Can you swap cardio with yoga? Let’s find out

From benefitting the brain to joint health, cardio workout increase blood circulation which leads to clearer, healthier skin and is one of the best and most popular types of exercises people perform. It can advance your fitness goal to shed a few pounds because cardio exercises such as running or biking or dancing can burn hundreds of calories in a session.

It strengthens your heart by making your heart rate accelerate and properly pump blood, which in turn reduces the risk of heart attacks and disease along with their underlying causes such as high blood pressure and cholesterol, apart from reducing the risk of several deadly diseases. However, a lot of people also despise cardio in any form since they do not find the physical activity of cardio enjoyable.

On the other hand, it is no secret that there are anti-inflammatory effects associated with meditation and Yoga. A study in The Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine, earlier explored its healing benefits as potential adjunctive treatments of Covid-19.

In an interview with HT Lifestyle, Fitness Expert Ritika Jhanji Jagtiani shared, “I have been a runner all my life but incorporating Yoga in my fitness regime took it to the next level. Not only did it help with fat burn but also made me a lot more flexible than I was.”

She added, “Yoga is my go-to for calorie burn, strength training, toning, relaxing, all at the same time. Most importantly, it’s not just my work-out but also my work-in, that calms and elevates my mind.”

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Pitting Yoga against cardio, Vaibhav Somani, Director at Gravolite revealed, “Yoga burns lesser calories than cardio in one go since cardio is an intensive exercise but the benefits that Yoga provides, in the long run, are much more than that of cardio. Both Yoga and cardio improve our metabolism but the positive effects of Yoga lasts longer compared to that of a cardio.”

He elaborated, “Cardio simply burns calories that can be achieved by Power, Bikram and Ashtanga versions of Yoga too. For example, if the goal is just to drop some pounds, cardio is really helpful but if the motive is also to build muscle mass, Yoga is the key.”

Adding to the list of health benefits of Yoga over cardio, Vaibhav Somani shared, “Yoga is much more strenuous and strengthening in general than cardio. Since Yoga also includes activities like breathing and stretching, it has additional benefits like quicker injury healing and improved body flexibility and posture. Many individuals cannot undertake cardio due to health, age or any other issues. This is where Yoga supersedes cardio since Yoga is a more sustainable way of working out with long term health benefits.”