Yoga

I think with any exercise, the bigger you are, the more calories you will burn with any activity. I just did yoga yesterday and my heart rate was through the roof and I was dripping sweat (it was vinyasa yoga as mentioned by the previous post). Of course I'm top heavy which makes it 50x harder to have to hold myself up which doesn't make things easier.

I love yoga and it has helped me with my weight loss journey. I've been practicing since Jan and am really starting to get stronger and more flexible. Not sure there is regular yoga per se but there are many different types. Vinyasa is more of a flow where your moving and doing various strength /balance poses without a lot of breaks. I'm hooked and I'm not an athletic person at all!

I do vinyasa 3-4 times a week for 90 minutes. I'm definitely working in class, sweat at least as much as I do during a four mile run (I've checked my weight before and after to see, was curious), heart pumping, etc. I don't have a sense of how it compares to more tradition cardio in terms of calorie burn, but it definitely has given me more strength and muscle tone.

I also have achy feet (flat arches) and I find vinyasa yoga ::really:: helps my feet feel better. A lot of poses stretch the feet and calves, which feels amazing at the end of the day for me. I can also tell that my feet, legs, and core are much stronger and more stable, which would probably be helpful for you as well. There are some poses which can be kind of rough on the feet and ankles, like standing on one leg, but good instructors should be fine with your coming out of poses that hurt early or would suggest modifications to make it more comfortable for you (or potentially a different class which would help you get the same benefits but at a more appropriate pace, if they don't think the class is currently a safe fit for you).

Yoga is excellent for changing your body. There are many types. Vinyasa is a flow style class, where you're moving from postures at a steady pace using your breath. The possibilities are endless in terms of asanas (poses and postures) in how they're sequenced. You generally don't hold anything super long and the level of class determines the calorie burn. The more advanced classes you're moving through the poses very quickly and arm balances and core work are incorporated. Ashtanga classes are a certain pattern you follow and poses are held for 5 breaths. They're pretty difficult and require a huge amount of flexibility. Holding poses for 5 breaths is also very challenging as your muscles are working isometrically. Yin classes are mainly stretching and mobility work, which is nice when you're sore and need some slow paced specific stretching. Power yoga is like vinyasa classes (they can also be called Baptiste style for the founder Byron Baptiste). Hatha yoga is similar to yin...very slow paced and relaxed. The benefits are many...you're working your stabilizer muscles with all the one legged poses, your core becomes so strong, you develop flexibility through your whole body. You develop a mind/body connection that's second to none. I couldn't possibly list them all.