Can yoga help you lose weight?

Can yoga help you lose weight? There’s plenty of evidence to suggest it can help with mobility, but there’s not much proof to show that the exercise is a real calorie-torcher. One study, published in the Journal of Physical Activity and Health, showed that a 60-minute Vinyasa practice burned fewer calories than a walking session on a treadmill. As such, it’s probably not the most effective style of training if you’re trying to lose weight.

There is some evidence to show that certain individuals can lose weight through yoga, but the average healthy person won’t see significant changes. Keep in mind though that the benefits of yoga are numerous, so if you have invested in one of the best yoga mats it’s worth hanging onto it for now. Here’s what the latest research says on yoga and weight loss. 

A systematic review of 445 records, published in Preventative Medicine, concluded that there was little evidence to suggest that yoga could have dramatic effects on the weight of healthy individuals. However, the review notes that there were some significant changes in body mass recorded for overweight individuals who participated in yoga studies. So the practice could decrease the weight of some people – but as with a lot of exercise programs, this depends on your starting fitness level, along with the frequency and intensity of the yoga sessions. 

Research has also shown that yoga can lower your basal metabolic rate – the amount of energy needed for the body’s housekeeping functions. If this rate is lowered, the whole body slows down and this means the body needs fewer calories for its housekeeping functions. A study published in 2006 in BMC Complementary and Alternative Medicine found the basal metabolic rate was reduced by 13 per cent in people who had practiced yoga compared to those who had not.

The study involved more than 100 participants who were prescribed a diverse Hatha yoga practice which is designed to speed up and slow down the metabolic rate. The participants followed this routine for more than six months. The study also found that the average drop in the basal metabolic rate of females was 8% compared to 18% for men. Lead author M. S. Chaya said the physiological slowing down from yoga, “creates a propensity for weight gain and fat deposition”. Effectively, the study highlighted that the percentage of reduction in the basal metabolic rate was high enough to mean that yoga practitioners would either require less food and fewer calories. So if they continued to eat as before while still practicing yoga, they would actually gain weight. Yoga is considered to be a way of improving flexibility, but there is some evidence to suggest that it can also help you to build (or at least improve) muscle.

A study in the journal Evidence-Based Complementary and Alternative Medicine  found there were significant improvements in the muscular strength in men and women who practiced yoga compared with the control group. But increased muscle strength may depend on the type of yoga you practice. 

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