More yoga than cardio

cclala

Right now I do a blend of cardio and yoga. I'm getting more into yoga though, but I read somewhere you don't lose weight doing it, and the calories burned in the fitness log seem quite low.

I find this strange, considering how hard it can be and how lean 99% of my classmates are.

Does anyone practice yoga as their primary form of exercise, and have you seen any weight loss?

I should mention I'm talking more about Vinyasa and power type yoga, where it's more fast paced, not just gentle stretching.

tegeos

I also practice Power Vinyasa yoga and have worn my HRM in class many times. My average burn is between 500 and 600+ calories during a 60 minute session. I am 6'1 and weigh 187. MFP is not accurate when calcualting calories burned for yoga.

azlady7

i suggest googling a calories burned for yoga then create ur own exercise on mfp

chocolatnoir

I love Vinyasa and have been doing it exclusively for the past year and it hasn't helped me lose weight so I am reluctantly going back to more cardio because it works. Yoga has helped me look leaner and toned and helps with my strength and posture, not to mention blasts stress so I still do it as often as I can- 4 times a week, usually.

When I do a combination of cardio and my flow practice it is a lot more effective so that is where I am at this point.

Some people DO lose weight doing yoga. I think you just have to see if it works for you, since we are all different. Oh, and the calories burned in the fitness log sound correct for a basic Hatha yoga class but Vinyasa on average burns around 400 per session.

Good luck!

2hdesign

I pratice Pilates (while not the same as yoga, I can still relate).

I used to be an athlete. Then I got a desk job, married and started eating as much as my husband. I quite swimming and running because I was spending so much time working my butt off on Pilates. But I gained weight. Why? Eating to much crap and not burning enough calories. Sure, I was toned, but I was getting larger. It eventually spiraled out of control to where I became totally sedentary and eating junk, junk, junk.

Not that it will happen to anyone else but me, but it might be a good idea to at least get some fast walking in...

Now I run 2-3 days a week, lift weights 2-3 days a week and do Pilates 1 day a week. I'm in the weight loss phase. I suspect when I reach maintence, those will shift around so Pilates is 2-3 a week, but only time will tell.

JoyousRen

I also practice Power Vinyasa yoga and have worn my HRM in class many times. My average burn is between 500 and 600+ calories during a 60 minute session. I am 6'1 and weigh 187. MFP is not accurate when calcualting calories burned for yoga.

HRMs aren't accurate for strength training.
"The heart rate increase experienced during lifting weights is usually not associated with the same degree of VO2 increase experienced during cardiovascular exercise. That is because the increased heart rate is more pressure-driven than volume-driven and it is the increased cardiac output that drives VO2 and calorie expenditure, not just heart rate alone. During heavy weight lifting, the increase in heart rate is not accompanied by an increase in cardiac output. "

They talk about it more on this thread: http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/86755-hrm-while-strength-training-can-this-be-right?hl=HRM+while+strength+training

cclala

I also practice Power Vinyasa yoga and have worn my HRM in class many times. My average burn is between 500 and 600+ calories during a 60 minute session. I am 6'1 and weigh 187. MFP is not accurate when calcualting calories burned for yoga.

Thank god!!! I had a feeling....

cclala

i suggest googling a calories burned for yoga then create ur own exercise on mfp

Good idea, about to do this now-

cclala

I love Vinyasa and have been doing it exclusively for the past year and it hasn't helped me lose weight so I am reluctantly going back to more cardio because it works. Yoga has helped me look leaner and toned and helps with my strength and posture, not to mention blasts stress so I still do it as often as I can- 4 times a week, usually.

When I do a combination of cardio and my flow practice it is a lot more effective so that is where I am at this point.

Some people DO lose weight doing yoga. I think you just have to see if it works for you, since we are all different. Oh, and the calories burned in the fitness log sound correct for a basic Hatha yoga class but Vinyasa on average burns around 400 per session.

Good luck!

Thanks--when you say you look leaner but aren't losing weight, does that just mean you see more muscle definition? Maybe you are losing fat but gaining muscle, so the scale doesn't move.

cclala

I pratice Pilates (while not the same as yoga, I can still relate).

I used to be an athlete. Then I got a desk job, married and started eating as much as my husband. I quite swimming and running because I was spending so much time working my butt off on Pilates. But I gained weight. Why? Eating to much crap and not burning enough calories. Sure, I was toned, but I was getting larger. It eventually spiraled out of control to where I became totally sedentary and eating junk, junk, junk.

Not that it will happen to anyone else but me, but it might be a good idea to at least get some fast walking in...

Now I run 2-3 days a week, lift weights 2-3 days a week and do Pilates 1 day a week. I'm in the weight loss phase. I suspect when I reach maintence, those will shift around so Pilates is 2-3 a week, but only time will tell.

That sounds like a good balance. Right now I'm doing about 3 days cardio and 2 days yoga, but I'm feeling guilty about not doing some form of cardio all 5. :-/

backinthenines

Personally I think 600 calories are probably quite an optimistic assessment, and I agree with the previous post regarding HRM's use in non-cardio activities.

But having said that Ashtanga Vinyasa Yoga or as some people call it, Power Yoga, is a lot faster paced and much more demanding than standard Hatha Yoga or Pilates, so I think a possible 300 calories in a 60 min class are probably not impossible.

chocolatnoir

I love Vinyasa and have been doing it exclusively for the past year and it hasn't helped me lose weight so I am reluctantly going back to more cardio because it works. Yoga has helped me look leaner and toned and helps with my strength and posture, not to mention blasts stress so I still do it as often as I can- 4 times a week, usually.

When I do a combination of cardio and my flow practice it is a lot more effective so that is where I am at this point.

Some people DO lose weight doing yoga. I think you just have to see if it works for you, since we are all different. Oh, and the calories burned in the fitness log sound correct for a basic Hatha yoga class but Vinyasa on average burns around 400 per session.

Good luck!

Thanks--when you say you look leaner but aren't losing weight, does that just mean you see more muscle definition? Maybe you are losing fat but gaining muscle, so the scale doesn't move.

Yes more muscle definition which automatically makes you look leaner (since you don't build bulky muscles in yoga). I'm definitely the type of girl who needs cardio to really blast fat, though...no way around it for me. If I had a choice I would do yoga every day- vinyasa, power, bikram, whatever....and keep it at that. But alas I cannot do that.