Bikram / hot yoga - calories burned?

it's somewhat difficult to gauge...

i do 'hot yoga', although usually not Bikram. i've worn a BodyMedia armband a few times to class (90 minutes) and both times burnt only about 260-290 per session. i would have guessed it would be a major burn...i mean, i was DRIPPING sweat and working very hard. but 1/2 hour of the class were sitting or lying postures. also the added heat element which makes us sweaty doesn't really account for an additional calorie burn. i weight about 133 lbs (just so you can compare).

hope this helps a little!

I do Bikram yoga, and when I first started last year, I was burning about 600 cals (used my hr moniter). Just used HR monitor again about a month ago, and I was burning 520. I'm 5'4 and weigh 128. I had to add it as an exercise because it wasn't in the database.

The hot room does make your heart beat faster, not to mention all the asanas - especially the dreaded triangle! Wowee!

A faster heart rate doesn't necessarily mean you burned that many calories. If you squatted with weight on your back (85% if 1rm) for 30 seconds straight non stop your heart rate would be soaring. Actual calories burned would be about 7.

I've been doing it for a few years and I know I burn more calories on some days than others. I just use 400 calories as an average and stick with that--I figure it evens out.

From what I've seen in researchign this very question - it looks like a lot of sites will overreport calories burned during Bikram. I love it, and plan to get back to doing it again. But 300 calories or sounds about right for a 90 minute session.

I think the best estimate of calories burned is pretty much regular yoga. I know when I go back to Bikram, I will likely be using the MFP estimate for hatha yoga. I don't think the heat - by itself - "burns" more calories.

this is where i looked to get calories used:

http://www.bikramyogabenefits.net/how-many-calories-can-you-burn-with-bikram-yoga.html

When I took physiology 101 for nursing, one of the lab experiments was measuring basal metabolic rate of a mouse exposed to stressors such as temperature change. Both excessive cold and heat increases metabolism and therefore translates to increased calorie burn. Just as having a fever causes increased calorie burn. It all has to do with trying to maintain core temperature 98.6.

http://intentblog.com/5-ways-temperature-can-boost-your-metabolism/

My heart monitor tells me that I burn between 500 and 900 calories in a typical 90-minute Bikram session. I weigh about 160 lbs, never sit out any postures, and am post-menopausal but look a lot younger , thanks to this yoga. The weird thing is that I burn the most calories when class feels easy, and hover at the lower end of the range on those off days when I'm dragging through class. Go figure!

Guaranteed you're not burning that much. As mentioned before, HRM measure heart rate and when translated from ANAEROBIC exercise, it's totally inaccurate. At your weight, you may have burned about 350 calories in that time.

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I do Bikram yoga, and when I first started last year, I was burning about 600 cals (used my hr moniter). Just used HR monitor again about a month ago, and I was burning 520. I'm 5'4 and weigh 128. I had to add it as an exercise because it wasn't in the database.

The hot room does make your heart beat faster, not to mention all the asanas - especially the dreaded triangle! Wowee!

I hate to always be the bad guy, but I have to keep saying this: you cannot use a heart rate monitor to estimate calories in any type of "hot yoga" class. When heart rate is increased due to thermal stress, calorie expenditure does not increase.

You're not the only bad guy - I was about to say exactly this!

A fair guesstimate for any kind of Ashtanga/Flow/Power type yoga would be around the 250 - 300 per hour mark; regardless of heat.

I don't consider hot yoga as a cardio exercise so I only count 1 calorie burned.

I have to agree. For me it's a chance to get in some really deep stretching with all the running and weight lifting I do.