Does Yoga Have Weight Loss Benefits?

Published: 2025-03-16

Updated: 2025-03-17

4 mins

The best weight loss results come from consistency and discipline. One of the best ways to meet weight loss goals is to follow a healthy diet and engage in physical activity regularly. While lifting weights may be the “go-to” workout option for men looking to lose weight and gain muscle, low-intensity exercises like yoga can be just as effective.

Yoga is a physical activity that may work better for both men and women who enjoy low-intensity exercises. It’s a practice you can grow with while on your weight loss journey. Yoga has several health benefits including body awareness, stress reduction, and focus.

What is Yoga?

Yoga is an ancient practice promoting peace and harmony between the body and mind. While the spiritual focus of yoga is still prevalent in India and other Eastern countries, yoga has also become popular in the United States for additional reasons. In the U.S., the focus is often more on the physical and mental health benefits of the practice.

What are the Health Benefits of Yoga?

Yoga poses are intentional positions a person slowly moves through while engaging the muscles. Over time, with practice it becomes easier for the body to move through more difficult yoga poses.

Health benefits of yoga that help promote weight loss include:

• Pain management

• Improved flexibility

• Stress management

• Better balance

• Reduce anxiety

• Improves sleep quality

While mental health benefits from yoga are not physical, they may directly influence how well you commit to your exercise routine. Weight training may be a more intimidating form of exercise for some people, especially if you’re not sure where to start. 

How Do I Get Started With Yoga?

Yoga is also a great way to prevent feelings of stress and anxiety that may make it more difficult to achieve your weight loss goals. If you don’t know where to start, you can begin with guided yoga sessions online or in person with a yoga instructor.

Many yoga instructors will remind you to breathe throughout a yoga session. Breathing exercises can help you center your body and focus on the present instead of worrying about life’s problems outside of the session.

How Does Yoga Help with Weight Loss?

Health experts have found that yoga may help lower BMI in adults. Many of these studies followed the weight loss progress of adults who engaged in weekly sessions that were 30 minutes or longer. However, weight loss results were not particularly significant.

Yoga also encourages body awareness — knowing the placement and what each part of the body is doing. This is why those with eating disorders benefit from practicing yoga along with psychotherapy as treatment. Yoga also sometimes incorporates meditative exercises that help relax the mind. 

What Types of Yoga Help with Weight Loss?

Over 10 different types of yoga exist with the common goal of improving your health. If your goal is getting the abs you want, you may want to consider more physically intense versions of yoga. 

Different types of yoga, like Ashtanga and Vinyasa, are more physically intense. One study found that these types of yoga helped reduce abdominal fat in participants. However, more research is needed to know how effective it is to burn calories for adults with obesity.

The following types of yoga have key potential weight loss benefits:

Vinyasa: Often referred to as flow yoga, Vinyasa yoga focuses on slow, dynamic movement while calming the nervous system. As you move through poses, the breath is synchronized with more constant movement.

Ashtanga: This type of yoga is often done in silence. With Ashtanga yoga, movements focus on six main positions, which are memorized and completed in the same order.

Yoga Exercises for Weight Loss to Try

The following yoga poses may help you in your weight loss journey. Keep in mind some yoga instructors may modify the following poses as they see fit.

1. Utkatasana (chair pose)

This pose involves positioning your body as if sitting in a chair — but without the chair, of course. The muscles in your thighs, glutes, and core will help to stabilize you. The feet are hip-width apart, with the back up straight as you extend the arms upward at a diagonal and keep the fingers open. It’s important to breathe in and out as you hold the pose. 

2. Virabhadrasana II (warrior II)

The Warrior II pose is great for strengthening hip and leg muscles. Make sure your body is oriented to the right or left side. Bring one bent led in front of you and extend one leg straight behind you. 

It’s important your front knee is not too forward over the toe. Inhale as you bring your arms up and exhale as you bring the arms out to the side, extending from the shoulders. Try your best not to tense up. 

3. Adho Mukha Svanasana (three legged downward facing dog)

This variation of the popular downward dog pose helps strengthen the legs. This pose involves balancing on your hands and knees. In this position, you want to tuck your toes and press your hands into the ground as you gradually bring one knee up from the floor and straighten the other leg.

4. Naukasana (boat pose)

This yoga pose consists of stretching the arms upward and bringing the legs up for the hands and feet to meet as the body crunches forward. For a deeper stretch, you can hold your toes. Make sure to breathe while in this pose. You can hold it for longer to engage the muscles more.

5. Bhujangasana (cobra pose)

Bhujangasana focuses on stretching the back. While lying on the stomach, the chest and head lift upward while holding up your body with your arms. It’s a low-intensity pose that can help increase body awareness. It can also help build muscle in the stomach area and promote weight loss. 

Other Exercises for Weight Loss

One of the easiest ways to exercise daily is to go for a walk. Walking every day for at least an hour may help you maintain weight loss. Walking after eating a big meal can also help with your digestive system. If you already enjoy weightlifting, consider adding 15 minutes of cardio to your workout routine as well before lifting for more weight loss benefits. 

Additional exercises that can help with weight loss:

• Biking

• Hiking

• Pilates

• Swimming

Where Can I Learn More About Weight Loss Techniques?

There’s not just one way to lose weight. The Rex MD Weight Management program can help you meet your weight loss goals with access to groundbreaking GLP-1 medications and metabolic testing. 

See if you qualify to get closer to achieving your weight loss goals today.