Yoga Burns Serious Calories If You Do It Fast Enough
Yoga is great for flexibility, strength, and balance , but we never took it seriously as a form of cardio. However, according to new research, alternating fast-paced postures – we’ll show you how – can give you a workout on par with an easy aerobics class.
In a study published in the journal Complementary Therapies in Medicine , a group of mostly women were asked to complete a workout that included eight minutes ofSun Salutation B, a sequence of postures you’ll learn if you’ve ever been in class. yoga. When they spent 12 seconds in each position, they burned 3.3 calories per minute. But when they performed the same sequence in just three seconds per pose, they burned 5.42 calories per minute. This is comparable to the number of calories burned when walking briskly . Maybe yoga can still be your cardio.
All study participants were young, fit, active people who were accustomed to doing yoga, and the researchers confirmed that they knew how to do all the poses in good shape. If you are new to yoga, I would not recommend doing the poses without stopping to make sure you are doing them correctly. But if you think you’re ready for this workout, here’s how to do it.
First, set the timer to beep every three seconds. So we have created for you . Then do these poses, one per beep:
- Mountain pose with hands down (Tadasana)
- Chair (Utkasana)
- Fold forward (Uttanasana)
- Halfway (Urdhva Mukha Uttanasana)
- High bar (Dandasana)
- Low Plank (Chaturanga Dandasana)
- Dog face up (Urdhva Mukha Svanasana)
- Face Down Dog (Adho Mukha Svanasana)
- Warrior’s Right Side 1 Pose (Virab Hadrasana I)
- High Plank (Uttihita Chaturanga Dandasana)
- Low Plank (Chaturanga Dandasana)
- Dog face up (Urdhva Mukha Svanasana)
- Face Down Dog (Adho Mukha Svanasana)
- The left side of the warrior 1 pose (Virab-hadrasana I)
- Mountain pose with hands down (Tadasana)
Fast flow – vinyasa is a technical term – works because switching between poses requires more total body effort than holding a pose. (The same research group confirmed this in another recent article .) You can probably get this kind of workout with other yoga sequences, and I’ve definitely seen yoga classes and videos that walk through the sequence very slowly and then speed you up to those until you reach your goal. gasping for breath. This is a great way to get the benefits of strength, flexibility, and cardio in a single workout.