Can Yoga Be Aerobic Exercise?
What constitutes moderate and vigorous physical activity varies from person to person, because everyone has a unique maximum heart rate depending on their age, health, and how fit they are. (4) For healthy adults, the American Heart Association recommends a target heart rate of 50 to 70 percent of your maximum heart rate for activity to count as moderate intensity exercise, and 70 to 85 percent of your maximum heart rate for activity to count as vigorous exercise. (4)
For example, the average 20-year-old’s heart should be beating between 100 and 170 times per minute to be in the moderate to vigorous activity range, whereas a 60-year-old’s heart rate should be beating between 80 and 136 times per minute to be in that range.
Yoga is not necessarily an aerobic exercise in the same category as walking, running, biking, or using an elliptical machine, says Laskowski. Whether or not a yoga class will get your heart rate in the targeted zone to count as moderate physical activity depends on the type of yoga and how intensely you’re moving through it, says Laskowski. Classes that focus more on mindfulness and restoration may not get your heart rate up as much as more athletic classes that are designed to keep you moving, he adds.
A study that looked at heart rate in ashtanga, hatha, and gentle yoga found only a modest elevation of heart rate. Participants in ashtanga, the more active type of flow yoga, had an increase of about 30 beats per minute, whereas hatha and gentle yoga students had an increase of only about 15 beats per minute. (5) Depending on your age and resting heart rate, that amount of activity might be enough to count as moderate exercise, but for others it would not.
That doesn’t mean it’s not worthwhile, says Laskowski. It’s still activity, after all — it’s just less intense than something that gets your heart rate up more (just as jogging is less intense than running). “The heart is a muscle, and when you challenge it by elevating heart rate you cause it to adapt and get stronger, so anything that does that is helpful,” he says.
