Can Yoga Help You Lose Weight?
It’s known to improve flexibility and reduce stress, but can yoga help you lose weight too? 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.
Excerpted from Live Science
