Energy expenditure during a Vinyasa yoga session

Vinyasa yoga has been recently promoted as one of the most popular mindful exercises to improve overall health, including body weight management. The purpose of this study was to determine the metabolic response of 24 moderately trained individuals during a 90-min group Vinyasa yoga routine.

Heart rate (HR) time course of 12 males and 12 females (age: 39±7.33 years) was recorded during two group Vinyasa yoga sessions consisted of four sections (warm-up, high-intensity Surya Namaskar (HSN), no Surya Namaskar postures, and cool-down). Maximal oxygen uptake (V̇O2peak) and maximum HR had been estimated earlier after a maximal treadmill test. V̇O2 during Vinyasa yoga sessions was estimated from individual regression equations using the relationship of V̇O2 and HR values derived from V̇O2peak test, while the metabolic rate (kcal/min) was calculated from the relationship of HR and kcal/min. Total session energy consumption was the average value of the two yoga sessions.

The 2 (gender) × 4 (sections) mixed ANOVA revealed no significant interaction between the two factors (P=0.101) for the mean metabolic rate (7.1±2.6 kcal/min). Mean metabolic rate thought was higher (P=0.015) in males compared to females at each section. Also, significant differences were found among the four Vinyasa yoga sections (P<0.001) in the rate of energy expenditure, with HSN presenting the highest mean values (P<0.05).

It seems that systematic participation in Vinyasa yoga may effectively improve cardiorespiratory fitness and promote body weight loss, as an alternative method to traditional aerobic exercise.