Yoga Workouts For Fitness and Weight Loss

Marcia Wade standing in a yoga posture

Yoga is a very popular fitness activity and as it is a low impact exercise it is suitable for just about everybody.  Here we take a look at some of the health benefits of doing yoga and then guide you through some simple yoga routines that will help to work your whole body and hopefully burn a little fat too. If you have any questions, ask below and our yoga expert (pictured on the left) will answer you. Our routine is based on Ashtanga yoga.

Advantages of Yoga as a Form of Exercise

Yoga is an excellent fitness activity. Although a majority of people only practice their yoga in organized classes, once you have learned the main postures and sequences you can train anywhere. It is ideal for anyone living in a small space or for those who travel a lot.


While yoga does not provide an excellent cardiovascular workout it does provide good strength, flexibility and balance training and also helps to improve circulation and respiratory health. For anyone who has not exercised in a very long time a yoga workout often feels very intensive.

One claim that many yoga instructors make is that it can help to improve your gastrointestinal functions, that is, it can make your bowels healthier, make you more regular and reduce incidence of IBS.

Mental Health Benefits of Yoga

Yoga can also teach you how to settle your mind and relax. A complete yoga system includes breathing exercises, mantras and meditation which can help to reduce stress and anxiety. Also, many yoga classes are quite sociable and this alone can help to lift mood and fight depression. Many people become more isolated as they age and attending regular fitness classes like yoga provides invaluable contact with other people. Yoga has also been found to help those trying to quit smoking.

Not All Styles of Yoga are Equal

A 2004 study by Virginia Cowen and Troy Adams that was published in the Journal of Bodywork and Movement Therapies found that although yoga was a great tool for improving health and fitness, not all styles are equal. They compared Ashtanga and Hatha yoga and measured changes in blood pressure, strength, stress, endurance and overall health perception.

In the study it was found that Ashtanga yoga helped to reduce blood pressure, reduce stress and improved upper body strength more than hatha yoga.


Some styles, such as Ashtanga, provide a much more intensive workout which can help to build strength, stamina and stability sooner, while styles such as Iyengar focus more on stability and flexibility.

However, the general finding is that the more intensive styles reap great rewards, both physically and mentally.

Benefits of 8 Weeks of Yoga

A study in 2001 looked at the health benefits of attending 2 yoga classes a week for 8 weeks. Each yoga class consisted of 10 minutes of pranayamas (breathing exercises), 15 minutes of warm up exercises, 50 minutes of asanas,  and 10 minutes of supine relaxation – so 85 minutes (almost 1 1/2 hours) in total.

The result of the study showed that elbow strength increased by 31% and knee strength increase by 28%. All subjects improved their flexibility with shoulder and trunk flexibility improving the most. However, there were no significant cardiovascular benefits nor any changes in body composition or pulmonary function (lung capacity).

Hatha Yoga Does Not Meet Exercise Guidelines

A report published in the Complementary and Alternative Medicine in 2007 concluded that Hatha yoga does not provide an adequate workout to meet recommendations for levels of physical activity for improving or maintaining health or cardiovascular fitness. However, performing the Sun Salutation repeatedly for more than 10 minutes a day does start to raise heart rate and can help people to meet the daily exercise recommendations. The study concluded that:

“Metabolic costs of yoga averaged across the entire session represent low levels of physical activity, similar to walking on a treadmill at 3.2 kph” (Hagins et al, 2007).

Yoga Workout To Boost Your Fitness and Core Strength

If you do bodyweight exercises at home, or in the gym, then you may find that in between exercises during recovery you are at a loss for something to do.


You may also find that when you are in a rush you skip stretching. Well, one solution to both of these problems is to perform yoga postures in between exercises.

By holding a yoga posture you perform a dynamic stretch and also rest some muscles while you lower your heart rate. Also, these yoga postures target some muscles missed in the main circuit training workout.

These yoga poses can be done my men and women as part of a circuit training workout. If you are planning an intense workout to burn more fat and get you fitter then these can be treated as a breather between each exercise.

Downward Dog

Adho Mukha Svanasana - Downward Facing Dog

Also known as the Downward-Facing Dog is a popular Hatha Yoga posture. This is a good posture to hold after performing both push ups and back extensions.


From this posture you can also move easily into the cobra, which is also good to hold after push ups and back extensions. Learn how to do the downward dog pose.

The Cobra

Bhujangasana - Cobra Pose

This posture helps to strengthen the spine and abdomen, open the chest, shoulders and lungs. It also helps to firm the buttocks, stimulates abdominal organs.

The traditional yoga text considers this posture to increase body heat, destroy diseases, and awaken kundalini!

Learn how to do the cobra pose.

The Warrior 2 Yoga Pose

Warrior II Yoga Pose - Virabhadrasana IIThis pose is great after squats and lunges as it stretches the legs well. Also if you have been performing some push ups it helps to open up the rib cage more.

It also improves balance and stability.

Learn how to perform the warrior 2 pose.

Chair Yoga Pose

Chair Yoga Pose – Utkatasana

This pose can be done immediately after a set of squats to stretch the glutes and thighs as well as the arms and shoulders.

It is also a great core stabilizer and can help to tone your abdominals.

Do not be fooled into thinking that this is an easy exercise to do, very quickly you will feel the burn in your thighs as you hold this position.

Intense Spread Leg Stretch

Intense Spread Leg Stretch Yoga Pose or Wide-Legged Forward Bend - Prasarita Padottanasana

This replaces the traditional western forward bend. It is a more intensive stretch as you can use your elbows behind your legs to force the stretch further.

It looks simple but is demanding to hold for a long time. Helps stretch the thighs and glutes well. Learn how to perform the intense spread leg stretch.

Supine Twist

Supine Twist Yoga PoseThis is a great posture for finishing off as it stretches the back well in a way that is rarely done in sports and fitness.

You can learn how to perform supine twists in our yoga warm up, above, which teaches a simple yoga routine that can be used to loosen up the muscles before a yoga session.

All images and postures are provided by Marcia.

Conclusion

Although yoga is not an optimum form of exercise for fitness, strength or weight loss, it is an excellent tool. It can help people to stay motivated to exercise, it helps to control mood and reduce anxiety. It helps improve stability, flexibility and core strength. If in addition to yoga you get some cardio a few times a week then you will see your health and fitness improve, and if you do a daily Sun Salutation workout it can also help you to get fit.

References

Yoga as a complementary treatment for smoking cessation: rationale, study design and participant characteristics of the Quitting-in-Balance study.” By Beth C Bock, Kathleen M Morrow , Bruce M Becker , David M Williams , Geoffrey Tremont , Ronnesia B Gaskins4 , Ernestine Jennings, Joseph Fava  and Bess H Marcus. BMC Complementary and Alternative Medicine 2010, 10:14doi:10.1186/1472-6882-10-14. Published: 29 April 2010

“Physical and perceptual benefits of yoga asana practice: results of a pilot study” by Virginia S. Cowen, Troy B. Adams. Journal of Bodywork and Movement Therapies Volume 9, Issue 3 , Pages 211-219, July 2005.

“Effects of Hatha Yoga Practice on the Health-Related Aspects of Physical Fitness” by Mark D. Tran MS, Robert G. Holly PhD, Jake Lashbrook BS, Ezra A. Amsterdam MD. Preventive Cardiology Volume 4, Issue 4, pages 165–170, Fall 2001.

Does practicing hatha yoga satisfy recommendations for intensity of physical activity which improves and maintains health and cardiovascular fitness?” by Marshall Hagins, Wendy Moore and Andrew Rundle. MC Complementary and Alternative Medicine 2007, 7:40 doi:10.1186/1472-6882-7-40

14 Comments on “Yoga Workouts For Fitness and Weight Loss”

  1. MotleyHealth says:

    The Los Angeles Dodgers have come up with a novel way to bring the crowd and players closer together, while also getting people active and raising some funds.

    Last week the baseball park was filled with yoga mats while hundreds of Dodgers fans had a yoga workout session with Andre Ethier. Andre is a big hit in Los Angeles, and does not restrict himself to performing sun salutations with fans, but also writes his own restaurant review blog!

  2. Stephanie says:

    hey, I’m really into yoga, and was lucky enough to have someone come to my school and teach a little.
    My question is… is the some kind of warm up routine?… I’m pretty sure there is but just forgotten the name. Can you enlighten me with the name???

  3. MotleyHealth says:

    Hi Stephanie. The Sun Salutation is often used as a warm up routine, especially in Ashtanga classes. We have both a photo tutorial and video tutorial of the Sun Salutation.

  4. i love this pliz send me more details.thanx grate job.

  5. MotleyHealth says:

    Hi Rachel, all the information is here on the site. What specifically are you looking for? We have sun salutation workouts, many other postures and sequences too.

  6. tabby kochan says:

    I’m 13 years old going on 14. I’ve been doing a workout routine that Nicole Scherezinger does to get a tone flat ab bikini body. Do these yoga moves help me? If so how?

  7. MotleyHealth says:

    These yoga movements provide your with additional strength training and flexibility workouts. By holding your body in the various postures you work different muscles.

  8. ramakrishnan says:

    I have practising yoga for last 2 years, very often I get muscle pain. Please advise

  9. MotleyHealth says:

    What sort of pain Ramakrishnan? During yoga or afterwards? What exercises are you doing?

  10. MotleyHealth says:

    Samantha Harris, the TV presenter most famous for Dancing with the Stars and E Entertainment TV, as let on her secret to keeping in shape. She does yoga.

    Not only that, she also does yoga with her 3 year old daughter. Some people call this baby yoga or toddler yoga, but really it is quite normal. Kids love exercising, and love copying their parents. Yoga is a healthy form of exercise for children and adults alike.

    As for Sam’s diet, she says that she does not follow any particular method of “dieting”, but she does know what healthy food choices are and tends to stick to them. So she avoids junk food, anything that is likely to make her skin look bad, and excess sugar and bread that causes her to gain weight.

    Her yoga sessions are done most days at home as part of her family exercise time – a more relaxing way to exercise while spending time with her daughter.

    She also does other workouts though, it is not all yoga. She does weight training and cardio routines. She loves her cardio-kickboxing classes and also spends some timing working out on the cross trainer of exercise bike.

    Her fitness regime is very varied, and this is certainly an effective way to stay in shape. She is a fantastic role model for her young daughter, and can certainly teach the rest of us a lesson too.

  11. I am 53, and for the last year, I have embarked on a “life changing plan” … losing 40 pounds along the way, and with another 20 to go … I do yoga three times a week, and though I agree that it doesn’t make you lose weight – I do cardio, swimming, and weight strengthening for that – it is fantastic for giving me body confidence…My posture is better, my gait is more even, I move with more assurance… it has helped me make my peace with my body : For instance, I don’t diet to be thin, I feed my body the right fuel to be strong : when you’ve been eating the right things, you feel it in yoga… and when I’m stressed, I now know to breathe, rather than opening up the fridge… Finally, it has made me proud of what I can do : so what it I’m heavier than most people in my class? I can do things they can’t! And when I finally can do a pose ( I started not even being able to touch my feet) the sense of accomplishment is huge!!’

  12. Alan Taylor says:

    Hi. Thanks for the info. Can you tell me if weight-lifting increases flexibility, particularly hip flexibility (mainly external hip rotation) with things like squats, lunges, and deadlift. I’ve begun daily yoga, but want to know if doing weights on the side will add to flexibility, or decrease it. I want to be able to sit in Burmese Posture for meditation, so need all the advantage I can get as I’m very inflexible due to sedentary lifestyle due to long-term illness. If I do weights with the yoga, it will help weight-loss. But will it be good for my flexibility as well, like open the joints up and that sort of thing?

  13. MotleyHealth says:

    Well, any movement that pushes your body through a greater range of motion than it is used to will improve flexibility, so in theory weight training can do this. But you do not really want to be using weight training as a way to stretch your muscles, especially if you are lifting heavy weights.

    Yoga is great for flexibility, this should provide all the stretching you need. To improve flexibility for the Burmese posture just sit in the posture and gently push your knees downwards with your elbows while leaning forwards. This will make the hips more supple. Do after warming up a little. Push gently and hold for around 10 seconds, relax, repeat. Do this often and you will get more supple.

  14. Anyone who has tried a strict 90 – 120 minute Ashtanga yoga Primary series every six days a week with one day for rest will know this article is complete rubbish.

    Stop reading rubbish and get on your mat!

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