Yoga calories burned

MeredithDeVoe
MeredithDeVoe Posts: 31 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
The number of calories burned given by the database here is about 200/hour for Yoga. Seems to be low. It's probably for Hatha Yoga, where you hold mountain pose for a full minute, etc. But the type I do is challenging, I sweat and my muscles are trembling and my breathing and heart rate are definitely elevated. It feels to me like when I walk vigorously, which burns about 400 cal/hour.

Anyone know how many calories are burned by vigorous yoga? Thanks.

Replies

  • psuLemon
    psuLemon Posts: 38,428 MFP Moderator
    200 is probably about right. Most women burn 300-400 calories after running for an hour.. so I doubt yoga would even come close.
  • clambert1273
    clambert1273 Posts: 840 Member
    I don't even log yoga it is minimal - the benefits of yoga are far beyond calorie burning :)
  • justformel
    justformel Posts: 193 Member
    I did a 90 min bikram yoga class and if you read the reviews supposedly it burns 800-1000 cals an hour they say. Not really believing this hype my curiousity told me to wear my HRM during the class. It was less than 200 in those 90 mins.

    Wear your HRM if you want to know the exact.
  • glreim21
    glreim21 Posts: 206 Member
    I wore my HRM for an hour of power yoga, it was only 170 calories.
  • dalguard
    dalguard Posts: 36
    I do a 75 minute power yoga class and log it as 400 calories. I got that number online somewhere for 60 minutes of power yoga (I figure at least 15 minutes of the class is just lying around). I'm a regular runner so I compare everything to running. To me, I exert at least as much energy in that class as I would going for a 4 mile run, so I feel comfortable logging it as 400 calories.

    I sometime go to non-power yoga classes and for those I accept the MFP recommendation which is like 150 calories per hour. Bikram is sweaty because of the heat but it's not hard the way power yoga is hard. If Bikram were done in a 62 degree room, I'd completely fail to hit the poses, as always, but I wouldn't break a sweat.
  • psuLemon
    psuLemon Posts: 38,428 MFP Moderator
    I did a 90 min bikram yoga class and if you read the reviews supposedly it burns 800-1000 cals an hour they say. Not really believing this hype my curiousity told me to wear my HRM during the class. It was less than 200 in those 90 mins.

    Wear your HRM if you want to know the exact.

    HRM are only effective for cardio... more specifically, steady state cardio.. So it's really useless for yoga.
  • cafeaulait7
    cafeaulait7 Posts: 2,459 Member
    I log the fast kinds as Pilates, but I do subtract out the parts of the session that are slow. I don't know that what I do is correct, but I do know what Pilates feels like and includes and it seems reasonable, anyway :)
  • elyelyse
    elyelyse Posts: 1,454 Member
    200 is probably about right. Most women burn 300-400 calories after running for an hour.. so I doubt yoga would even come close.

    there are many types of yoga, and my heart rate and level of exertion experienced during a vigorous class absolutely approaches the effort expended when I run.
  • Loseitdolly
    Loseitdolly Posts: 13 Member
    Curious why so low myself, I wore my hrm to a really strenuous dripping with sweat but not a hot room/ bikram class and I burned 630 in 80 minutes! Much closer to running! It is a flow class, not many holds and vinyasa between every posture...if that helps at all! I eat almost all those calories back! And earned them!
  • silverraiyne
    silverraiyne Posts: 683 Member
    I do a vinyasa flow type yoga, we're almost always moving, only holding a few particular postures for 5 breaths at most. I work up a serious sweat and my heart rate gets going through the roof, especially after several vinyasas. I log it as 240 calories per 90 minutes. I don't know if that's correct, but I figure as long as I'm working out then who cares, MFP already gives me a deficit to begin with.
  • MeredithDeVoe
    MeredithDeVoe Posts: 31 Member
    Thanks for the responses. And I figure, if I'm burning more calories than it says then the weight will come off faster. :D

    Also since I'm heavy, I burn more calories. More like 600/hour running.
  • gabrielleelliott90
    gabrielleelliott90 Posts: 854 Member
    Yoga even when it's fast, for example JM yoga meltdown, does not burn many calories. It's sad but true. I personally do not use MFP's exercise calorie estimates. I use my own with an app I got from the app store, now not extremely reliable but moreso than using someone elses. Everyone has a different body, different height so I choose not to use MFP when it comes to logging exercise. To each their own. But yeah yoga is not the best for burning calories but great for relaxing. Zumba has been the best and quickest for me when I want to burn quite a few.
  • MeredithDeVoe
    MeredithDeVoe Posts: 31 Member
    The reason I do yoga is mostly for the benefits to my back and neck. I have scoliosis and I also had a car accident a few months ago (was rear-ended very hard while sitting at an intersection). The flow-style is not actually very relaxing!! The balances and lifts can be very demanding. But I need the toning and core strengthening as well as the stretching, so yoga is perfect for that.
  • Crescent_Meadows
    Crescent_Meadows Posts: 61 Member
    Whether or not it burns a lot of calories, if you like it and it helps your body/mind/spirit, then stick with it!

    I do Bikhram (hot) yoga 2-3 times a week. I've found that it's easier for me to stop thinking of yoga as excersise (even though it's 90 minutes of hardwork and non-stop sweating) and view it instead as relaxation and purification time. (Therefore, I don't log it on MFP) This helps to motivate me to go even when I do feel like 'exercising.' I pair yoga with running and some basic strength training. I like that yoga helps keep me flexible and I feel like it rounds out my physical-work for the week.
  • QuietBloom
    QuietBloom Posts: 5,413 Member
    Thanks for the responses. And I figure, if I'm burning more calories than it says then the weight will come off faster. :D

    Also since I'm heavy, I burn more calories. More like 600/hour running.

    How are you calculating your burns?

    ETA: If you are using the MFP database, it will give you inflated burns, unfortunately. You might want to try this one instead:

    http://www.healthstatus.com/calculate/cbc

    If you use a HRM, you can use this site: shapesense.com. They have a good calc were you can calc gross burn, then net burn.

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