Research

Energy balance

Sun salutation postures within a yoga session can reach moderate intensity levels (approx. 3.0 METs and 55% max heart rate), potentially contributing to cardio-respiratory fitness in unfit individuals.

If you practice yoga, focus on the dynamic sequences like Sun Salutations. These specific poses can reach moderate intensity levels suitable for cardiovascular health, especially if you are new to exercise. However, be aware that this intensity level may not be sufficient for maintaining fitness if you are already physically fit.

GoodQualifiesHIGH confidence
Yoga practice incorporating sun salutation postures exceeding the minimum bout of 10 minutes may contribute some portion of sufficiently intense physical activity to improve cardio-respiratory fitness in unfit or sedentary individuals.
Marshall Hagins et al. · BMC Complementary and Alternative Medicine · 2007

Why this rating

Same study limitations as N1, but the specific finding on sun salutations is statistically significant compared to the threshold.

Source

Does practicing hatha yoga satisfy recommendations for intensity of physical activity which improves and maintains health and cardiovascular fitness?

Marshall Hagins et al. · BMC Complementary and Alternative Medicine · 2007

DOI 10.1186/1472-6882-7-40

cross_sectional · n=20Cited 178×
Read the paper
DOI resolved against Crossref · corpus check 2026-06-10

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