Here is the short answer: yoga burns roughly 120 to 525 calories an hour — and the style matters more than anything else. Gentle Hatha for an hour burns about 190 calories for a 160 lb person; a flowing Vinyasa class burns about 305; a vigorous Power session burns about 381. The formula is simple (MET × your weight × time), the styles have very different MET values, and the "yoga burns 500 calories an hour" claim you see online only holds for the hardest styles and heavier bodies. In this guide you will see the full style-by-weight chart, the worked formula, the hot-yoga heat caveat, and what yoga can honestly do for weight loss — or get your exact number with our calories-burned calculator.
Style, weight, duration — plug them into our calories-burned calculator and see how the class fits your day with the TDEE calculator.
Count My Yoga ClassEvery calorie-burn estimate for an activity uses the same formula, from the Compendium of Physical Activities: calories per minute = (MET × body weight in kg × 3.5) / 200. MET (metabolic equivalent) is the intensity multiplier — sitting still is 1.0, brisk walking is ~3.3, running is ~9.8. Yoga styles span a wide MET range because "yoga" covers everything from lying in supported poses to nonstop athletic flow:
| Yoga style | MET | Character |
|---|---|---|
| Restorative / Yin | ~2.0 | Supported poses, mostly still, deep relaxation |
| Hatha | ~2.5 | Basic postures, breathwork, gentle pace |
| Iyengar | ~3.0 | Precise alignment, props, held poses |
| Vinyasa flow | ~4.0 | Flowing sequences, breath-linked movement |
| Hot / Bikram | ~4.5 | Set sequence in a heated room (~105°F / 40°C) |
| Power / Ashtanga | ~5.0 | Athletic, fast-paced, strength-demanding |
Worked example: a 160 lb (72.6 kg) person in a 60-minute Vinyasa class: (4.0 × 72.6 × 3.5) / 200 = 5.08 calories per minute × 60 = ~305 calories. Same person, same hour, in Hatha: (2.5 × 72.6 × 3.5) / 200 × 60 = ~190 calories. Style alone nearly doubles the burn — which is why any article giving a single "yoga burns X calories" number without naming the style is misleading.
| Style (60 min) | 130 lb (59 kg) | 160 lb (73 kg) | 190 lb (86 kg) | 220 lb (100 kg) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Restorative / Yin (2.0) | ~124 | ~152 | ~181 | ~210 |
| Hatha (2.5) | ~155 | ~190 | ~226 | ~262 |
| Iyengar (3.0) | ~186 | ~229 | ~271 | ~314 |
| Vinyasa (4.0) | ~248 | ~305 | ~362 | ~419 |
| Hot / Bikram (4.5) | ~279 | ~343 | ~407 | ~472 |
| Power / Ashtanga (5.0) | ~310 | ~381 | ~452 | ~524 |
Read the chart two ways. Across a row, weight is the multiplier: a 220 lb person burns roughly 70% more than a 130 lb person in the same class, because there is more body to move. Down a column, style is the multiplier: Power burns about 2.5 times Restorative for the same person. For other durations, scale linearly — a 90-minute Vinyasa class for a 160 lb person is ~458 calories (305 × 1.5), a 30-minute Hatha session is ~95. Our Pilates calorie guide uses the same formula if you want to compare the low-impact pair: Pilates mat work (~3.0 MET) sits near Iyengar on this chart.
Hot yoga feels much harder than room-temperature yoga — heart rate soars, sweat pours — so people assume it burns far more. The research says otherwise: studies measuring oxygen consumption in heated rooms (~105°F / 40°C) find the heat itself adds only roughly 10–15% to calorie burn versus the same poses at room temperature. Most of what you feel is cardiovascular strain and fluid loss, not extra fat burned — and the weight you lose in a hot class is mostly water that returns when you rehydrate. Hot yoga's real number comes from its sequence (the Bikram set is athletic, ~4.5 MET), not its thermostat. Drink water before, during, and after; dizziness in a heated room is a stop signal, not a badge of honor.
For most people, no — not by burn alone. Five Vinyasa classes a week for a 160 lb person burns about 1,525 calories a week (5 × 305), or about 6,100 a month — roughly 1.7 lb of energy equivalent, and that assumes no extra eating afterward (and yoga classes famously end near smoothie bars). Where yoga genuinely helps weight loss is indirect: better sleep and lower stress both improve appetite regulation, strength-building poses preserve muscle during a deficit, and a practice you actually enjoy is one you will still be doing in six months — which beats a "perfect" workout you quit in two weeks. The best weight-loss role for yoga is as the complement: yoga for mobility, stress, and consistency, plus a calorie deficit from food and a higher-burn activity (walking, cycling, running) for the numbers. See our walking calorie guide for the other half of that pairing, and check your heart-rate zones with the heart-rate zones calculator to see which of your sessions actually count as moderate or vigorous.
Style, weight, duration — our calories-burned calculator runs the formula in seconds.
Calculate My Yoga ClassWritten by the Live Fitness Check editorial team · Reviewed against our calculator methodology · Last updated October 2026
Disclaimer: This guide is for educational purposes only and is not medical advice. Calorie figures are estimates from MET values in the Compendium of Physical Activities; individual burn varies with effort, fitness, and body composition. If you are new to exercise or have a medical condition, talk to your doctor before starting a new practice, especially heated classes.
