Calories Burned Yoga
coconutflower
Posts: 20
Does anyone find the calorie burned for yoga on MFP kind of inaccurate? I mean... I do 90 minute sessions of Bikram and I swear it feels like I am burning more than 200 calories.
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I totally agree, and I've been wondering this for while! I tend to give myself 2/3 of what MFP gives me on other cardio exercise, but I take them all for yoga. I'm not entirely sure though, as I've never worn a heart rate monitor for it. I'd love to hear what information others have to offer.0
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I will be testing this tonight... been doing a variety of yoga classes (from basic to hot/power flow) and I feel that MFP is on the low end. I added a custom hot yoga exercise for me, based on my estimation... finally got my HRM strap replacement today, so I will be testing out a hot class tonight. I have a feeling it's going to be close to 600 cals per hour, for me at least, based on my calories burned during other exercises and RPE.
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I wore my HRM in a hot class tonight and burned 593 calories in 60 minutes. Whew! :blushing:0
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Awesome!!!
I really do think hot yoga is fantastic for weight loss. Especially because you sweat a lot and replace that with fresh water - detoxifying sodium out of your system and making your body feel and function better. I always felt like my heart rate was quite high in those classes because i get a little bit of nausea sometimes!
Also, on days I do hot yoga, I almost always see a .5lbs weight loss, haha 0 -
Could you wear your HRM to a ashtanga or vinyasa flow class, too? haha 0
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Could you wear your HRM to a ashtanga or vinyasa flow class, too? haha
I will actually do that next time I go! They mostly have hot classes at the studio I attend, but I do like to mix it up and get into the beginner vinyasa just to take it down a notch. I get SO TIRED after hot class, I am just wasted for the entire next day! (In a good way, but still!)0 -
THIS!!
MFP totally needs to add some variety to their yoga option. Doing a hatha class for an hour is not going to burn the same amount of calories as doing an hour of hot yoga. I wish they'd update that. I'm glad y'all agree, I thought I was the only one frustrated by that detail.
I've been doing a lot of core focused yoga work and I know judging by the sweat and the burn in my muscles that I MUST be burning more than 80 calories every half hour.0 -
i've been wondering the same too. i do beginner vinyasa style and i swear a sweat my butt off the entire time! i've been putting it in as 250/hour as an estimate. i would love to know what you come up with...TIA :flowerforyou:0
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http://www.everydayhealth.com/Calories-Burned-Yoga.htm If you dont' have a heart rate monitor you can use to calculate your calories burned. I get 1245 according to the site. I'm going to set up my heart reate monitor and test it out!:bigsmile:0
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Hey ya'll!
I know this is a really late response but generally in a 60 minute session of Power Yoga (Vinyasa) you burn 440 calories!0 -
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MFP frustrates me so much! They should definitely vary up the yoga selection. Vinyasa and Bikram are both definitely cardiovascular workouts and are usually have the same calorie burn as a slow paced jog or speed walk (depending on the difficulty of the class and how much energy you put into it).0
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But yeah there are a ton of resources online where you can kind of guesstimate how many calories you burned in one class. I usually just average my findings together0
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i really want to test it out with a heart rate monitor!!!! it's hard to rely what the website tells you because everyone burn calories differently, even they are same weight. too many factors involved...0
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I wore a HRM during vinyasa yoga today, 60 minute class. I burned 302 calories. I was pleasantly surprised! MFP tells me that I only burn 197 calories doing 60 minutes of yoga.0
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That MFP yoga burn is just for a generic hatha yoga I think and it does depend so much on your fitness level, experience, etc . In the beginning I guesstimated my burns by comparing it to other exercises that I was doing in terms of effort--walking, running, spinning etc. because every class is so different. I now have an HRM and I was pleasantly surprised that my estimate was pretty spot on! I burn 350-400+ for a 75 min power flow class (where I'm working up a good sweat) around 300-350 for a hatha flow class and 200-300 for a hatha and other more relaxing types. Of course some days feels more/less challenging than other days and like I said every teacher/class is so different. Power classes are what I do now but when I started I'm sure I was burning a lot more, cuz it felt so challenging! (ie serious butt kicked.) Hope that helps:)0
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http://www.everydayhealth.com/Calories-Burned-Yoga.htm If you dont' have a heart rate monitor you can use to calculate your calories burned. I get 1245 according to the site. I'm going to set up my heart reate monitor and test it out!:bigsmile:
This is a great web site for calories burned. They also let you request new entries to be added.0 -
i wore my HRM to both a heated hatha/vinyasa fusion class and a heated level2 vinyasa class.
for 60min class i was kept in my target heart rate zone for 46-50min, burned a little over 800calories in the vinyasa and a little under for the hatha fusion.0 -
Great topic. I mainly got a HRM because I wanted to know how much I burned. In a slow paced 60 min hot yoga class I burned 530 cals. I just got the HRM so I'm excited to see how much I burn in a hot power yoga class with weights.0
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Not to spoil the fun here, but HRM do not give an accurate calorie burn reading in hot yoga. The closest you will get will be to do the sequence in a non-heated room and see what the calorie burn is.0
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Not to spoil the fun here, but HRM do not give an accurate calorie burn reading in hot yoga. The closest you will get will be to do the sequence in a non-heated room and see what the calorie burn is.
ill admit im curious why it wouldnt give an accurate reading. my hrm strap/watch combo was spot on about my heart rate(checked pulse manually a few times during class and it was tracking accurately).
at the end of class it reported 1066 calories burned but when i plugged the heart rate data into a bunch of different online calculators they all gave a more reasonable number of 800ish(I'm a 6'1" 180lb man for reference).0 -
Totally more than 200 calories. I do Sumits Hot Yoga, which is 90 min. in 105 degree room and I burn anywhere from 500- over 800 calories per session. I used to wear my heart rate monitor every time, but my battery needs changed in my strap now so have been without it for the last couple of months. Anyhow, it's an intense workout, and your heartrate definitely gets up there! Also, I don't agree one bit with the previous poster stating a heartrate monitor is inaccurate in a hot room, that makes no sense. That would be similar to saying if you run outside in Phoenix AZ when it's 100 degrees or over it isn't accurate. Your heartrate is based on how hard you're working and your heart is beating, and the heat may make it more difficult, but it doesn't make it inaccurate.0
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Not to spoil the fun here, but HRM do not give an accurate calorie burn reading in hot yoga. The closest you will get will be to do the sequence in a non-heated room and see what the calorie burn is.
ill admit im curious why it wouldnt give an accurate reading. my hrm strap/watch combo was spot on about my heart rate(checked pulse manually a few times during class and it was tracking accurately).
at the end of class it reported 1066 calories burned but when i plugged the heart rate data into a bunch of different online calculators they all gave a more reasonable number of 800ish(I'm a 6'1" 180lb man for reference).
The heat increases your heart rate because it is working to cool your body down. The extra amount of energy burned to increase your heart rate burns just a few more calories. You're not working your muscles any harder. If heat burned significantly more calories we could just sit in a sauna.
http://www.thatsfit.com/2010/06/15/fit-or-fiction-does-exercising-in-hot-weather-burn-more-calorie/0 -
makes sense, i assumed that heart rate was heart rate so whether it got raised from exercise or a combo of exercise and heat that it burned the same number of calories. i dont suppose you know of a link to a study that shows the difference or whatnot as opposed to a random article do ya? would be an interesting read!
ive been meaning to take my HRM into an unheated vinyasa class to compare the results to the heated ones i usually do but havent gotten around to it yet. of course as a relatively recent smoker my lungs/heart are probably out of shape enough that unheated will likely push my body hard enough for a comparable caloric burn anyhoo 0 -
I noticed early on that the calories burned for yoga was off. I added my own exercise for Ashtanga based on a general calculation for activity and my weight/height/age. It's probably still a little off but I think I'll probably be ok as I'm not super concerned with accuracy. If I needed to be more accurate I would get an HRM and wear it during practice.
Unless you practice exactly the same every time, your calories burned would be different anyway so a general average would be best or wearing the HRM each time. I practice Ashtanga and even though it's a set series of poses done in the same sequence, I still manage a different practice. I get caught up in a thought and I skip a pose or 2. I decide consciously to skip a pose. I decide to add in a little extra inversion or balancing practice....It all changes the burn in my practice.0 -
makes sense, i assumed that heart rate was heart rate so whether it got raised from exercise or a combo of exercise and heat that it burned the same number of calories. i dont suppose you know of a link to a study that shows the difference or whatnot as opposed to a random article do ya? would be an interesting read!
ive been meaning to take my HRM into an unheated vinyasa class to compare the results to the heated ones i usually do but havent gotten around to it yet. of course as a relatively recent smoker my lungs/heart are probably out of shape enough that unheated will likely push my body hard enough for a comparable caloric burn anyhoo
That article was from the Huffington Post. I cannot find scientific study on-line, but here's what I found:
http://www.livestrong.com/article/371990-will-you-burn-more-calories-exercising-in-extreme-heat/
Oddly, there were just as many articles about exercising in the cold.
Here's an article about how your body burns calories:
http://www.unm.edu/~lkravitz/Article folder/caloricexp.html
If you find a scientific study that shows one way or the other, I would be very interested to read it.0 -
That article was from the Huffington Post. I cannot find scientific study on-line, but here's what I found:
http://www.livestrong.com/article/371990-will-you-burn-more-calories-exercising-in-extreme-heat/
Oddly, there were just as many articles about exercising in the cold.
Here's an article about how your body burns calories:
http://www.unm.edu/~lkravitz/Article folder/caloricexp.html
If you find a scientific study that shows one way or the other, I would be very interested to read it.
interesting, in that huffpost article it talked a lot about vasodilation but didnt mention that it correlated to an increased heartrate, and in the one instant it mentioned any kind of correlation it was a negative one:
"for example, claim that saunas will burn calories by increasing your circulation; your body actually increases circulation by relaxing the muscles surrounding the blood vessels rather than by increasing your heart rate."
which indicates to me that while the heat would expand the blood vessels for radiating heat it wouldnt actually increase heart rate?0 -
interesting, in that huffpost article it talked a lot about vasodilation but didnt mention that it correlated to an increased heartrate, and in the one instant it mentioned any kind of correlation it was a negative one:
"for example, claim that saunas will burn calories by increasing your circulation; your body actually increases circulation by relaxing the muscles surrounding the blood vessels rather than by increasing your heart rate."
which indicates to me that while the heat would expand the blood vessels for radiating heat it wouldnt actually increase heart rate?
good eye, I didn't catch that. I would agree with you - and the fact that heat increases HR. That was the livestrong article (not the huffington post, which was the first link I put up).0 -
to get an accurate reading of calories burned you must determine the following:
A: find your max heart rate to determine how "fit" you are - the more fit you are the fewer calories you will burn
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if you do not know your maximum heart rate you can guesstimate it by subracting your age from 220.
my client has a maximum heart rate of 172
note that of the two options, the first is more accurate. The stress test max heart rate versus the estimated max heart rate can be a huge difference depending on how cardiovascularly fit you are. If you are not very fit and get winded after 2 minutes of intense exercise the guesstimation formula will be more accurate
B: Detrmine your resting heart rate - monitoring it in the am before eating or drinking, while in a sitting postion
my client has a resting heart rate of 79
Next, use this formula to determine your heart rate reserve, that magic number you have to hit before you are actually burning any calories:
HHR = A - B
So if you know your HHR, heart rate reserve, you can then honestly track calories burned as long as you are above that number.
take your maximum heart rate, subtract your resting heart rate to get your HHR
172 - 79 = 93
This means that my client will not burn any exercise calories until she is above a heart rate of 93 bpm.
Once achieved, monitoring the heart rate range of 93 bpm low to 172 bpm high will help her figure out the intensity of the exercise and guesstimate the calories burned.
she can then determine her target heart rate from there.
Not everyone has the same calorie burn. Heart rate intensity per individual differs greatly. Only you can rely on a correct calorie burn by figuring out your Max and your Resting heart rates and using formulas that CPTs use for their clients.0 -
oh yeah, i determined all that and whatnot.
my avg HR during the heated vinyasa yoga classes was 140 which is right in my ideal range of 120-160, i was in that range for 46 of the 60 minute class with a max HR peak of 182-186. i still want to check the numbers for the unheated variant(will post here once i have just for peoples' reference).
and i forget if i mentioned this before but my caloric burn numbers are for a 6'1" man, 180 lbs(now down to 172 in 10 days), 34 years old, recent smoker so my cardio isnt terribly fit.0
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