Yoga Calories Burned Calculator

Calories burned during yoga come down to three things: how much you weigh, how hard the style works you, and how long you are on the mat. The standard method uses MET values, short for Metabolic Equivalent of Task, where 1.0 MET is what your body burns sitting still.

Calories = MET × Weight (kg) × Duration (hours)

• Weight (kg) = pounds ÷ 2.205
• Duration (hours) = minutes ÷ 60

MET values used here, and where they come from

Only three of those are Compendium numbers. The Compendium simply does not list Vinyasa, Ashtanga, Bikram or aerial yoga, so the rest are placed between the anchors it does give. Treat every figure here as an estimate with real slack in it, because a “gentle Hatha” class in one studio is a different workout from the same name down the road.

About Bikram, since the number surprises people. A hot room raises your heart rate, empties your water bottle and soaks your mat, and none of that means you burned more fuel. Heart rate climbs because the body is shedding heat, not because the muscles are doing more work, and the weight you lose in the room comes straight back with the first litre you drink. Bikram sits near power yoga on this table, not above it.

Calories per 60 minutes at 70 kg

Worked example. A 75 kg person in a 90-minute Vinyasa class:

• Duration = 90 ÷ 60 = 1.5 hours
• Calories = 3.5 × 75 × 1.5 = 394 calories

The same person jogging easily at 8.0 MET for 45 minutes burns 450, so half the time on the road beats the whole class on the mat. That comparison gets used to dismiss yoga and it should not be. Nobody takes up flow to out-burn a run. The flexibility, the balance work and the hour without a phone are the return, and the calories are a rounding error next to them.