Activity calories · 2024 Compendium METs

Calories burned doing yoga

Quick answer

A 70 kg (154 lb) person burns about 81 kcal in 30 minutes of doing yoga (General), and about 161 kcal in an hour. That is 2.3 METs.

30 minutes: 81kcal; 70 kg (154 lb)
1 hour: 161kcal; 70 kg (154 lb)
1 hour: 138kcal; 60 kg (132 lb)
1 hour: 184kcal; 80 kg (176 lb)

Yoga covers everything from gentle breathing-led practice to a fast power class, and the Compendium rates each style separately. Most styles sit at the low end of the scale; power yoga and the high-intensity Hatha entry sit well above. Pick the style closest to your class.

Calculate calories burned doing yoga

Starts at 70 kg (154 lb) for 30 minutes of doing yoga at 2.3 METs; enter your own weight and time.

Calories burned doing yoga by weight and time

Kilocalories for doing yoga at 2.3 METs (General), by body weight and minutes. Read across from your weight; the pace table below shows the other rows.

Calories burned doing yoga at 2.3 METs, by body weight and duration
Body weight	15 min	30 min	45 min	1 hour	1.5 hours	2 hours
50 kg (110 lb)	29	57	86	115	172	230
60 kg (132 lb)	35	69	104	138	207	276
70 kg (154 lb)	40	81	121	161	242	322
80 kg (176 lb)	46	92	138	184	276	368
90 kg (198 lb)	52	103	155	207	310	414
100 kg (220 lb)	57	115	172	230	345	460
110 kg (243 lb)	63	126	190	253	379	506

Doing yoga: calories by pace or effort

The Compendium rates doing yoga on 7 lines, from 2.3 METs (Hatha) up to 8 METs (Hatha, high intensity). Each row below is one of those codes with the calories it works out to.

Calories burned doing yoga by pace or effort
Pace or effort	Compendium code	METs	30 min, 60 kg (132 lb)	30 min, 70 kg (154 lb)	30 min, 80 kg (176 lb)	1 hour, 70 kg (154 lb)
Hatha	02150	2.3	69	81	92	161
General	02175	2.3	69	81	92	161
Vinyasa	02185	2.7	81	95	108	189
Hot yoga	02155	3	90	105	120	210
Surya Namaskar (sun salutations)	02180	3.5	105	123	140	245
Power yoga	02160	4	120	140	160	280
Hatha, high intensity	02153	8	240	280	320	560

The Compendium’s own wording for each code: 02150, “Yoga, Hatha”; 02175, “Yoga, General”; 02185, “Yoga, Vinyasa”; 02155, “Yoga, Hot”; 02180, “Yoga, Surya Namaskar”; 02160, “Yoga, Power”; 02153, “Yoga, Hatha, high intensity”.

What changes the number for doing yoga

Pace is the biggest lever. The hardest listed way of doing yoga (Hatha, high intensity) is rated at 8 METs, 3.5 times the 2.3 METs of the gentlest (Hatha). For a 70 kg (154 lb) person that is 560 kcal an hour against 161 kcal.

Body weight is the second: the same 2.3 METs of doing yoga for 30 minutes comes to 57 kcal at 50 kg (110 lb) and 126 kcal at 110 kg (243 lb). To reach 100 kcal at 70 kg (154 lb) takes about 37 minutes at the starting pace.

Laid out in half-hour terms for 70 kg (154 lb): hatha is 81 kcal; general is 81 kcal; vinyasa is 95 kcal; hot yoga is 105 kcal; surya namaskar (sun salutations) is 123 kcal; power yoga is 140 kcal; hatha, high intensity is 280 kcal.

How the calories are worked out

The formula is calories = MET × body weight in kg × hours. A MET compares an activity with sitting quietly, which is 1 MET and is taken as roughly 1 kcal per kilogram per hour. That equivalence is an approximation, which is why every figure is rounded and called about.

For doing yoga at 2.3 METs, a 70 kg (154 lb) person for 30 minutes: 2.3 × 70 × 0.5 = 81 kcal. This is a gross figure: it includes the energy your body would spend at rest in the same time.

The MET values are those of the 2024 Adult Compendium of Physical Activities (Herrmann SD, Willis EA, Ainsworth BE, et al., J Sport Health Sci 2024), read from its activity list on 2026-10-23 and copied with their codes. They are averages for adults; see how we calculate.

Frequently asked questions

How many calories does a 70 kg person burn doing yoga in 30 minutes?

About 81 kcal at 2.3 METs (General). The whole range for doing yoga on this page runs from 81 kcal (Hatha) to 280 kcal (Hatha, high intensity) in the same half hour.

How many calories does doing yoga burn in an hour?

At 2.3 METs, about 138 kcal for a 60 kg (132 lb) person, 161 kcal at 70 kg (154 lb) and 184 kcal at 80 kg (176 lb). Heavier people burn more because they move more mass.

How long does doing yoga take to burn 100 calories?

For a 70 kg (154 lb) person, about 37 minutes at 2.3 METs (General). At the gentlest listed pace (Hatha, 2.3 METs) it takes 37 minutes, and at the hardest (Hatha, high intensity, 8 METs) about 11.

Does the number for doing yoga include the calories I would burn anyway?

Yes. Of the 2.3 METs, 1 is the resting cost, about 43% of the total here, so the activity itself adds about 45 of the 81 kcal in 30 minutes at 70 kg (154 lb).

Why would my watch show a different number for doing yoga?

A watch uses its own model, often with heart rate, age and sex, while this page uses the Compendium’s average. For doing yoga that average already spans 7 entries from 2.3 to 8 METs, a 3.5-fold range, so a gap between the two is normal.

Which line in the table should I choose for doing yoga?

Pick the row that best describes how you did it: this page starts from “General”, about 0% of the way up the 2.3 to 8 MET range. The rows are separate Compendium entries (02150, 02175, 02185, 02155, 02180, 02160, 02153).

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These are estimates for healthy adults from average MET values. How much you actually burn varies with your fitness, body composition, technique, terrain and conditions, so use the figures as a guide, not a measurement. This is not medical advice.