Calories Burned Doing Yoga: By Style

A 155 lb (70 kg) person burns roughly 88–158 kcal in 30 minutes of yoga, depending on the style — from a gentle Hatha session at the low end to Power yoga at the high end.

The wide range matters because not all yoga is equal. A restorative class spent mostly in supported poses is closer to light stretching in metabolic terms, while an intense Ashtanga or Power session approaches a moderate-pace jog. Knowing where your practice falls helps you factor yoga accurately into a calorie deficit plan.

Calories by Style and Body Weight

The numbers below use the Compendium of Physical Activities MET values (Ainsworth et al., 2011). MET stands for metabolic equivalent of task — a ratio of exercise energy expenditure to resting energy expenditure. Calories = MET x body weight in kg x duration in hours. Style MET values range from 2.0 (Restorative / Yin) to 2.5 (Hatha), 3.5 (Hot Yoga / Bikram), 4.0 (Vinyasa / Flow), and 4.5 (Power / Ashtanga). For the most commonly practiced styles, here are the full calorie estimates across body weights and session lengths:

Duration	125 lb (57 kg) — Hatha	155 lb (70 kg) — Hatha	185 lb (84 kg) — Hatha	155 lb — Vinyasa	155 lb — Power
15 min	35 kcal	44 kcal	52 kcal	70 kcal	79 kcal
30 min	71 kcal	88 kcal	105 kcal	141 kcal	158 kcal
45 min	106 kcal	132 kcal	157 kcal	211 kcal	237 kcal
60 min	142 kcal	176 kcal	210 kcal	281 kcal	316 kcal

Source: Compendium of Physical Activities MET values (Ainsworth et al., 2011). Hatha MET = 2.5, Vinyasa MET = 4.0, Power/Ashtanga MET = 4.5. Values rounded to the nearest kcal.

Use our calories burned calculator to enter your exact weight, MET, and session length for a personalized figure.

What Changes the Number

Body weight is the largest variable. A 185 lb person burns about 50% more calories than a 125 lb person doing the same session, because calorie expenditure scales directly with mass.

Intensity and style. MET values range from 2.0 for restorative yoga to 4.5 for Power/Ashtanga. Choosing a more dynamic style can more than double the calorie burn of a passive one.

Fitness level. Trained practitioners move through sequences more efficiently and may show lower heart rate responses at the same perceived effort. Lab studies suggest highly trained individuals can burn slightly fewer calories per unit time at equivalent absolute workloads, though the effect is modest for yoga compared to running.

Heat. Hot yoga raises heart rate and fluid loss, but the extra calorie burn attributable to heat alone is modest — roughly 10–15% above equivalent non-heated practice at the same intensity. Sweating more does not equal burning more calories.

Session structure. A 60-minute class that includes a 10-minute savasana has a lower effective calorie burn than 60 minutes of continuous flow. The MET values above assume active practice throughout.

How to Actually Track It

Fitness trackers and smartwatches use heart rate to refine calorie estimates beyond MET alone, which improves accuracy during moderate-intensity yoga. However, wrist-based optical heart rate sensors struggle with static poses where blood flow is low, so they sometimes undercount during Yin sessions and overcount during fast flows.

The most reliable approach:

1. Note your yoga style and duration immediately after class.
2. Use a MET-based estimate as a baseline (see table above or the TDEE calculator).
3. Treat the estimate as a 20–30% confidence interval, not a precise reading — yoga calorie expenditure varies more between individuals than most cardio modalities.

Logging the meal or snack you eat after yoga is equally important. A post-class smoothie can exceed the calories burned in a 45-minute session. Snap a photo of it and CalEye calculates the nutrition in seconds.