Does yoga help you lose weight? Simply put, no, at least not by itself. But there are a few nuances.
Firstly, weight does not indicate the level of physical fitness.
BMI (Body Mass Index) is a poor and meaningless measure, and its main use is to track when treatment is needed.
Muscle is much denser than fat. In fact, with a physically fit body, you can have the same weight or even more and look and feel much better.
No body building programme is complete without a calorie deficit diet. Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants. If you’re not losing fat, you’re still eating too much. If you’re not gaining muscle, you’re not eating enough protein.
Will yoga help you lose weight?
Yoga, as a form of exercise, is not very intense in its basic form. A typical one-hour session can burn between 200 and 500 calories depending on your intensity. Hot yoga can burn more because your body has to work to regulate the temperature. To get much benefit from it, you’ll have to move at a fairly fast pace, similar to the Ashtanga yoga style as it was developed in the west. Also, you’ll have to go pretty deep into the asanas to really engage your muscles.
The main benefits of doing yoga
- Flexibility – the body needs flexibility to prevent injury.
- Isometric muscle contraction – needed to build and maintain a small level of muscle, especially in areas you didn’t even know existed.
- Developing a sense of balance – being able to find balance will come in handy in all areas of life.
- Calmness and relaxation. When you are stressed, your body works against you, you try to burn fat. Finding inner peace and being able to relax helps you in dozens of ways, including helping to reduce cortisol levels.
Is it good to do yoga?
Of course it will. Will it help you lose weight? Only if you eat right.
And if you combine it with intense cardio training, a low-calorie diet and a few short sessions of weight lifting for a complete and balanced approach to fat loss.
Now you know the true benefits of yoga and can appreciate its contribution to your health.
