Matt’s Calorie Burn

January 4, 2025

The last post, we mentioned the ways Sol Hot Yoga can boost your metabolism.  So, how many calories can you burn in a Sol Hot Yoga class?  We asked Matt for his data, and he agreed to share his personal results from the last few months.  NOTE: Matt uses the Apple Watch. The Apple Watch uses the biometric information that you enter in the Health app and your heart rate measurements to guesstimate how many calories you burn.

  • Matt’s Stats:
    • Total: 83 Classes (47 as teacher, 36 as student)
    • Highest: 598 Calories
    • Average: 413 Calories
    • Between 200-300 Calories: 42%
    • **Between 300-400 Calories: 37%
    • Over 500 Calories: 14% (all of these were Vinyasa)
  • By comparison (Individual results will vary based on age, weight, gender, and intensity variables):
    • Hiking, 30-min: 185 calories
    • Swimming, 30-min: 200-300 calories
    • Weights, 60-min: 300-400 calories
    • Cycling, 60-min: 500-700 calories

The unique characteristic of Hot Yoga is the continued burn, after the class. This is known as the EPOC effect – Excess Post-exercise Oxygen Consumption.  EPOC represents an increase in metabolism that is linked to the consumption of oxygen that is required to help recover.

Key indicator: How long do you sweat after class ends?  Sweat is an indicator of the physical work you’re doing, not how fit you are.  As long as the body continues to release toxins (sweat), then you are still responding to the physical demand for energy (work).

How many calories do you need to burn?

The Mifflin-St Jeor equation is a way to calculate how many calories you need to eat per day. It’s adjusted based on your sex, age, height, and weight to give a personalized estimation.

  1. Resting Metabolic Rate (RMR). Number of calories your body needs to function.
    • For people assigned male at birth: 9.99 × weight(kg) + 6.25 × height(cm) – 4.92 × age(years) + 5
      • Matt’s RMR: 1,604
    • For people assigned female at birth: 9.99 × weight(kg) + 6.25 × height(cm) – 4.92 × age(years) – 161
  2. Activity Level.
    • 1.2: Sedentary (little to no exercise)
    • 1.375: Lightly active (light exercise 1–3 days per week)
    • 1.55: Moderately active (moderate exercise 3–5 days per week)
    • 1.725: Very active (hard exercise 6–7 days per week)
    • 1.9: Extra active (very hard exercise two or more times per day, training, or a physical job)
  3. Mifflin St Joer equation:
    • RMR × activity level = calories needed to maintain weight
      • Matt’s:  1604 x 1.55 = 2,486

Easy<<ONLINE CALCULATOR>> does the math to provide three data points: calories to maintain weight, to lose weight, and lose weight fast.  Matt’s results above fall between the Maintain and Lose Weight range. **Burning 300 calories more than consumed will reduce the amount of body fat in your body and increase muscle mass.

Disclaimer: Speak with a nutritionist or licensed healthcare provider before you restrict your caloric intake to ensure you’re choosing a diet that’s right for you.  We also recommend the Viome home gut test to determine what foods are the best (and worst) sources based on a samples of your stool, blood, and saliva.  <<VIOME INFO>>

Now, SIGN UP FOR CLASS & feel the difference!