Advise for logging yoga please?

cheekychocolate
cheekychocolate Posts: 17
edited November 8 in Fitness and Exercise
Hi, I'm looking for some info on how to enter vinyasa and power yoga as I have no idea what the calorie burn may be. There only seems to be a selection for Hatha style and the stuff I do is much more intense. Any tips will be appreciated :)

Replies

  • trenzalours
    trenzalours Posts: 60
    I also would love to know this! I'm going to track this thread closely so hopefully someone has a good answer! Thank you for asking this!
  • cheekychocolate
    cheekychocolate Posts: 17
    Guess I'll just go the TDEE route instead of micro-managing calories. @trenzalours, I just googled and there are a few websites that give an estimate for calories burned with intense yoga, but it varies so much that I just decided to figure out my TDEE instead and not enter exercise calories burned at all here. I'll still enter my workouts because it keeps me motivated, but will keep the calories burned at zero.
  • ellepribro
    ellepribro Posts: 226 Member
    My only advice would be to buy a heart rate monitor. It comes in very handy. I just did yoga and burned about 100 calories more than MFP said I did. I never go with the MFP suggested calorie burns; a heart rate monitor is more accurate. Good luck!
  • cheekychocolate
    cheekychocolate Posts: 17
    ellepribro wrote: »
    My only advice would be to buy a heart rate monitor. It comes in very handy. I just did yoga and burned about 100 calories more than MFP said I did. I never go with the MFP suggested calorie burns; a heart rate monitor is more accurate. Good luck!

    Very helpful, thanks!
  • brianpperkins
    brianpperkins Posts: 6,124 Member
    A HRM will not give an accurate reading for yoga. They simply are not programmed for it nor does the established relationship between heart rate and caloric burn for that activity exist.
  • cheekychocolate
    cheekychocolate Posts: 17
    brianpperkins wrote: »
    A HRM will not give an accurate reading for yoga. They simply are not programmed for it nor does the established relationship between heart rate and caloric burn for that activity exist.

    Wow, two answers on opposite ends of the spectrum… what to do? Maybe I'll save my money and just stick with the TDEE thing for a while and see how that goes. Thanks for pointing that out brianpperkins, I didn't realize that HRMs are inaccurate for yoga, but now that I think about it, it makes sense. I suppose the same would apply for anything other than steady-state cardio then?
  • brianpperkins
    brianpperkins Posts: 6,124 Member
    Pretty much. Even the calculations for steady state cardio vary in levels of accuracy depending on model of HRM (and their internal formula), your choice of activity, etc. They can be a useful tool but are not the miraculous divining rod for accurate caloric burn in all situations as portrayed on MFP.
  • cheekychocolate
    cheekychocolate Posts: 17
    brianpperkins wrote: »
    Pretty much. Even the calculations for steady state cardio vary in levels of accuracy depending on model of HRM (and their internal formula), your choice of activity, etc. They can be a useful tool but are not the miraculous divining rod for accurate caloric burn in all situations as portrayed on MFP.

    Got it. Thank you.
  • Myrmilt
    Myrmilt Posts: 124 Member
    I used to put it in as pilates with MFP, it seemed like a middle of the road choice. Now I log out in FitBit as it has different styles of yoga.

    Yoga calorie burn seems to inspire controversy, which is amusing. There are some who recommend not recording anything associated with it. There was a study done (Google it), that seemed to indicate the calorie burn was much less than the higher reported burns from the various yoga sites.

    From what I have been able to find on the web, Vinyasa appears to have the highest caloric burn due to movement. Some say 500 for an hour, some say less.
  • Myrmilt
    Myrmilt Posts: 124 Member
    I forgot the study was done at CU Boulder with VO2 and heart rate.

    No idea about the validity of the study.

    Also, FitBit gives me about 500 calories for flow yoga - but I am 5'11" and nearly 200lbs. It's higher, but I figure it should lower as I lose weight.
  • cheekychocolate
    cheekychocolate Posts: 17
    @Myrmilt, that was very enlightening. I'm sure Vinyasa burns quite a bit because I find I work way harder doing that vs, say, running a 30min 5k. It really feels more like circuit training if I were to compare my perception of intensity during and DOMS (muscle soreness after). It's a heck of a strength and endurance workout IMO. I'll look a little more at logging it as pilates, also will look into whether to get a Fitbit as well. It might give me more motivation to stick to it than going the TDEE route. Thanks for the insight.
  • Myrmilt
    Myrmilt Posts: 124 Member
    Well if I compared it to circuit training in FitBit, it would probably be close to the same calories wise for flow or vinyasa.

    I happened into my fitbit when my husband upgraded his phone to Samsung with some wrist thing.

    I look at yoga practice like anything else. I can half do it, say I did it, but it didn't really do much for me. If I focus, then yes it's an awesome workout.

    I was surprised when most of what I read indicated vinyasa burned more than Bikram. I practiced Bikram for awhile, it was hard and a great workout, but I prefer Vinyasa at this point.
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