Deciding if a workout is worthwhile shouldn't be based on how many calories you burn; there are other factors to consider, like if you got your heart rate up, improved your balance and strength, or amped up energy levels. Because yoga makes me stronger and more flexible, it really doesn't matter that much how many calories I burn, but out of curiosity, I thought I'd see how my classes stack up in the calorie department thanks to Health Status's calorie calculator [1].

I was really shocked to see Vinyasa yoga as the type of yoga that burns the most calories. I assumed it would have been Bikram because you sweat so much in hot yoga. Contrary to popular belief, as we've already learned, don't rely on sweat as a gauge of how intense an exercise [2] is. A combination of heart rate and perceived effort are much better indicators of how hard you are working and how much energy you are expending.