According to Havard Medical School, there is good research that weight loss yoga workouts may help you manage stress, improve your mood, curb emotional eating, and create a community of support, all of which can help with weight loss and maintenance.
Yoga can also help you burn calories, as well as increase your muscle mass and tone. Yoga may reduce joint pain, which in turn allows you to exercise more and increase your daily activities. These are only some of the many benefits of yoga.
FlexifyMe Experts have put together a few weight loss yoga workouts you can practice that help you reduce weight.
1. Vinyasa Flow
Vinayasa is the most actively moving form of yoga which aims to sync the breath and body into a dance-like flow. Vinyasa flows tend to be the best cardiovascular workout of all yoga styles because you are getting the heart rate up through a nearly continuous stream of movements.
Unlike Hatha yoga, you don’t hold poses for very long or stop to rest between poses. The goal is to maintain constant movement.
2. Ashtanga (Power Yoga)
Ashtanga or power yoga is a highly structured version of Vinyasa. Power Yoga follow a traditional series of postures that is more or less the same every time. This is the best style for yogis who want a predictable structure to their workouts.
Ashtanga is a great rigorous sweaty workout for anyone looking to burn calories and lose weight. However, it is important to push yourself a little farther every time in order to avoid stalling your fitness goals. The body naturally acclimates to doing the same workouts over and over, therefore the predictability of Ashtanga could actually lead to less calories burned as your muscles become accustomed to the poses.
To remedy this, focus on squatting deeper in Chair Pose or Low Lunge every time, for example. You can also look into taking longer 90 minute classes once or twice a week. You will need to push your limits to work toward weight loss, but there is no denying that Ashtanga yoga will make you sweat your butt off and melt off a lot of calories in the process.
3. Bikram & Hot Yoga Variations
Like Ashtanga, Bikram follows a set sequence of poses (26 to be exact) but the sequence is different from Ashtanga and the classes are heated to a sweaty 105°F and 40% humidity.
Bikram classes are 90 minutes long and highly structured. This is where you will find the most hardcore yogis and athletes who are really looking to build some muscle and burn major calories.
Bikram is not for the faint of heart- you should be ready to sweat, stretch, and shake (because your muscles are working so dang hard) like you never have before. Anyone who thinks yoga can’t be a calorie-burning workout will change their mind after just a single Bikram class.
Keep in mind that there are many other types of hot yoga styles that are similar to Bikram but follow their own sequences and guidelines. Any of these high intensity, incredibly challenging classes will surely get you up into that 600 calories per hour range as long as you try to stay engaged for the whole duration of the practice.
The Bikram sequence engages all major muscle groups and works out the whole body.
With the help of a professional yoga coach, you can get a scheduled routine that will help you achieve all your body goals and as well lose weight. Get yourself a Free DEMO Session with a weightloss expert, or read 4 Ways Yoga Can Reduce Weight from our Weightloss Yoga Expert.
