Calories burned during hot yoga?

Dumspiro
Dumspiro Posts: 28
edited September 20 in Fitness and Exercise
Hi Everyone!
I recently started doing moksha yoga (hot yoga) and was surprised how few calories I burned the first class! In 90 minutes my heart rate monitor read about 300 burned and I was working pretty hard. Does anyone else find this? Or am I the only weirdo that wears a HRM in a yoga class lol.
T

Replies

  • ppahler
    ppahler Posts: 16
    I don't know I've never tried it but have wanted to. 300 seems pretty good to me, yoga is a lower impact exercise... Does it really get your heart rate up high?
  • NurseMisty
    NurseMisty Posts: 312 Member
    I wear my monitor while I do yoga at home and only burn about 250 in an hour (about)...so your count seems right. I can break a sweat sometimes...doesn't seem fair! But your strengthening your muscles, so that's bonus!
  • kittynurse
    kittynurse Posts: 57
    I do Bikram yoga and often wear my HRM (despite it distracting me constantly). My class is 90 minutes long and my HRM typically reads 400-600 calories burned by the end of class. I weigh 141 with 18.6% body fat, and I know different people burn at different rates based on those parameters. In a normal yoga class I burn more like 200-250. Make sure you have all of your settings up to date on your HRM. Keep up the yoga! Think of it as a toning workout rather than a cardio workout if that helps; you're building muscle so you can burn more calories every minute of every day ;)
  • Dumspiro
    Dumspiro Posts: 28
    Thanks for your advice!
    It gets your heart rate up a bit. Mine was between 90 and 125 (normal resting rate for me is about 45-50). I just thought with the added intensity of the heat (as well as being 90 minutes instead of my usual 60 minute workouts) it would be more calories burned than traditional yoga.
  • becabunny
    becabunny Posts: 22
    I've done Bikram for a while and my estimate was around 600. It really depends on how hard you are working! I loved it though because I could feel myself slim down with all that sweating!
  • flipchickmc
    flipchickmc Posts: 59 Member
    LOVE hot yoga! It's such a great workout. I do both 60min and 90min hot hatha yoga classes at my studio and wear my HRM all the time. Depending on the day and how hard I push myself, the amount of calories I burn fluctuates. This AM during my 60min class, I burned 429cals. Saturday during my 90min class, I burned 670cals.
  • mdhrtly
    mdhrtly Posts: 2
    I've been wanting to try hot yoga and did a little research to see about the calories. So far it seems that most Moksha yoga sites claim it burns between 500 and 1000 calories, however other Health sites claim that your heightened heart rate is attributed to your body fighting harder to cool itself off rather than actually burning fat or calories. I have also read that Moksha Yoga is dangerous since it is so dehydrating. I'm not sure what to think.
  • lpappas09
    lpappas09 Posts: 1 Member
    It really depends on the "flow" of the class in Hot Yoga. For example, a Hatha flow would burn about 300 calories while a Vinyasa flow would burn around 600 in 60 mins. My studio primarily does Power (Vinyasa) Yoga so I leave absolutely drenched from the constant movement & strength challenges throughout the class....not to mention the heat, of course!
    Hope that helps.
    Namaste. :)
  • laurenmayh
    laurenmayh Posts: 2
    Every one keeps saying that hot yoga doesn't burn any more calories than regular yoga because the heat raises your heart rate but your muscles don't do any extra work. But then other people say it burns more which makes more sense to me. How do I know which side to believe
  • laurenmayh
    laurenmayh Posts: 2
    As long as you drink lots of water before and after practice, and a little bit during you won't feel dehydrated. It's fun and makes you feel really refreshed.
  • Plates559
    Plates559 Posts: 869 Member
    sigh...

    Thermal stress is NOT NOT NOT a direct indicator of a calorie burn! If this were true every single person on the equator would be thin. The heat is good for muscle relaxation, and clearing out your pours THAT is all.

    I sigh because I feel like this question gets answered every week. Why can't people do their own research instead of treating the message boards as their own personal google.
  • Violetle
    Violetle Posts: 2
    Every one keeps saying that hot yoga doesn't burn any more calories than regular yoga because the heat raises your heart rate but your muscles don't do any extra work. But then other people say it burns more which makes more sense to me. How do I know which side to believe

    very good question, I have the same doubt
  • amandasroll
    amandasroll Posts: 1
    Before you rant about other people posting/asking questions on here....it is spelled PORES not POURS.

    sigh...

    Thermal stress is NOT NOT NOT a direct indicator of a calorie burn! If this were true every single person on the equator would be thin. The heat is good for muscle relaxation, and clearing out your pours THAT is all.

    I sigh because I feel like this question gets answered every week. Why can't people do their own research instead of treating the message boards as their own personal google.
  • Seajolly
    Seajolly Posts: 1,435 Member
    Every one keeps saying that hot yoga doesn't burn any more calories than regular yoga because the heat raises your heart rate but your muscles don't do any extra work. But then other people say it burns more which makes more sense to me. How do I know which side to believe

    You will temporarily lose more weight by doing hot yoga vs. non-heated, because your body drops water weight. You might lose as much as 2-3 lbs after a hot yoga class! But of course this will go right back on as soon as you rehydrate yourself. This is why athletes get in a sauna or steam room to drop a few quick pounds before competing.

    However I find I am able to get more deeply into postures while doing hot yoga because my muscles are more open/relaxed from the heat. So if I can get deeper into postures, I think that burns more calories.
  • ashilicious87
    ashilicious87 Posts: 16
    Hi,
    I love hot yoga and feel so refreshed afterwards. I have calculated by caloric burning as high as 600 calories in an hour and a half period sometimes. This is during hot yoga vinyasa. I feel like I get a better work out then I do from kickboxing and that says I burn more. Its probably just because of the heat though. Good luck with it!

    ~Ashley
  • aepdx
    aepdx Posts: 218 Member
    During my vinyasa flow class (not hot) where I work my butt off, I only burn like 130 calories (I also wore an HRM, lol). At first I was discouraged, but I like the way I feel when I do yoga daily or almost daily. So… consider yourself lucky to be burning 300! That is a lot.
  • aepdx
    aepdx Posts: 218 Member
    Man, I wonder how you guys are burning so many calories during these classes… I definitely don’t. My classes are like 75 minutes too. Hmm.
  • Lulu0802
    Lulu0802 Posts: 1 Member
    I've read the output from a HRM is not completely accurate for low-impact exercises. I don't know if I would trust what a HRM says.
  • kayakkc
    kayakkc Posts: 2 Member
    I love hot yoga! I go three to four times a week at two different studios. One studio is 118 and the other 105. I feel like I get a much better workout at the 118 studio but I also feel like I am very close to death. It's very hard to know how many calories are burned during a 60-minute yoga class. I think 300 is a good estimate. I'm going with that.
  • redrog65
    redrog65 Posts: 1
    Today is my first day of Hot Yoga........wish me luck!
  • Azdak
    Azdak Posts: 8,281 Member
    Every one keeps saying that hot yoga doesn't burn any more calories than regular yoga because the heat raises your heart rate but your muscles don't do any extra work. But then other people say it burns more which makes more sense to me. How do I know which side to believe

    Believe group 1. Ignore group 2.
  • sashikar
    sashikar Posts: 2
    i thought message board here is for asking questions. If you feel like such a burden why bother answering this question?
  • brianpperkins
    brianpperkins Posts: 6,124 Member
    Heart rate monitors are neither designed nor programmed for calculating accurate caloric estimates for yoga. It is the wrong tool for the job.

    Heat does not create a significant additional caloric burn. As mentioned earlier, if it did then people in hot areas would all enjoy tremendous deficits just from the heat.
  • sashikar
    sashikar Posts: 2
    Wrong answer! In a hot environment heart rate goes up to pump more blood through outer body parts and skin. When the heart beat goes up it burns more calories. (In exercise) People in very hot countries like middle east dont go out and work out to shed pounds. Its always one air conditioned place to another. Construction workers are doing their work during night time mostly.
    They are people who actually die from heart attacks due to extreme heat conditions in Middle east. So be educated before writing an answer to someone seeking advice.
  • Azdak
    Azdak Posts: 8,281 Member
    Wrong answer! In a hot environment heart rate goes up to pump more blood through outer body parts and skin. When the heart beat goes up it burns more calories. (In exercise) People in very hot countries like middle east dont go out and work out to shed pounds. Its always one air conditioned place to another. Construction workers are doing their work during night time mostly.
    They are people who actually die from heart attacks due to extreme heat conditions in Middle east. So be educated before writing an answer to someone seeking advice.

    Nothing more embarrassing than copping an attitude and being 100% wrong in public.
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