Yoga calories calculator: how many calories does yoga burn?

The calories burned doing yoga depend on three things: your body weight, the style you practise and how long you keep going. A 70 kg (154 lb) person burns roughly 90 kcal in 30 minutes of gentle Hatha yoga and about 150 kcal in 30 minutes of brisk power yoga. This calculator does the maths for you, using the same formula exercise scientists use, and this page shows every number it relies on so you can judge the result yourself.

How to use the yoga calorie calculator

1. Weight: type your weight and choose kg or lb. Pounds are converted to kilograms (1 lb = 0.4536 kg).
2. Type of yoga: Hatha or gentle, Restorative or Yin, Vinyasa flow, Power yoga, brisk Surya Namaskar, Hot or Bikram, or Yoga Nidra and meditation. Each option shows the MET value it uses, so it also works as a hot yoga or Bikram yoga calorie calculator.
3. Minutes: from 5 to 240.

The circle shows the estimated kilocalories (kcal, the "calories" on food labels) and, below it, the rate per hour. Nothing is saved or sent anywhere.

The formula: MET × 3.5 × weight ÷ 200 × minutes

A MET (metabolic equivalent of task) compares an activity with sitting at rest. One MET is about 3.5 ml of oxygen per kilogram of body weight per minute, and your body burns roughly 5 kcal for every litre of oxygen it uses. Put together, that gives the standard formula:

kcal = MET × 3.5 × body weight (kg) ÷ 200 × minutes

Worked example: how to calculate calories burned

You weigh 70 kg and do 30 minutes of Hatha yoga (MET 2.5):

1. 2.5 × 3.5 = 8.75
2. 8.75 × 70 kg = 612.5
3. 612.5 ÷ 200 = 3.06 kcal per minute
4. 3.06 × 30 minutes ≈ 92 kcal (about 184 kcal per hour)

If you weigh 150 lb, that is 68 kg, and the same class comes to about 89 kcal. Doubling the time doubles the calories; a heavier person burns more for the same practice, because moving a bigger body takes more energy.

The MET values used, and where they come from

MET values come from the Compendium of Physical Activities, the reference list that researchers use to estimate energy cost. It was updated in 2024, and some yoga values changed. Here is what the calculator uses next to the Compendium figures, so you can see where our estimates sit:

In plain words: for Hatha, power yoga and Surya Namaskar the calculator is close to the research. For Vinyasa it treats a brisk, continuous flow like power yoga, and for hot yoga it uses a high 5.0, so those two results are the top of the realistic range rather than the average. If your flow is slow, or your hot class has long rests, expect less. The 2024 list also has a "high intensity" Hatha entry at 8.0 METs, which describes very vigorous, fast practice that few home sessions reach.

So does yoga burn a lot of calories? Gentle styles burn about as much as a slow walk; power yoga and Vinyasa burn more, similar to moderate walking. This makes it a useful yoga workout calorie calculator, and the same formula works as a calorie calculator for exercise of any kind if you know its MET value.

How many calories does yoga burn in 30 minutes and 1 hour?

These are the calculator's results for three body weights. Use them as an upper-to-middle estimate.

Honest ranges for a 70 kg (154 lb) person, from the Compendium value to the calculator's value:

• Calories burned during 30 minutes of yoga: about 85–90 kcal for Hatha, 100–150 kcal for a Vinyasa or power flow.
• Calories burned doing yoga for 1 hour (60 minutes): about 170–185 kcal for Hatha; the average yoga class burns 150–300 kcal per hour, depending on style.
• How many calories does Vinyasa yoga burn? About 200–295 kcal per hour; the calories burned in 20 minutes of Vinyasa yoga are about 65–100 kcal.
• Power yoga calories burned in a 45 minute class: about 220 kcal.
• Hot yoga calories burned in 1 hour: about 220–370 kcal, most likely nearer the lower end.
• Brisk Surya Namaskar: about 240–280 kcal per hour.
• Gentle stretching, Yin or a slow flow: calories burned in 15 minutes of yoga like this are about 35–45 kcal.

Does hot yoga burn more calories?

How many calories do you burn in hot yoga or Bikram yoga? A little more than in Hatha, but less than it feels. Heat raises your heart rate and makes you sweat, yet the 2024 Compendium puts hot yoga at 3.0 METs, only slightly above Hatha. Weight lost in a hot class is mostly water, and it comes back when you drink. If you enjoy hot yoga, drink before and after, and skip it if you are pregnant or have heart problems. How many calories does an hour of hot yoga burn? For a 70 kg person, about 220–370 kcal.

Chair yoga and beginner yoga

How many calories does chair yoga burn? Choose "Restorative / Yin" for a mostly seated class, or "Hatha / gentle" if you stand for part of it: the calories burned in 30 minutes of chair yoga are roughly 70–90 kcal for a 70 kg person. How many calories does beginner yoga burn? It is usually gentle, so the Hatha setting fits best. Our 12-minute guided beginner session burns about 35–40 kcal for a 70 kg person; it is about learning to move well, not burning energy.

Calories burned: yoga vs walking and Pilates

The Compendium lists walking at a moderate pace (2.8–3.4 mph) at 3.8 METs and brisk walking (3.5–3.9 mph) at 4.8 METs, so an hour of brisk walking burns more than most yoga. General Pilates is listed at 2.8 METs, close to gentle yoga. Power yoga and brisk Surya Namaskar sit near moderate walking. Yoga earns its place through strength, balance, flexibility and stress relief rather than a high calorie count.

Does yoga burn fat and help with weight loss?

Yoga does burn calories, and any calories burned count towards weight loss. But the numbers are modest, so yoga works best as part of a bigger plan: regular active sessions, daily walking, good food and enough sleep. See yoga for weight loss for a full approach, or let the yoga plan maker build a weekly schedule for losing weight.

Limits of any calorie estimate

• It includes your resting burn. The formula gives total calories, including the energy you would use anyway sitting still. To see only the extra calories from the practice, subtract 1 from the MET value.
• People differ. Age, sex, muscle mass and fitness change the real number by 10–20% or more.
• Fitness watches differ too. They use heart rate, which heat and nerves push up, so they often read high for yoga, especially hot yoga.