporated.
These hot yoga classes are a great fitness challenge, whether you’re a beginner or more advanced. Beginners can modify classes by slowing down moves, taking additional breaks and performing exercises with just their bodyweight. While more advanced class participants can up the intensity by performing more advanced variations of poses, lifting heavier weights and increasing the pace.
Benefits
Yoga sculpt is an effective workout that builds strength, increases mobility/flexibility and improves cardiovascular health.
The fusion-style training of yoga sculpt workouts means you get the benefits of multiple types of training within one workout:
- Vinyasa yoga: Sequenced yoga flows increase flexibility, mobility, core stability and balance.
- Resistance training: High-rep strength training improves muscle tone and definition, boosts metabolism and improves bone density.
- Cardio: Heart-pumping cardio intervals boost cardiovascular fitness, release endorphins and improve heart health, stamina and calorie-burn.
If weight loss is your goal, prioritizing 30 minutes of yoga sculpt over a traditional yoga class can help you burn more calories, increase muscle definition and boost metabolism.
Diversifying your workout routine by including different types of workouts is beneficial for preventing burnout/fatigue, reducing risk of injury and preventing fitness plateaus. If you typically run or prioritize weight training, trying a yoga or pilates class is a great way to mix up your routine!
Similar to barre/pilates classes, yoga sculpt prioritizes high-volume strength training (which means lifting lighter weights for more reps) and time-under-tension. This is ideal for sculpting lean muscle, especially for beginners or anyone who doesn’t have access to heavy weights.
The main difference between pilates classes and yoga sculpt classes is the pacing. Pilates workouts tend to focus on slow, controlled movements, yoga sculpt tends to be high-energy and fast-paced.
Workout Details
If you can’t make it to your CorePower yoga class, do this 30-minute yoga sculpt at home.
I’m bringing the yoga studio to you with this free, on-demand full-body sculpt class, which will target all the major muscle groups in just 30 minutes.
Tone your legs, butt and thighs with yogi squats and lunges. Then sculpt your arms and abs with planks, chaturanga push-ups and yoga poses with weights.I suggest incorporating yoga workouts like this one into your home workout plan 1-2 times per week to challenge your flexibility and mobility.
Workout Equipment
Yoga mat and optional light weights. I suggest 2-10 lb weights. I’m using 5 lb and 10 lb hand weights in this workout video.
If you don’t have light weights, you can substitute filled water bottles or soup cans. Alternatively, you can perform this yoga flow with just your bodyweight.
Workout Instructions
Follow along with the guided HIIT Yoga Class on YouTube, led by certified personal trainer and fitness instructor, Lindsey Bomgren.
Your Workout Looks Like This:
- Structured Sculpt Class (including a warm-up, strength training, cardio intervals, yoga flows and a guided cool-down)
- 9 Yoga Sculpt Exercises
- Natural Flow (moving from one move to the next in a guided yoga sculpt sequence)
Today’s workout is an updated version of one of my original yoga workouts. I re-filmed this workout to improve the audio and video quality and share some new moves and beginner modifications. If you try both, I’d love to know which version is your favorite!
Workout Outline
Screenshot or Pin This Workout:
1. Downward Facing Dog to Bear Crawl
Targets: Arms, shoulders, quads, back and core.
How to Do a Downward Facing Dog to Bear Crawl
- Start in a tabletop position, quadruped on all fours, shoulders stacked over wrists and hips stacked over knees. Inhale, taking a deep breath as you let your belly slightly drop as you breathe through your midsection.
- Exhale, drawing your abs tight around your torso as you tuck your toes under and lift your knees one inch off the mat, finding a bear crawl. Hold for a three-count.
- Then press evenly through your fingers to press your hips back towards the wall behind you, knees straightening. Hold this down dog position, stretching through the backs of your legs.
- On an inhale, bend your knees, returning to a bear crawl hover position.
2. Kneeling Front Raise
Targets: Shoulders, triceps, abs and core muscles.
How to Do a Kneeling Front Raise
- Start in a half-kneeling position, both knees bent at 90 degrees with your left foot on the mat in front of you and right knee stacked underneath your hips. Hold a dumbbell in each hand at your hips, palms facing in towards your body (overhand grip).
- Perform a pelvic tilt, tucking your tailbone underneath your hips to engage your abdominal muscles.
- With core engaged, exhale as you lift the dumbbells up to shoulder height, arms straight in front of you.
- Slowly and with control, lower the dumbbells to your hips, returning to the starting position.
3. Side-Step Chair Squat
Targets: Gluteus medius, hip abductors and quadriceps.
How to Do a Side-Step Chair Squat
- Start in a narrow stance, knees and ankles pulled together and knees slightly bent. Hold a dumbbell horizontally at your chest.
- Step your right foot out to the right, lowering your hips into a squat as you step out. Aim to get your thighs parallel to the ground, forming a 90-degree bend in both knees.
- On an exhale, drive through your heels to stand tall, bringing your right foot in to tap your left as you stand, returning to the starting position.
4. Lateral Lunge and Back Row
Targets: Gluteus medius, quads, inner thighs (or hip adductors), hamstrings, lats, back, calves and core.
How to Do a Lateral Lunge and Back Row
- Stand with your feet under hips, holding a dumbbell in your left hand.
- Step your right leg out to the side as you push your hips back, bending your right knee while leaving your left leg straight. Think of performing a single-leg squat with your right leg while your left leg remains straight. Knees and toes are pointing forward.
- Hold at the bottom of the lateral lunge, then pull your left elbow back towards your left hip, performing a single-arm row. With control, lower the dumbbell back to starting position and repeat.
5. Warrior II
Targets: Legs, glutes, quads, hamstrings, hip adductors, hip flexors, arms, abs and core.
How to Do Warrior II Pose
- Start standing in a wide stance position, feet wider than shoulders and toes facing forward.
- Pivot your left foot out 90 degrees so your left toes face the front of your mat. Aim to align the heel of your left foot with the arch of your right foot.
- Extend your arms straight out to your sides, arms parallel to shoulders. Relax your shoulders away from your ears, creating length in your neck.
- Then bend your left knee into a lunge. Left knee stacked over left ankle, left toes pointing straight ahead. Right leg remains straight.
6. Triangle Pose
Targets: Legs, thighs, hips, hamstrings, shoulders, back, abs and obliques.
How to Do Triangle Pose
- Start in Warrior II pose, then straighten your front (left) knee. You may need to step your back right foot in slightly more narrow depending on your range of motion.
- Extend your arms straight out to your sides, palms facing down and hands in line with your shoulders.
- Leading with your left fingertips, reach forward as far as you can, then lower your left hand to your left shin. Stretch your right arm up towards the ceiling, shoulders stacked vertically.
7. Horse Pose
Targets: Inner thighs, outer thighs and glutes, quads and calves.
How to Do Horse Pose
- Stand with feet wider than hips, heels in and toes pointed out (horse pose or sumo squat stance).
- Bend your knees to lower down into a squat, pushing your knees out towards your pinky toes as you drop your hips parallel to your knees.
8. Chaturanga Push Up
Targets: All three heads of the triceps muscle, chest, shoulders, back, abs and core muscles.
How to Do a Chaturanga Push Up
- Start in a high plank position with your shoulders stacked over your wrists, weight evenly distributed amongst all 10 fingers. Pull your kneecaps up towards your belly.
- Hold this position, maintaining a straight line with your body, flat back, tight core and neck in line with your spine, gaze slightly in front of you.
- Slowly lower your chest down towards the ground, keeping your elbows pinned to your sides. Keeping your elbows narrow engages your triceps rather than your chest muscles, like a standard push-up would. Maintain a straight line with your body: head, chest and legs in one straight line.
- Once at the bottom of your push-up, exhale as you push back up into high plank.
Modification: Option to add an incline by placing your hands on a chair or bench. Or modify the tricep pushups by dropping down to your knees. You can also check out this post for more ways to modify push ups.
9. Glute Bridge
Targets: Glutes, hamstrings, hips, core and pelvic floor.
How to Do a Glute Bridge
- Start laying on your back, feet hip-width apart, right foot planted on the floor and left foot extended straight overhead (ankle stacked over knee). Arms extended at your sides or arms straight overhead.
- Press through your heels to lift your glutes off the mat, squeezing your glutes as you lift. Think about keeping your core engaged and knees in line with your hips.
- Exhale, slowly lowering your hips to hover an inch above the mat, returning to starting position.
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4 comments
I just need to thank you so much for your amazing workouts! I came across you when I was looking for a new workout program on YouTube. My very first one was your kettlebell workout. I am a 43yr old Mom of 2 adult children (from northern Minnesota) and you challenge me with EVERY workout! I’ve been doing your workouts consistently 5 days a week for the past 28 weeks. I’ve never stuck with a program for so long. I love that you set up the week every Sunday in your email. I think that has made a huge difference for me personally! Feeling stronger obviously helps too!! So thank you again!
Michelle! I’m so glad you’re loving the workouts, and stumbled across my channel on YouTube! And LOVE that you’re from MN too! CONSISTENCY is the name of the game and it makes me SO HAPPY that you’re sticking with these workouts! So glad you’re feeling stronger! KEEP UP THE GOOD WORK! -Lindsey
This was great, I love the stretching combined with cardio and strength. Nice overall body workout!
So glad you liked this yoga sculpt workout Rachel! Nice work getting it done and I hope you come back for more! -Lindsey