Cardio yoga is a popular style of exercise that combines yoga with cardiovascular or cardio exercises. It has become increasingly popular among those who enjoy the relaxation benefits of yoga, but require more intensity.

This article explains everything you need to know about cardio yoga, including its benefits, specific workouts, and how it compares to other forms of cardio.

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What is cardio yoga?

Rooted in Indian philosophy, yoga focuses on poses, breathing techniques, and meditation practices to enhance awareness and ().

The practice has become increasingly popular around the world as a way to relieve stress, improve sleep, improve mental and emotional health, and relieve general lower back and neck pain (, ).

Although there are many types of yoga, Hatha yoga is the most commonly practiced, referring to any type of yoga that teaches physical postures ().

Most yoga classes – ashtanga, vinyasa and power yoga – are hatha yoga.

Although these differ in the series, movement and rhythm of physical postures, they are not generally considered cardio or aerobic exercises ().

This is because they focus on breathing techniques, body flow and postures, rather than dynamic movements that increase intensity and increase your heart rate.

Conversely, cardio yoga workouts involve performing yoga-inspired movements at a faster pace and with a continuous flow to engage more muscles and challenge your cardiovascular or circulatory system.

Summary

Unlike traditional yoga, which focuses on breathing techniques, body flow and postures, cardio yoga incorporates more dynamic movements that increase intensity and increase your heart rate.

Specific cardio-yoga workouts

Because there is no accepted definition of cardio yoga, instructors can mix their own favorite moves and movement sequences.

Although yoga is generally safe, make sure you are on a flat surface and do not have any conditions that could interfere with balance, such as neuropathy or orthopedic limitations ().

Here are some moderate-intensity cardio yoga exercises to try and work all of your major muscle groups, including your arms, chest, back, and legs (, ).

Surya Namaskar (Sun Salutation)

Surya Namaskar, commonly known as the Sun Salutation, is a series of postures performed in a sequence ().

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Here is :

1. Samasthiti. Start standing straight with your feet together and your weight evenly distributed. Your shoulders should be rolled up and your hands should hang at your sides with your chin parallel to the floor.
2. Urdhva hastasana. Inhale and bend your knees slightly, raising your arms above your head. Bring your palms together and look at your thumbs.
3. Uttanasana. Exhale and straighten your legs. Lean forward from the hips and lower your hands. Relax your neck.
4. Urdvah uttanasana. Inhale and lengthen your spine, looking forward and opening your shoulders.
5. Chaturanga dandasana. Exhale and jump or step your feet back. Bend your elbows and keep them tucked into your sides. Lower your body. You can either keep your knees on the floor or modify the exercise by bringing your knees to the floor.
6. Urdhva mukha svanasana. Inhale and pull your toes away from your body. Lift your chest while your knees are off the floor. Open your shoulders and look at the sky.
7. Adho mukha svanasana. Exhale and tuck your toes under, lifting your hips and lowering your shoulders. Look at your belly button. You may want to stay in this position for up to five deep breaths.
8. Urdhva uttanasana. Inhale and jump or put your feet together between your hands, lengthen your spine and look forward while opening your shoulders (as in step 4).
9. Uttanasana. Exhale and lower the crown of your head toward the floor and relax your neck (as in step 3).
10. Urdhva hastasana. Inhale and bend your knees, raising your arms above your head and bringing your palms together while looking at your thumbs (as in step 2).
11. Samasthiti. Exhale and straighten your legs, bringing your arms to your sides (as in step 1).

Perform this sequence at a relatively fast pace and repeat it for 20 minutes with no rest in between to keep your heart rate elevated.

Other movements

Here are some other moves you can do as part of a sequence:

• . Starting in a kneeling plank position, perform a kneeling push-up then sit back on your heels with your arms extended in front (child's pose). Bring your body into a kneeling plank position and repeat.
• . Starting in plank pose, lift your hips slightly by lifting your left leg toward the ceiling. Slowly pull your left leg down and across, tucking your knee toward your chest. Lift your left leg toward the ceiling again, and this time pulling your left knee through, let the outer part of your left leg rest on the floor as you lower your left glute. Return to the starting position and repeat with your right let.
• . Starting from a standing position, bend at the hips and lower into a plank position. Push yourself into downward facing dog, pushing your hips toward the sky. Hold this position for 1 to 2 seconds. Step back slowly, maintaining hand contact with the ground. Return to standing position and repeat.

Perform each movement 10 to 15 times before moving on to the next exercise.

You can break up these movements with 30-second activities like overhead squats and stationary lunges to keep your body moving and your heart rate elevated.

Summary

These cardio yoga sessions are moderate aerobic intensity and use all major muscle groups.

Weight loss

Although yoga has been suggested to help, studies have found conflicting results.

A review of 30 studies involving more than 2000 participants found that yoga did not affect weight, body mass index (BMI), waist circumference, or body fat percentage ().

However, when researchers analyzed studies in overweight or obese people, yoga was found to significantly reduce BMI.

Nevertheless, certain variables, such as different types of bias among studies, may have influenced the study results.

In either case, while beginner to intermediate yoga sessions are generally not considered adequate for improving cardiovascular fitness, more intensive forms of yoga like cardio yoga can train your heart while increasing calories burned and helping to lose weight ().

That said, doing cardio yoga at least 5 times a week for 30 minutes can help you lose weight, if that is your goal ().

However, keep in mind that exercise alone is rarely enough to lose a significant amount of weight and keep it off – you also need to (, ).

Typically, reducing your daily calorie intake by 500 is enough to lose weight ().

You can estimate your caloric needs using a.

Summary

Doing cardio yoga can speed up calorie burning and help with weight loss in combination with a low-calorie diet.

Comparison with other cardio exercises

It's a measurement that researchers use to estimate the number of calories burned during an activity ().

A MET represents the number of calories you burn at rest based on the amount of oxygen you consume.

An exercise that is 3 METs requires you to use about three times more oxygen compared to 1 MET (at rest), which means it requires more energy and burns more calories.

A review of 17 studies demonstrated that yoga METs range from 2 METs during a basic yoga class to 6 METs with Surya Namaskar for an average of 2,9 METs ().

For comparison, here are the METs of common forms of cardio (,,):

• walk, moderate pace: 4,8 MET
• elliptical, moderate effort: 5 MET
• jogging, medium pace: 7 MET
• cycling, average pace: 7 MET
• hiking: 7,8 MET
• stair climb, fast pace: 8,8 MET
• running, average pace: 9,8 MET

Based on MET values, yoga at 2,9 METs is significantly less efficient in terms of energy consumption and therefore calories burned.

However, at 6 MET, Surya Namaskar and other yoga-inspired cardio workouts may be comparable to exercising at moderate effort but less intense than jogging at a medium pace when it comes to calories burned ().

Interestingly, Surya Namaskar can not only increase calories burned but also help build muscles.

In one study, participants completed 24 cycles of Surya Namaskar, 6 days a week for 6 months ().

At the end of the study, participants demonstrated increased muscle strength during bench and shoulder press exercises.

However, the study lacked a control group, preventing a cause-and-effect relationship.

Further studies are needed to determine whether yoga or more intense cardio-yoga sessions can increase muscle strength or size.

Summary

More intense versions of yoga like cardio yoga burn a similar number of calories as exercising on an elliptical with moderate effort but fewer calories than jogging.

The bottom line

Cardio yoga is a more intense version of traditional yoga, which is not generally considered to be.

It combines yoga-inspired and dynamic movements in various sequences to increase and maintain an elevated heart rate, helping to train your heart and burn calories.

Cardio yoga outperforms walking at a moderate pace or exercising on an elliptical trainer at a moderate effort – but not jogging, hiking or running – when it comes to calories burned.