HRM and Yoga?

RunningTowardsFit
RunningTowardsFit Posts: 81
edited January 13 in Health and Weight Loss
Hi friends,
I am doing yoga off and on and am curious if I should use my HRM. I have the polar ft4. What are your thoughts? Can I use that to tell me my calories burned?

Thanks

Replies

  • momasox
    momasox Posts: 158 Member
    I've used mine. The burn is pretty low and I find myself obsessing over it instead of relaxing like I am supposed to.
  • mwooderson
    mwooderson Posts: 254 Member
    Depends on type of yoga you are practicing. Restorative is excellent for stress reduction but doesn't burn many calories. On the other hand, Power or Bikram yoga can really use up some calories in a hurry!!!
  • omma_to_3
    omma_to_3 Posts: 3,265 Member
    HRMs are not accurate for calories burned at low heart rates so unless you're doing really intense yoga, I'd skip it. I just use MFP database for my beginner's yoga class. Might be a slight overestimate, but it's not many calories anyway so I don't worry about it.
  • 88meli88
    88meli88 Posts: 238 Member
    as i learnt today, HRMs are calibrated to estimate calorie burn for aerobic activity, cardio, running, cycling. for anything else, the calorie burn will be way off.
  • jacksonpt
    jacksonpt Posts: 10,413 Member
    No. It's not steady state cardio and as such the calculated burn is about as accurate as throwing a dart at a dartboard.
  • Onesnap
    Onesnap Posts: 2,819 Member
    I don't wear an HRM for yoga. I just looked online to figure out my average burn. I do know if I'm sweating buckets (Power Yoga) it's pretty accurate.
  • crazybookworm
    crazybookworm Posts: 779 Member
    You can certainly use it, but I don't wear mine when I do Yoga. Although Yoga is a great workout, you should use the time to relax and connect with the flow rather than worrying about the Calorie Burn :)
  • junejadesky
    junejadesky Posts: 524 Member
    The burn is NOT low if you take a power vinyasa flow class.... you can burn up to 700 calories....
  • Onesnap
    Onesnap Posts: 2,819 Member
    No. It's not steady state cardio and as such the calculated burn is about as accurate as throwing a dart at a dartboard.

    It's steady state if it is Power Yoga. I take a class called 'Hour of Power'
  • Apocalypse_Meow
    Apocalypse_Meow Posts: 90 Member
    I also feel like MFP underestimates my calories burned during yoga. I look at it as a little bonus if I burned more than MFP says.
  • junejadesky
    junejadesky Posts: 524 Member
    as i learnt today, HRMs are calibrated to estimate calorie burn for aerobic activity, cardio, running, cycling. for anything else, the calorie burn will be way off.

    Yoga is a cardio exercise if you take power classes and know how to breathe correctly.....
  • jacksonpt
    jacksonpt Posts: 10,413 Member
    No. It's not steady state cardio and as such the calculated burn is about as accurate as throwing a dart at a dartboard.

    It's steady state if it is Power Yoga. I take a class called 'Hour of Power'

    But it's not cardio. Holding poses causes an increase in pressure, not in O2 exchange. In that regard it's more similar to strength training than it is steady state cardio.
  • jacksonpt
    jacksonpt Posts: 10,413 Member
    I don't wear an HRM for yoga. I just looked online to figure out my average burn. I do know if I'm sweating buckets (Power Yoga) it's pretty accurate.

    So if you go sit in a sauna for an hour and "sweat buckets", are you burning a ton of cals?

    Sweating, as with breathing hard, is not a good indicator of calorie burns, only that you are pushing yourself beyond a comfortable fitness level.
  • OtiWanKenobi
    OtiWanKenobi Posts: 340 Member
    I don't wear an HRM for yoga. I just looked online to figure out my average burn. I do know if I'm sweating buckets (Power Yoga) it's pretty accurate.

    So if you go sit in a sauna for an hour and "sweat buckets", are you burning a ton of cals?

    Sweating, as with breathing hard, is not a good indicator of calorie burns, only that you are pushing yourself beyond a comfortable fitness level.

    So even if your heart rate is up during these power yoga moves, you mean to tell me you're not burning calories? I've sat in a sauna and sweat...I know the difference.

    During Bikram I find myself out of breath sometimes and my heart rate is through the roof with certain poses...to the point I can feel my heart pounding through my chest. I can't possibly believe that you are barely burning calories.
  • now_or_never13
    now_or_never13 Posts: 1,575 Member
    HRMs are not accurate for calories burned at low heart rates so unless you're doing really intense yoga, I'd skip it. I just use MFP database for my beginner's yoga class. Might be a slight overestimate, but it's not many calories anyway so I don't worry about it.

    This. HRMs will not be as accurate at lower heart rates so when I do yoga I don't wear mine. The calorie burns are small and what the watch gives you will not be fully accurate.
  • jacksonpt
    jacksonpt Posts: 10,413 Member
    I don't wear an HRM for yoga. I just looked online to figure out my average burn. I do know if I'm sweating buckets (Power Yoga) it's pretty accurate.

    So if you go sit in a sauna for an hour and "sweat buckets", are you burning a ton of cals?

    Sweating, as with breathing hard, is not a good indicator of calorie burns, only that you are pushing yourself beyond a comfortable fitness level.

    So even if your heart rate is up during these power yoga moves, you mean to tell me you're not burning calories? I've sat in a sauna and sweat...I know the difference.

    During Bikram I find myself out of breath sometimes and my heart rate is through the roof with certain poses...to the point I can feel my heart pounding through my chest. I can't possibly believe that you are barely burning calories.

    I never said you weren't burning cals. I was saying HRMs are a horrible ineffective way to measure that burn. But more to your question... you're burning far less than you think you are.

    Again, HR is only tangentially related to calorie burns... it's about the 02 exchange happening at the cellular level, not simply HR.
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