Why does Vinyasa yoga burn the most calories?

June 10, 2016 Ashley 0 Comments

A few years ago, a friend of mine saw my 600 calorie blasting stats from a workout on the elliptical.

And – since I was complaining about my hatred of cardio on machines – she suggested “hot yoga”.

I’d leave sweating and slenderer, she swore.

Yet, while she wasn’t necessarily wrong, I realized pretty quickly that hot yoga (or “Bikram”, as they call it) just wasn’t for me. I mean, I didn’t hate it. But what I did hate was that most of the weight I lost was water… and I gained it all back via the voracious appetite the class granted me. That – and it didn’t exactly feel like a legit workout. My body knew that the only reason I left sweaty was because they had the thermostat set to Abu Dhabi – which was only exacerbated by my sweaty fleshy neighboring yogis. Honestly, I could acquire the same results by Vogueing outside for four minutes during the dead of a humid, Northern Virginia summer. Just because I turn into a dermal waterfall doesn’t mean I’m doing any adipose eradicating work. In fact, some studies’ve even shown that cardio of any kind in cooler conditions burns more than toasty temps do.

Which is why it came as no surprise to me that Bikram’s not the top yoga form to torch the most calories.

And which is?

Vinyasa.

(So glad I found running and boxing as supplemental cardio shoe ins for that beleaguering machine.)

Ashtanga (not pictured, but which burns only 351), is probably the most comparable to Vinyasa. However, compared to Ashtanga, Vinyasa’s got more of a flow vibe to it – while Ashtanga’s a bit more stringent. The poses for the latter are sorta specific and always done the same way. And that’s great for someone who thrives psychologically off routine, but less than stellar if you’re in this for caloric incineration. Sure, you might do some of the same, fun poses. But because Vinyasa keeps you going from asana to asana (AKA “yoga pose”) sans as much pause-age in between, your body’s doing what it needs to do to lose weight in the first place. It’s moving.

Also, Vinyasa’s got a “leg up” on the Ashtanga competish…

..because Vinyasa’s ever altering – which allows for muscle confusion.

This, many say, is a superior approach for weight loss. While Ashtanga focuses on the same routine each time, your body never has a chance to adapt and plateau on weight loss goals while doing Vinyasa. What’s more, by focusing on making your breath match these liquid transitions, you’re providing more oxygen to your muscles – which not only makes them function better, but also allows for relaxation. And, seeing as stress is a chart topper for the daily culprits guilty of making us gain weight… that mean’s de-stressing’s an absolutely apt antidote. Lasso that relaxation via a dose o’ flowy Vinyasa, done in a nice cool studio, with constant muscle confusion… and voila.

Vinyasa takes (and burns off) the cake.

Well, at least about 600 calories worth of it…

All that said, yoga’s become something kinda sacred to me. It’s less about weight and more about getting enough into my body so that I can go off and comfortably do the things that allow for me to maintain a healthy weight (like the other stuff I do on that chart above). Whether holding poses or flowing through them does that for me, depends on the day. That’s why I encourage any practicioners (with all their faculties intact) to get into any of the four sorts of yoga – and to do it more to build a tranquil brain-body link versus a murderous burn.

And then – what do you do after you leave that mat feeling fantastic?

Then you can tap into your true calorie torching warrior by running and punching stuff.

Happy hath-ashtan-yasa trails to you all, whichever path you pick!