How Many Calories You Burn In Each Type Of Yoga Class

It seems like everyone is doing yoga these days, and for good reason. The activity has many important health benefits, including fighting off stress, building muscle and improving flexibility, boosting immunity, and more.

In addition to these benefits, many people also like to use yoga as a source of exercise in an effort to lose weight or get fit. However, there are many types of yoga, and some are better for their mental benefits rather than as a workout.

That being said, other types can really get your heart pumping and your body sweating.

So how do you know which type of yoga to choose? The different types of practices contain various poses as well as activity levels, which means some burn calories than others. If you’re curious how much work you’re doing in your yoga class, consider these number of calories burned for the most common types of yoga — although numbers can vary depending on your weight.

1. Hatha Yoga

Hatha yoga, which just means the general physical practice of yoga, is used to describe basic yoga in the west.

This type of class is generally a gentle introduction to yoga, which will likely leave you more stretched out than sweaty.

On average, a typical one hour hatha yoga class can burn between 175 and 298 calories.

hatha yoga photo
Photo by GoToVan

2. Vinyasa Yoga

Another popular yoga class is vinyasa yoga, a more strenuous yoga class where students coordinate movement to breath. This yoga class includes more movement, as the class moves through a continuous flow of poses.

Since more physical exercise is involved, you can burn an average of 550 calories for an hour long vinyasa class.

vinyasa yoga photo
Photo by The Yoga People

3. Ashtanga Yoga

Also known as power yoga, ashtanga yoga literally means “eight-limbed yoga,” and it contains a specific order of set poses coordinating breath to movement, as in vinyasa yoga.

Because you go through a coordinated series of poses through a flow, ashtanga yoga also burns a good number of calories, and you can expect to burn between 450 and 550 calories per hour-long class.

yoga photo
Photo by distelfliege

4. Bikram Yoga

Bikram yoga is a set series of 26 poses done in a heated room. This type of yoga was created by Bikram Choudhury in the 1970s, and it usually involves a 90-minute class where you can burn 330 calories.

However, contrary to popular belief, research has shown that doing hot yoga doesn’t help you burn any extra calories from the temperature alone.

bikram yoga photo
Photo by weeklydig

5. Iyengar Yoga

Iyengar yoga is a specific type of yoga that focuses on placement and alignment. There’s not a ton of movement, and participants are encouraged to use props and blocks to help get themselves into proper positions.

There is no flow, and poses are held for a long time to improve flexibility. Because of this, an hour of Iyengar yoga typically only burns around 175 calories.

yoga photo
Photo by lucytoon

Photo by daverose259

Health, Wellness & Fitness
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About the Author
Carina Wolff
Carina is a health and wellness journalist based in Los Angeles. When she’s not writing, doing yoga, or exploring mountains and beaches, she spends her time cooking and creating recipes for her healthy food blog, Kale Me Maybe. Carina is also an ongoing writer for Bustle, Reader's Digest, FabFitFun, and more.

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