If you want to use yoga to burn calories, add Hatha yoga poses to your class or home routine that burn over 2.5 calories per minute. Interestingly enough, all these poses burn a significant amount of calories while lying on the floor. They are the lower back stretch pavan muktasana, along with the inversion poses shoulder stand, plow pose and karnapidasana. This information on yoga calories burned comes from a yoga study published in the journal “Evidence Based Complimentary and Alternative Medicine” by researchers at the Defense Institute of Physiology and Allied Sciences in India.
Yoga to Burn Calories: Leg Lock Pose – Pavan Muktasana
Pavan muktasana, also known as leg lock pose or a knee hug, is a simple Hatha yoga pose that burns 2.62 calories per minute. Simply, lay down on your back, hug your knees to your chest and lift your head to touch your nose to your knees. Slowly lift your head as you inhale, hold the breath as you touch your nose to your knees for three seconds and exhale as you slowly lower your head to the starting position (see feature image). One round takes about 30 seconds, so do two rounds to complete a full minute achieve 2.62 yoga calories burned. Contraindications for leg lock pose include high blood pressure, sciatica and slipped disc.
Yoga to Burn Calories: Shoulder Stand – Sarvangasana
Sarvangasana, also known as shoulder stand, burns 2.73 calories per minute. To do this inversion pose, lie down on your back and raise your legs perpendicular to the floor. Contract your abs to lift your hips and lower back off the floor. Support your lower back with the palms of your hands so your thumbs are pointing toward your spine. To burn 3 calories per minute, straighten your arms and place your palms on the floor. Yoga beginners should start by holding sarvangasana for only a few seconds and work their way up to 3 to 5 minutes, which allows you to burn 8 to 13.65 calories. Only perform sarvangasana once per yoga session. Contraindications for shoulder stand include high blood pressure, heart ailments and an enlarged thyroid.
Shoulder Stand — Sarvangasana
Yoga to Burn Calories: Plow Pose – Halasana
Halasana 1, also known as plow pose, burns 2.79 calories per minute. This Hatha yoga pose is typically follows shoulder stand. To get into the plow pose from shoulder stand, lower your straight legs over your head until your toes touch the floor. In version 1 your hands remain on your lower back for support. To burn more calories, try halasana version 2 and reach your hands back to grab hold of your toes. Yoga beginners should start by holding plow pose for 15 seconds and work up to 1 minute. Intermediate and advanced yoga practitioners can hold this pose for 10 minutes or longer for 28 yoga calories burned or more. Contraindications for plow pose version 1 and 2 include hernia, high blood pressure and serious back problems.
Yoga to Burn Calories: Ear Knee Pose – Karnapidasana
Ear knee pose, also known as karnapeedasana or karna peedasana, burns 2.79 calories per minute. This Hatha yoga pose should follow the plow pose. To get into karnapidasana, bend your knees while in plow pose, so your shins lay on the floor with your knees are gently pressing against your ears. Then wrap your arms around the back of your knees. Karnapidasana results in the same amount of yoga calories burned as the plow pose and you hold it for the same amount of time. It also has the same contraindications.