If you want to supplement your online or in gym program, I applaud you. Any type of exercise that gets you moving and burns fat is excellent. One client wanted to try yoga as a supplement and wanted to know if one is better than another for weight loss. One of the features or benefits from yoga of any kind is its ability to increase your mindfulness, which also extends to your eating patterns. Mindful eating can help you lose weight because it makes you think about whether you’re hungry or if something else is making you eat. Any type of yoga is good for that.
Active types of yoga will help burn kilojoules.
There are many different types of yoga that are far more active and strenuous than others are. These active types include, vinyasa, Bikram, Ashtanga and power yoga. There are many others in that group, and those are the types of yoga you should choose for weight loss, since the more active you are, the more kilojoules you burn. Vinyasa, Bikram and power yoga aren’t as easy to do at home since they’re normally at hot yoga studios where the room is heated very warm and the air is humid.
Restorative yoga is another type of yoga that isn’t physical but helps.
Restorative yoga is the type of yoga that’s extremely slow. It involves stretching and holding a position for a long time. Since much of the session is about stretching, it’s a great supplement to a strength and endurance program. It’s specifically created to slow you down, rest and digest, while kick-starting the para-sympathetic system and relieving stress. That focus on stress reduction improves digestion, slows heart rate, lowers blood pressure and lowers stress levels, reducing cortisol levels and helping to eliminate abdominal fat. One study showed that it helped people lose significant amounts of fat, primarily from the abdominal area.
Yoga as a supplement or can be a rest day.
People use yoga for a variety of reasons. Some even use it as their main workout, but not as many as use it as a supplement or a day of rest. It can help DOMS—delayed onset muscle soreness—and the stretching can simply make you feel better. It can provide strength, but doesn’t provide a cardio workout and can be perfect for active recovery. Best of all, that extra bit of exercise helps build more strength and aids in weight loss.
- No matter what type of yoga you use, if it’s used as a supplement, you’ll lose more weight than if you spent that same amount of time simply lounging about and watching videos.
- Yoga doesn’t require any equipment, which makes it a good addition to your program if you’re working out at home.
- Yoga provides mental health benefits with its focus on calming the mind and self-awareness.
- Many exercises from the Western world are similar to yoga poses. The plank is similar to Kumbha asana. The boat pose is much like a crunch. In fact, there’s a boat pose crunch for abs. It never hurts to shake up your workout program a bit and add to it.
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