Bikram Yoga (hot yoga)

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aeragusa
aeragusa Posts: 40 Member
in Fitness and Exercise
Any other Bikram Yoga-holics out there?

Obviously I try to log this into my exercise diary, but I have to manually put in the calories. I found a calorie calculator at http://www.bikram-yoga-noosa-australia.com/weight-loss-and-yoga.htm but I'm wondering if its accuracy has actually been verified. It says for my weight I burn about 987 calories in a 90 minute class - maybe about what I would burn at a good clip with a fair amount of resistance on an elliptical for an equal amount of time. I'm sure the heat has a lot to do with it, and the standing series REALLY gets my heart rate up and I'm constantly using 100% of what my muscles are capable of throughout the class. Anyway, I'd like to hear your opinions on the matter :)

Replies

  • luv2ash
    luv2ash Posts: 1,903 Member
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    you did not tell us your height and weight.
  • aeragusa
    aeragusa Posts: 40 Member
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    145 lbs, 5'2"

    Hope that helps :)
  • claygal123
    claygal123 Posts: 8 Member
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    I love bikram! I have always been suspect of the calorie counters that say that your losing huge numbers....I enter 700 calories lost (instead of 1300 or so) to err on the side of caution. I'm 5' 7, 190 lbs. The benefits of practice are much more than the calories as you know!

    Be careful! I've been nursing injury from this "relaxing" yoga practice for a month. Take it easy...
  • delania
    delania Posts: 17 Member
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    I wore a calorie counter to a class and burned between 400 and 500 per class. Not as much as you might think, but I do believe the other benefits outweigh the calories lost.
  • Azdak
    Azdak Posts: 8,281 Member
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    I would be extremely suspicious. First of all HRMs are useless in calculating calories for yoga in general and this type of yoga in particular.

    There is a mistaken assumption that the thermal stress somehow increases caloric burn. It does not--it increases heart rate, but does so in an artificial way that does not represent an increase in calories burned.

    Personally, when I do activities like this I don't "count" the calories at all because I think they are insignificant, but I tend to be very conservative about that sort of thing. I don't count lifting weights or any other casual or recreational activity either.
  • modernfemme
    modernfemme Posts: 454 Member
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    I agree with Azdak. It's like saying a walk outside burned more calories because it was hotter than usual.

    We all know that sweating doesn't = more calories burned.

    PS: I do a ton of yoga and I do count it as exercise, but it's always a super low #. I think it's important to log, especially if you do power yoga or kindulini.
  • brittneyjo89
    brittneyjo89 Posts: 6
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    im new to the practice of yoga but I have kind of fell in love with it quickly! I take one hour classes twice a week in the mornings. It wasnt enough for me so I went looking for a DVD so I could do it at home on the days I did not have class. My class with instructor has been more of the energy experiance with calm mood set, relaxing breatheing techniques, and basically just trying to chill out stretch and breathe. But the DVD I bought was Jillian Michaels, and let me tell you it was no calm mood set. It was more of a workout! lol I was not used to this so of course it kicked my butt. Just wanted to know if anyone out there has tried her dvd as well? And if so are you sure of how many calories you burn on her level one workout? On the front it says extreme calorie burner.. So ive just been curious of how many calories Ive gotten rid of.
  • aeragusa
    aeragusa Posts: 40 Member
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    I would be extremely suspicious. First of all HRMs are useless in calculating calories for yoga in general and this type of yoga in particular.

    There is a mistaken assumption that the thermal stress somehow increases caloric burn. It does not--it increases heart rate, but does so in an artificial way that does not represent an increase in calories burned.

    Personally, when I do activities like this I don't "count" the calories at all because I think they are insignificant, but I tend to be very conservative about that sort of thing. I don't count lifting weights or any other casual or recreational activity either.

    Yes, this basically verifies what I was thinking.

    Good to know about the heat - I always thought sweat + higher heart rate = more calories burned. Guess this is not necessarily true.

    I'll continue to be conservative when I count these calories. I usually go twice a week, not for the calories, but for the benefits I get from my practice. I still continue to run, walk, hike, etc. throughout the week so this isn't a huge concern of mine.

    Thanks for all your input! This was really helpful :)
  • mkautumnb
    mkautumnb Posts: 6
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    I have been very physically active and do kick boxing, circuit training, spinning, run races, kettle bell, TRX and just about any other work out you can think off. I disagree with the thought that Bikram does not give you a true work caloric work out. In 2 weeks, I have lost 9.5 lbs doing this work out alone. Prior to this I worked out 5 days a week doing intense work outs. I have tried yoga before and agree, it was not much of a coloric burn but Bikram is very different. Maybe you are not going to a very good studio but I have not lost weight like this since I first started kick boxing. I could not disagree more, I have slimmed down, cleared up my skin and overall look more tone.

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