If you plan to cut back on a few pounds, you’re probably exploring different calorie-burning strategies. Both yoga and cardio offer benefits when it comes to weight loss. However, how do they compare to each other? Which one gets you to your desired weight faster? More interestingly, can yoga be a form of cardio for weight loss?

Cardio for Weight Loss 

Cardio speeds up weight loss by raising your heart and breathing rates and using large group muscles. As such, you burn calories faster. Cardiovascular exercises vary and can be anything from walking and jogging to taking the treadmill at your Las Vegas Gym. However, weight loss through cardio also depends on a calorie deficit; you need to burn more calories than you consume – this means that if you’re performing cardio exercises without a calorie deficit, it may take longer to lose weight. 

Other factors that affect your ability to lose weight include: 

• The intensity of the workout: If you take on more intense exercises, you’re likely to lose fat faster. 
• Overall daily activity: Shoveling snow, walking and swimming are forms of cardio that you can incorporate into your daily routine. These daily activities yield better results than a sedentary lifestyle.
• Age: Losing weight becomes more problematic with age. 
• Muscle: If you have more muscle mass, you’ll burn calories faster than a person with greater fat mass. 

Yoga for Weight Loss  

While yoga is famous for meditation and relaxation, it’s also excellent for weight loss. It’s true that low-intensity workouts, often depicted in yoga, aren’t the best for burning fat. However, poses such as the warrior pose, triangle pose, downward dog, shoulder stand, and bridge pose are intense. They also target large muscle groups like the quads, glutes, and abdomen, helping you burn fat. 

Yoga also helps with strength because it challenges your muscles to become stronger over time. You won’t gain much muscle mass, but over time, you’ll have the strength to support your body weight perfectly. The muscle strength gained improves your basal metabolic rate and helps you burn calories faster over time. This means that it’s easier to avoid weight gain sustainably. 

What’s more, yoga helps with mindfulness and stress control. When you’re less anxious, stressed, or impulsive, you can regulate your feeding habits. A healthy diet that creates a calorie deficit is essential for weight loss. Therefore, practicing yoga helps you build better lifestyle habits, which, in turn, support weight loss.  

If you’re trying to lose weight quickly, cardio yields faster results. Cardio exercises are intense and burn calories fast- in the short term, cardio wins. However, because cardio does not significantly improve muscle mass, it’s essential to accompany it with strength training. 

Yoga is excellent for slow but sustainable weight loss because it cultivates strength, which forces the muscles to adapt and burn calories faster. 

Both yoga and cardio create a sustainable weight management culture by influencing your thinking and feeding habits. Mindfulness when choosing meals and handling stressful situations helps you avoid impulsive feeding. While yoga may be superior in mindful thinking and relaxation, cardio also works because exercise generally improves mental outlook.

Join Our Las Vegas Gym for Weight Loss Today  

If you’re ready to join your Las Vegas Gym today, you can choose cardio or yoga. They’re great forms of exercises that can be done together or separately to boost weight loss. The Y Las Vegas offers cardio and yoga workouts to help you stay fit. Join us today for weight-loss workout sessions.