How Many Calories Does Yoga Burn?
If you are interested to know about How Many Calories Does Yoga Burn? Then this article is just what you will need to go through. We will discuss calorie burn and hence the weight loss, that you may expect from each of the yoga types. Stay Tuned.
Before we get on to a detailed discussion about the benefits of yoga in weight loss, let us understand a little more about yoga as a form of exercise itself, and how it helps us burn calories.
Whether you are a seasoned yogi or an intermediate one, you have a fair idea about how yoga stretches certain muscles in our body, increases flexibility and helps us relax both physically and mentally.
We all are aware about how it is regarded as a form of exercise, but the real question which leaves us wondering whether yoga really helps us in losing weight or not.
So, let us understand a few basic things about yoga itself before we head onto knowing more about the amount of calories different types of yoga help us to burn.
What Is Yoga?
Yoga is a subject which is filled with nitty-gritty details and has a lot of depth to it. But, if we have to explain it in simple words, one can say that yoga is a lot more than a few simple stretches.
It focuses on providing balance, flexibility, strength and relaxation to our body with the help of a number of poses and postures while involving our bodily movements and controlling our breathing pattern.
There are various types of yoga but the flowing movement of our body from one pose to another while focusing on our breathing remains constant for all yoga types.
To know more on this in details read our Post on Meaning of The Word Yoga.
Does Yoga Burn Calories?
Now, coming to answering the most important question in our minds- does yoga burn calories? Well, to give you a short overview, we can safely say that we definitely shed some pounds if we are able to perform yoga on a regular basis.
However, it does not really guarantee that you will lose weight. This is again because we all know how losing weight depends entirely on the calories we lose compared to the calories we intake- whether or not you perform yoga as a form of exercise.
Studies Show a 45 Mins Yoga Session Burns 180-460 Calories
When you hit the yoga studio, your average yoga class lasts about 45 minutes. And in those 45 minutes of your yoga session, studies and researches have proved that you can burn up to 180-460 calories. However, that again depends on a number of factors. Namely:
- The type of yoga you have chosen to perform
- The duration and the intensity of your yoga session
- And also your gender (whether you are a male or a female)
Surveys and researches have proved that a person of 160 pounds can burn up to 183 calories in a basic yoga class; which when compared to theamount of calories burnt through other forms of exercises, is much less.
But, we must not forget the fact that the primary health benefit of yoga is not about burning calories- it is about building a harmony between our mind, body and soul.
Whether or not one burns calories during a yoga session, again depends on a number of factors:
- Style Of Yoga
- Intensity Of The Class
- Duration Of The Class
- Level Of The Class
For example, people tend to lose more calories when they perform Bikrama Yoga rather than Hatha (basic) yoga- primarily because Bikrama Yoga is a faster paced form of yoga which is performed in a hot surrounding.
Therefore, in a nutshell, we can understand the fact that the number of calories one expends doing yoga, is directly proportional to one’s body weight and workout duration.
Thus, one’s caloric intake must stay constant while you add to the duration of your yoga session in order to lose weight and shed calories.
Also, read our post on How To Gain Weight Through Yoga?
Calories You Burn In Each Type of Yoga
By now, we all know how yoga has a number of health benefits. It helps in de-stressing (both mind and body), helps in building muscles, improving our flexibility, and boosting our immunity and much more.
In addition to all these benefits, yoga is an activity which also helps in losing weight and staying fit. However, what determines the amount of calorie burn is the type of yoga you choose to do. Below we have listed the different types of yoga and the number of calories burnt with each type- but that will vary depending on your weight.
While some types provide mental and spiritual benefits, others work great for workouts. These are the most common types of yoga which enhance your effort in losing weight.
Find our post on Yoga DVDs For Weight Loss.
Loss of Calorie From Hatha Yoga
Hatha yoga can be defined as the most basic form of yoga which mainly involves the general physical practice and movement of yoga.
Hatha Yoga classes are more like a subtle and a general introduction to yoga and yoga movements.
This means that after a session of Hatha Yoga class your body and muscles are likely to be left more stretched out than sweaty.
To give a number, an hour of hatha yoga class burns an average of 175 to 298 calories
Vinyasa Yoga
Vinyasa Yoga is another popular type of yoga which is a little more strenuous than Hatha Yoga. A Vinyasa Yoga class usually comprises of learning how to coordinate movement to our breathing pattern.
Therefore, it is quite obvious that a Vinyasa Yoga class includes more movement and a continuous flow of poses.
As A Result, The Average Number Of Calories Burnt During This Type Of Yoga Is About 550 Calories If The Class Lasts For An Hour Long.
Ashtanga Yoga
Ashtanga Yoga is the most popular type of yoga which is commonly known as “Power Yoga”, especially when it comes to losing weight thorugh yoga practice.
Ashtanga Yoga literally means “eight-limbed yoga “and it particularly follows a specific order of set of poses while coordinating our breath to our movement, like we learn to do in Vinyasa yoga.
The number of calories burned in Ashtanga Yoga is quite high, primarily because it takes us through a coordinated series of poses through a continuous flow.
The Expected Calorie Burn In Ashtanga Yoga Is Between 450-550 Calories In An Hour-Long Session.
Bikram Yoga | Hot Yoga Calorie Burn
Bikram Yoga is a much advanced type of yoga which involves a set of 26 poses and Bikram Yoga is specifically done in a heated room or environment.
This particular type of yoga came into existence in the 1970’s by a yogi named Bikram Chowdhury and the sessions of this type of yoga usually lasts about 90 minutes. So, The Amount Of Calories Burned In Bikram Yoga Is About 330 Calories.
Bikram Yoga is often referred to as hot yoga and researches have shown contradicting the popular belief, that performing hot yoga does not help in burning extra calories because of the high temperatures.
In case, you are interested, do read our post on Best Mats For Hot Yoga
Iyengar Yoga
Like all the above mentioned types of yoga, Iyengar Yoga is also another type of yoga which is quite popular among yoga enthusiasts. This particular type of yoga specifically focuses on placement and alignment of the body and therefore there isn’t a whole lot of movement involved in it.
Iyengar Yoga is also characterized with no flow and the poses in this specific type of yoga is held for longer span of time in order to increase flexibility of the body and the muscles. Iyengar Yoga also encourages the yoga performer to use yoga props like yoga blocks to help get themselves into proper and correct postures.
As A Result, The Number Of Calories Burned In This Type Of Yoga Is Not Much And Is About 175 Calories Only If The Class Lasts For An Hour.
So, now that you are well aware of the types of yoga and the number of calories each of these types helps in burning, it will be easier for you to choose which type of yoga you should go for in an effort to lose weight.
So, now that you are aware of how much calorie each type of yoga can burn, it is time to handle the most important question head on by providing our honest opinion.
Well Here it goes…
Can Yoga Help In Losing Weight?
Weight loss is all about burning more calories through physical activity and less consumption of the same. You can either increase your physical activity or lower your calorie consumption or do both.
It is true that there are more rigorous exercises and physical activities which burn more calories than yoga as a form of exercise.
But yoga does offer diversified effects that make it for a useful, sustainable and healthy weight-loss. Yoga practitioners also suggest that yoga also helps by supporting in developing mindfulness which in turn helps people in:
- Staying Away From Unhealthy Food
- Resisting Stress Eating
- Resisting Comfort Eating
- Reducing Overeating- By Helping People In Staying Attuned With Their Body And They Are Aware When They’re Full
- Resisting Unnecessary Cravings
- Reducing Appetite
- Improving Self-Esteem
- Improving Mood And Avoiding Mood Swings
- Reducing Back Or Joint Pain Which Prohibits Them From Any Form Of Additional Exercise.
Researches have also shown that yoga helps us to sleep better. Therefore, you must have heard or seen people suffering from insomnia often performing yoga on a regular basis.
Practicing yoga daily helps them sleep better, sleep longer and return to sleep faster when they wake up at night. This research in turn suggests that people who suffer from loss of sleep tend to gain weight more than those who get fulfilling amount of sleep.
So, one can safely say that if good sleep helps you lose fat and yoga helps you sleep well, even then it is quite reasonable to say that yoga helps in weight loss.
Also, read our post on How Yoga Works?
Find out more about the Best Power Yoga DVDs
Conclusion
It is true that yoga enhances your body in losing weight by stretching, building and toning your muscles along with carefully controlling your calorie intake, but it is also true that other rigorous forms of exercises help you burn more calories quickly.
If you are in no such hurry about losing weight quickly then you can always opt for yoga as your form of exercise. To lose weight, the one thing you must keep in mind is that you must burn more number of calories than the number of calories you consume each day.
You will surely burn calories in your yoga sessions but there are other varieties of physical activities which will burn more calories in the same period of time.
In conclusion, yoga does help you to lose weight and keep it off but helps more in creating mindfulness about calorie intake and weight loss while also initiating better sleep. Do not forget to read our post on Yoga Therapy and Can Yoga Build Muscles? which are quite related to this.