Does Yoga Get Rid of Fat on Your Hips and Stomach?

If you've been peeking through the door of the yoga class at your gym but haven't quite mustered up the bravery to grab a spot on the floor, take the plunge and give this ancient practice a shot. Yoga is an effective way to build your muscles and create a feeling of calm and relaxation. Although yoga will help you burn calories to get rid of fat throughout your body, you can't target specific areas for fat loss.

Spot Reduction

• It's a weight-loss myth that any exercise can target and burn fat in a specific part of your body. This theory, called "spot reduction," leads many people to believe that if they work their abdominal muscles, for example, they'll burn the fat situated in this area. ExRx.net notes that losing fat in any given area requires you to lose overall fat throughout your body.

Aerobic Exercise

• Aerobic exercise is an effective way to burn calories to burn fat throughout your body. Whether you follow a home-based workout or have a gym membership, numerous aerobic activities are at your disposal. Such activities include walking, jogging, in-line skating, swimming, cycling, dancing, sports such as basketball and tennis, using an elliptical trainer and taking a step aerobics class.

Yoga

• Yoga will help you burn calories to reduce the amount of fat on your body, but this practice doesn't burn calories nearly as quickly as many other exercises. According to Harvard Medical School, a 155-pound person who takes an hour-long Hatha yoga class will burn just 298 calories. By way of comparison, someone of the same weight who rides a stationary bike at just a moderate pace will burn 520 calories in an hour.

Considerations

• If you're interested in trying yoga and want to burn away the fat around your hips and stomach, consider combining a yoga class with a more vigorous exercise. If your gym runs yoga classes, take a class and then work out for an hour on the treadmill, elliptical trainer or stationary bicycle. Depending on the type of yoga, you'll receive the strength-training and relaxation benefits of the practice and burn a few calories, and then increase the calories you burn through an additional exercise.