Can Yoga help me lose significant weight?

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deadbambi
deadbambi Posts: 368
in Fitness and Exercise
I can't run, due to physical issues.
However I do circuit training regularly and Yoga ALL the time.

Wondering if Yoga is a decent way to shed off the pounds.

everywhere I go, people tell me in order to lose fat, i HAVE to run. but i can't. There MUST be alternatives...

Replies

  • ninic010386
    ninic010386 Posts: 70 Member
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    I think yoga is a great way to tone, strengthen, and gain flexibility. However I dont think it will help burn fat the way you want. I have been doing yoga three times a week since January to help strenghthen and heal my Peroneal tendon injury. (which by the way worked) Then I added Zumba and treadmill walking and began to see the lbs fall off. . In short....opt for yoga as a practice to include on your off days from hardcore cardio :)
  • miamoe15
    miamoe15 Posts: 28 Member
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    Yoga can definitely help, but I would say its best to keep a good balance between cardio and strength training. You don't have to run to do cardio though, you can do things like Zumba, dancing, Walking, Elliptical, etc. Hope that helps.
  • jppd47
    jppd47 Posts: 737 Member
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    Eatiing less then your daily energy expenditure will help you drop weight. Anytype of exercise you do will benifit your health
  • srpm
    srpm Posts: 275 Member
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    I don't know a lot about yoga but I do enjoy it. I have seen classes before the ones I go to that would probably help a lot they are more high intensity and geared towards weight loss usually in the hot yoga studios for more advanced people.
  • deadbambi
    deadbambi Posts: 368
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    Yoga can definitely help, but I would say its best to keep a good balance between cardio and strength training. You don't have to run to do cardio though, you can do things like Zumba, dancing, Walking, Elliptical, etc. Hope that helps.

    It certainly helps! I've always wanted to try Zumba. But I"m a poor student, so I'd have to find some at home videos :P
  • TeaBea
    TeaBea Posts: 14,517 Member
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    You don't have to run to lose weight ...... plenty of people who do low impact cardio ...... have lost weight.

    Walking at a brisk pace, moving your arms, making sure you are challenged (not a stroll) .... will help you lose weight.

    Low impact alternatives .... Walking (I use Walk at Home DVDs) .... eliptical, cycling, rebounding (think mini-trampoline). Step aerobics is also low impact (but if you have knee issues .... this may not be for you). .... lots of cardio options, I'm sure there are more.
  • gxm17
    gxm17 Posts: 374
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    Yes. Vinyasa style yoga can help you lose weight. I lost 20 lbs. doing mostly yoga. Eventually I grew bored with endless sun salutations and now I mix cardio (mostly HIIT with some steady state), weights and yoga. Turbo Fire has a low impact set that you can buy separately from the whole program. I bought it and absolutely love the HIITs that came with it.
  • weefreemen
    weefreemen Posts: 652 Member
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    Yoga will help give you that beautiful toned body and can burn calories,, but you need to really increase cardio to actually burn a substantial amount of calories. I can't run either (that and the fact I hate it! :D) I do walk however, and do a lot of interval walking where I can get my pace up to 5 mph, so that's as fast a slow jog, so the burn is identical, calorie for calorie. Even at 3 - 3.5 mph you can burn a lot of calories. The beautiful thing about it as well is you can build up to it...
  • shelbiejo
    shelbiejo Posts: 283 Member
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    Check out DDP Yoga! It has had amazing results when it comes to weight loss.......That is what I am doing right now and I LOVE IT!
  • Zylahe
    Zylahe Posts: 772 Member
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    It certainly helps! I've always wanted to try Zumba. But I"m a poor student, so I'd have to find some at home videos :P

    Try a search in you tube, there are plenty of woukout routines.
    I'm sure you can find somthing that will work for you.

    You can always try yoga meltdown.
  • Anuta182
    Anuta182 Posts: 2
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    Don't know about yoga... It sort of more looks like a good stretching/ flexibility exersices.. Not weight loss though. I would recommend you to try Tracy Anderson 30 day method. She's actually against running so as you can't do it, you could try that. I really struggle with weight loss and doing Tracy I lost 6 pounds in 3 weeks :D
  • Jynus
    Jynus Posts: 519 Member
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    I think yoga is a great way to tone, strengthen, and gain flexibility. However I dont think it will help burn fat the way you want. I have been doing yoga three times a week since January to help strenghthen and heal my Peroneal tendon injury. (which by the way worked) Then I added Zumba and treadmill walking and began to see the lbs fall off. . In short....opt for yoga as a practice to include on your off days from hardcore cardio :)
    Hmmm, so yoga is a great way to burn fat, but you don't think it will help burn fat........ k, gotcha.
  • literatelier
    literatelier Posts: 209 Member
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    I think you can - this guy did it! This video is amazing, he did DDP yoga which is kind of an intense version I think. Bu the lost over 100 pounds pretty quickly and he couldn't walk unassisted when he started. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qX9FSZJu448
  • debco148
    debco148 Posts: 1
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    I see many ladies rely on just yoga for their exercise, they do not do it for weight loss, but for stress reduction and flexibility. If you do only one thing the body gets used to it very quckly. Yoga should be used wisely and after your injuries are healed. Follow a trained instructor. But, to lose weight you must add cardio and resistance training (not just your own body's resistance0. This mixed with following a 1200-1500 cals/day works best. Remember your body continues to burn calories for about 24hrs after weight resistance as well! It catches up to itself if repeated over a few weeks and the body adjusts and lbs come off!
  • deadbambi
    deadbambi Posts: 368
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    Don't know about yoga... It sort of more looks like a good stretching/ flexibility exersices.. Not weight loss though. I would recommend you to try Tracy Anderson 30 day method. She's actually against running so as you can't do it, you could try that. I really struggle with weight loss and doing Tracy I lost 6 pounds in 3 weeks :D

    what consists of the method? :D
  • Spanaval
    Spanaval Posts: 1,200 Member
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    I can't run either due to foot problems, but have had NO problems dropping weight or doing cardio. Strength work that is high reps, low resistance, for instance, is cardio. Pretty much every Bob Harper DVD I have (from the Inside Out Method) is good, low impact cardio, and tough. I've also started doing Tabata, which can be anything (push ups, squats, lunges), done at high intensity for short periods of time.

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