Bikram Calorie count: the definitive answer
ogeyoung
Posts: 3 Member
Hello fellow yogis!! I've been doing Bikram yoga as my primary exercise (3 times/week) for about 4.5 years. After searching far and wide for an accurate calorie count for Bikram yoga, and doing my own research with a heart rate monitor, I have come to following (unsatisfying) conclusion: it is extremely variable, even from class to class for the same person.
And it makes sense when you stop to think about it. No matter how deep you can get into each posture, the end of the posture is basically an isometric strength exercise, meaning you are straining against an immovable object (in this case, your own ligaments/muscles/skeleton). You can strain very hard against that limitation, or you can relax into it and not really work all THAT hard. Think about pushing against an immovable object, like a huge boulder - lean against it and your heart rate will go nowhere. Strain against it as hard as you can and your heart rate spikes FAST.
In Bikram, I can do 2 identical classes, where I even look the same in the mirror, but in one class I can burn 1200 calories (I'm a big guy) by working very hard against the edge of the postures, and in another class, I can burn less than 400 by just going through the motions.
One last note - a huge disservice I could do to myself would be to wear a heart rate monitor in one class, bust my *kitten* (knowing that I was wearing the monitor), and then use that count for all my subsequent classes (even those where I'm doing as much work).
Bottom Line: online calculators won't give you good numbers, even if they take into account body-wight. The only way to get a really accurate count is to wear a heart-rate monitor in each class. At least wear one for a class that feels representative of the average amount of effort YOU put into your yoga classes.
Good luck yogis!!
And it makes sense when you stop to think about it. No matter how deep you can get into each posture, the end of the posture is basically an isometric strength exercise, meaning you are straining against an immovable object (in this case, your own ligaments/muscles/skeleton). You can strain very hard against that limitation, or you can relax into it and not really work all THAT hard. Think about pushing against an immovable object, like a huge boulder - lean against it and your heart rate will go nowhere. Strain against it as hard as you can and your heart rate spikes FAST.
In Bikram, I can do 2 identical classes, where I even look the same in the mirror, but in one class I can burn 1200 calories (I'm a big guy) by working very hard against the edge of the postures, and in another class, I can burn less than 400 by just going through the motions.
One last note - a huge disservice I could do to myself would be to wear a heart rate monitor in one class, bust my *kitten* (knowing that I was wearing the monitor), and then use that count for all my subsequent classes (even those where I'm doing as much work).
Bottom Line: online calculators won't give you good numbers, even if they take into account body-wight. The only way to get a really accurate count is to wear a heart-rate monitor in each class. At least wear one for a class that feels representative of the average amount of effort YOU put into your yoga classes.
Good luck yogis!!
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Replies
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I agree. I always wear my heart rate monitor. I can burn as many as 1000 calories to as low as 700. But if I forget to wear my heart rate monitor, I usually count on the low side.0
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I have tried using my hrm during hot yoga and got the same results around 900. However, I have been reading about this and the general consensus is you can not use heart rate monitors during hot yoga because of the elevated heat will give you incorrect calorie results. The heat will artificially increase the calories burned considerable. Since the moves are the same as yoga, you will burn about the same amount of calories.0
