Yoga to Burn Calories: Surya Namaskar

If you want to do Hatha yoga to burn calories, Surya Namaskar should be the start of your yoga session. Also known as sun salutation, this series of yoga poses burns calories more calories than other yoga poses because it is a cardiovascular exercise. After the first round of Surya Namaskar , your heartbeat rises to between 80 and 90 percent of age-predicted maximal heart rate, called HRMAX. Sun salutation is suitable Hatha yoga series for all levels. In fact, yoga beginners need minimal training in Surya Namaskar to receive maximum benefits.

What is Surya Namaskar?

What is Surya Namaskar? The classic version is a series of 12 yoga poses you perform rhythmically one after the other in synchronicity with your breath at the beginning of Hatha yoga session. Modern variations of Surya Namaskar may have more or less than 12 yoga poses. Surya Namaskar is not just yoga to burn calories. Benefits of sun salutation include strengthening your back, upper body and quadriceps as well as improving your flexibility, increasing your respiratory capacity and stimulating your digestive system.

How Many Calories Burned with Surya Namaskar?

If you want to do yoga to burn calories, you’re probably asking, “How many calories burned with Surya Namaskar?” The answer is Surya Namaskar burns about 3.79 calories per minute, according to a study by the Defense Institute of Physiology and Allied Science in India published in the Indian Journal of Physiology and Pharmacology. The researchers found one round of Surya Namaskar takes an average of 3 minutes and 40 seconds, which means one round of Surya Namaskar burns about 13.91 calories for a person weighing 138 pounds.

How to Use Surya Namaskar for Weight Loss?

Before you  start any weight loss program, you should know there are about 3,500 calories in 1 pound of fat. So, you need to reduce your daily calories by 250 to 500 in order to achieve ½ to 1 pound of weight loss per week. Using the numbers from this yoga study, a 138-pound person needs to do Surya Namaskar for about 67 minutes to burn 250 calories and about 95 minutes to burn 350 calories. Your results may vary and people who weigh more will burn more calories in the same amount of time.