Yoga has a well-deserved reputation for helping to improve balance and flexibility and for promoting calm and relaxation. But when it comes to weight loss, many people assume that other types of exercise, like cardio or strength training will be more helpful. While you might not burn as many calories (卡路里) by practicing yoga as you would by running or doing some other high-intensity aerobic activity (有氧运动), yoga can still raise your heart rate and help build muscle-and, at rest, muscle burns about twice as many calories as fat does. “Studies show that aerobic forms of exercise, which is any exercise that uses your large muscle groups and raises your heart rate, are beneficial for weight loss,” says Sally Sherwin, a yoga teacher with the Cleveland Clinic Wellness Yoga. “Power or vinyasa yoga, a type of high intensity yoga, fits this kind.”
Just how many calories you burn varies depending on how long and intense your exercise is, as well as other factors, such as your weight, age and gender. But according to Erin Casperson, lead faculty with the Kripalu Center for Yoga &Health, practicing yoga can also help you burn more calories long after you hit the mat, even if you don’t do more intense forms of yoga. That’s because yoga’s other benefits can help with weight loss too.
Yoga helps manage stress, and studies show that high levels of cortisol (皮质醇), a stress hormone, can lead to an increase in abdominal fat, Cortisol surges can also increase your cravings for high-fat and high sugar foods and drinks while simultaneously reducing your muscle mass. “Yoga has an impact on the body’s stress response and reduces the production of hormones linked to weight gain such as cortisol,” Erin Casperson says.
Several studies have confirmed that doing yoga does reduce cortisol levels. In one study, researchers found that practicing yoga seemed to impact the hypothalamus (下丘脑), reducing cortisol production. And a 2020 study found that doing meditative yoga reduced participants’ salivary cortisol levels.
【小题1】What can be inferred from paragraph 1?| A．Yoga doesn’t contribute to weight loss. |
| B．You might burn more calories by practicing yoga than running. |
| C．Yoga plays an important role in raising your heart rate and building muscles. |
| D．Cardio and strength training are known for helping to improve balance and flexibility. |
| A．the intense forms of yoga | B．the duration and intension of your exercise |
| C．the type of yoga mat you select | D．the type of aerobic exercise you choose |
| A．The reason why yoga can lose weight lies in its intense exercise. |
| B．We can combine other forms of sports to lose weight except for yoga. |
| C．We must do more intense forms of yoga in order to burn more calories. |
| D．Yoga can decrease the production of cortisol which is connected with weight gain. |
| A．A journalist who writes travel journals. | B．A student who likes playing sports. |
| C．A novelist who tries to lose weight. | D．A teacher who enjoys reading magazines. |
