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People don’t usually practice yoga for the caloric burn. Yogis might practice for overall fitness, strength, flexibility, wellness, and a host of other reasons, but oftentimes calories are left out of the equation. Maybe that’s the way it should be. Like other activities (surfing and snowboarding included), many people practice yoga for an enjoyment that just can’t be quantified, and that is something to respect.
However, there’s also a common misconception that yoga doesn’t torch calories to the extent that other workouts do. Many feel that they absolutely need to do other forms of exercise like jogging, spinning, and swimming to burn major calories. These workouts all have their merits: they can be incredibly fun and they’re great for your heart. If you enjoy them, variety is always great, and you should absolutely incorporate traditional cardio into your workout regime. However, if you’re only taking on cardio for the caloric burn, these yoga statistics might surprise you.
Just because you sweat more during traditional cardio activities doesn’t necessarily mean that you’re burning more energy. Taking a look at the Health Status Calories Burned Calculator, these were the approximate number of calories burned in the following yoga classes:
Male (35) 5’10” 170 lbs
Vinyasa Yoga: 673
Bikram Yoga: 540
Ashtanga Yoga: 397
Hatha Yoga: 214
Female (35) 5’4” 130 lbs
Vinyasa Yoga: 515
Bikram Yoga: 413
Ashtanga Yoga: 304
Hatha Yoga: 164
As you can see, yoga burns some serious cals. Also, it is surprising to find is that Vinyasa Yoga burns more energy than Bikram. While Bikram (or hot yoga) is often regarded as intense and energy burning yoga because of the heated room (from experience I can tell you that you sweat everything out), Vinyasa actually burns more calories. If I had to take a guess, I would say the speed of the flow between poses plays a role in this.
So yes, yoga does burn a significant amount of energy, despite the contrary stereotype. While fast-paced cardio will always have a role in fitness, for those of you cardio-averse, yoga is still a great option for staying in shape. Just remember that showing up for class doesn’t guarantee you x amount of calories. You get out what you put in, and you’ll burn the energy only if you completely invest in your practice.
Note: Heights and weights were chosen as very rough averages to provide concrete examples. If you’d like to customize your own calorie burn estimate, visit the Calories Burned Calculator.
