If you are looking to lose weight, and you feel like yoga is the right exercise for you but you want to know a bit more about it, such as how many calories does yoga burn? What type of yoga is best?

Then look no further as today we will dive into that so you can find the right kind of yoga that will help you with losing weight.

If you want a more targeted answer for your specific body type and age, then you may want to check out a yoga calories burned calculator online to help you find what you will exactly be burning during your workout.

What is Yoga?

You may know yoga to be a slow workout that isn’t too strenuous on your body, however, whilst yoga is not exactly high-octane power, it is still a serious workout for your body and can help you lose weight as well as focus on your flexibility and offer stress relief.

When you are on a stationary bike or doing any form of moderate-intensity aerobic exercise, you can normally see how many calories you burn by looking at your Fitbit or checking the machine.

With yoga, you are not easily able to ascertain how many calories you have burned during your session, however, the closest way to see what you have burned is by using a calculator that can estimate your expenditure.

What Types of Yoga Are There?

There are different types of yoga that you can try to see which one benefits you most, but it is important to remember that regularly practiced yoga is needed for you to see the results of weight loss and increased body strength.

Here are some yoga types that you may or may not have heard of –

• Power Yoga
• Hot Yoga
• Hatha Yoga
• Vinyasa Yoga
• Bikram Yoga

Some of these will burn calories more than others, and if you have a weight loss program set out then you will need to keep consistent with your yoga workouts to keep your progress going so you can burn more calories and reap the fitness benefits.

What Will Affect The Calories Burned?

Before you pick out what type of yoga you would like to go for, you need to understand that some factors will determine how many calories you lose to reduce your body weight.

These are –

• Style of yoga
• Class length and level
• The intensity of your yoga practice
• How many yoga classes you attend
• How much you challenge yourself
• The consistency of your yoga practice

You can burn between 200-600 calories with yoga, but you have to consider these factors above first to see just how many calories you will burn.

It will vary from time to time, and you will need to take into account your current weight as well.

So, does yoga count as exercise? Yes, it definitely does.

Whether you are about to start your first yoga session or you want to change your yoga type, below are some yoga styles that may just be what you are looking for.

Different Types of Yoga to Try

If your main goal is weight loss when it comes to doing yoga, then you are going to want to pick out some styles that get your body burning.

Hatha Yoga

This is also known as gentle flow yoga, which focuses on a slow sequence of movements and poses to get the body working.

It is breath-based, just like Vinyasa yoga, however, there needs to be more than one breath per movement to make it work.

How Many Calories Can You Burn?

If you did a one-hour session of this yoga, then you are looking at burning around 190 calories, however, that will depend on the weight you already are.

If you are 155 pounds, then you could be looking at 149 calories burned per 30 minutes, so this could be a great exercise if you are just getting started and do not want to be too vigorous or do hard poses.

Vinyasa Yoga

This is a very active type of yoga, and it is known as flow yoga, as your body is in a type of dance flow to get the full benefit.

Your heart rate will go up when doing a session of Vinyasa, so it is great as a cardiovascular workout if you want to get your blood pumping and start losing weight.

You are continuously moving when doing this yoga, and even though you are moving slowly, your body is not resting, it is in constant movement to provide you with the benefits of this workout.

How Many Calories Can You Burn?

If you were taking a power class, you are looking at burning around 237 calories, however, that can increase with the length and can burn around 590 calories, but that will depend on your constant movement and determination as it could be quite tiring.

Bikram Yoga and Hot Yoga

These types of classes are for those who are a dab hand at yoga and need to put their body through a rigorous workout that will help them build muscle and tone their body.

They are normally around 90 minutes long, so you need to be able to maintain that constant output and work your hardest to reap the rewards.

It relies on your strength to keep you going.

How Many Calories Can You Burn?

You can easily burn around 400-600 calories when doing this style of yoga as your body is being put through the wringer quite a bit and you will be sweating a lot.

If you want to do this, then you shouldn’t be a beginner as you could find yourself tapping out within the first 10 minutes if you are unable to keep up.

Just because yoga relies on slow movements does not mean that it isn’t tough on your body, you have to be able to hold stretches in a heated room with loads of other people, it is mentally tiring as well as physically.

Ashtanga Yoga

This is classed as a power yoga and is highly structured. It combines set postures with a breathing technique to help you feel the benefit of each pose.

If you are looking for structure in your workouts and know what poses you will be doing, then this type of yoga would be best for you as it is predictable and you can practice it to make sure you are doing what’s best for your body.

You will still need to push yourself during these classes, as even though you are doing near enough of the same poses, you will need to keep going one step further so your body doesn’t become used to it and stop you from burning calories.

How Many Calories Can You Burn?

You will be sweating a lot when you are in an Ashtanga yoga session, so you can burn around 350 calories per 90 minutes, but if you keep with the same pace each session then you won’t always be burning that, so you have to keep your sessions consistent and work yourself hard to make it worth it.

Conclusion

Does yoga burn calories? Yes, it does and you certainly will find a lot of benefits in the different kinds of yoga available to you.

No matter what your goals are, adding yoga to your exercise routine may be a good option when it comes to focusing on weight loss.

Keep it consistent and even if you are not having a good day, just doing it slightly will still help you in more ways than one.