Troy Hurst holds a Doctorate in Physical Therapy from Carroll University. He is a physical therapist specializing in both athletic and vestibular rehabilitation with an emphasis on performance running.
What is chair yoga? It’s a gentle form of yoga you can do while seated or standing and using a chair for balance. Seniors or people struggling with mobility primarily do this gentler yoga variation as it provides many of the same benefits as regular yoga but with more accessibility.
However, because this form of exercise is so gentle, many often wonder if this kind of exercise plan can help you shed those extra pounds.
So, can you lose weight doing chair yoga? Read on to learn more!
Do not let the term ‘gentle’ make you disregard this type of exercise. It’s important to remember that instructors derived these chair yoga positions from traditional yoga positions.
They modified the movements into alternatives to make them more accessible for older adults and persons with disabilities and mobility limitations.
Modification does not necessarily change how effective a workout is, it just makes it more accessible.
Research on the effects of traditional yoga show that engaging in this practice has benefits on both your mental and physical health. A qualitative study published in 2023 showed that people who engaged in this practice reported positive experiences in terms of:
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Regardless of age, working out can be daunting.
Yoga, specifically, can seem very scary since most of what we see on social media are poses that require a level of flexibility and strength that many people do not have, especially as beginners.
Since yogi instructors have adapted chair yoga, this practice is better suited for older adults who may not be strong enough to engage in strenuous exercise.
This adaptability isn’t just beneficial to seniors alone. According to the Journal of Medical Evidence, medical professionals (i.e., doctors, nurses, and health care providers) should use chair yoga (2).
They stated that since you can do it anywhere without any specialized equipment and it has the same benefits as traditional yoga, professionals in this field can use it to help relieve work stress and add some physical activity to their lives to prevent leading a sedentary lifestyle (2).
As we age, many of us will experience declines in our balance. Experts say that we start slowly losing our balance at around the age of 50 (3) and once we hit 75 years, the loss can become more rapid (4).
Falling over due to a lack of balance can lead to both fatal and non-fatal injuries which greatly affects the quality of senior living. It also reduces self-efficacy, forcing older persons to lead more sedentary lives due to avoiding activities that may lead to falling (5).
An older study published in the International Journal of Yoga found that when older adults were encouraged to participate in yoga, their anxiety and fear of falling greatly reduced to a point where they were less reliant on their mobility devices and some even eliminated these assistive devices altogether.
The researchers then concluded that chair yoga was a safe and practical tool that could help improve balance in older adults, which consequently reduces their anxiety and fear of falling (5).
Read more: Top 10 Balance Exercises for Seniors at Home
There is research suggesting that of all the mental illness problems that affect the older population, stress is the biggest culprit.
Studies show that several factors ranging from familial relationships, financial status, social or community environment, physical health, and chronic illness all cause severe stress in seniors (6).
According to the American Psychological Association, stress, when left unchecked, affects all areas of your body, including:
Research also shows that unchecked elevated stress levels can also contribute to the obesity crisis through the increase of cortisol secretion and through the interference of cognitive processes like self-regulation which controls what you eat and how much of it you consume (8).
Thankfully, chair yoga can help reduce stress levels in all persons, including seniors.
An older study published in the Evidence-Based Complementary and Alternative Medicine journal showed that doing just 15 minutes of chair yoga in the office can help improve physiological and psychological markers of stress in the office workers (9).
A more recent study done on nursing professionals found that the group that was assigned 20 minutes of chair yoga, 5 days a week for two months recorded reduced levels of stress and improved sleep quality (10).
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Experiencing a decline in physical efficiency and body composition is something that happens naturally with age.
The older we get the more we lose muscular strength and peak power output, which appears to be related to the loss of muscle mass caused both by the aging process as well as neuromuscular changes.
These bodily changes cause issues with balance and loss of lower-extremity muscle strength (11), affecting your functional fitness and quality of life.
One study published in 2023 saw that engaging in a 12 week chair yoga exercise program can help improve functional fitness in older female adults with knee osteoarthritis, which then enabled them to increase their daily life activities (12).
To put it simply, this low-impact exercise can help with reducing pain and tenderness from knee osteoarthritis which then leads to physical function and range of motion.
Less pain equals better use of lower limbs, better self-confidence, and life enjoyment (12).
Yes, you can. Although no form of exercise can spot-reduce fat in a specific area, chair yoga can contribute to an overall weight loss strategy, which includes a reduction in belly fat.
Belly fat is one of the main reasons why many people start working out. If you are thinking about using chair yoga exercises for weight loss in order to reduce abdominal fat, you may experience positive results for the following reasons:
Chair yoga may be a gentle low-impact workout, but it’s still a form of exercise like any other and engaging in a workout routine will burn calories which may lead to fat loss if combined with a healthy diet and other positive lifestyle factors.
According to Harvard Health, 30 minutes of Hatha yoga can help you burn anywhere between 120 to 168 calories depending on how much you weigh.
Tai Chi, another low impact workout often recommended to seniors, also burns the same number of calories in just 30 minutes (13).
Studies on the effect of yoga on belly fat also show that this exercise can help you get rid of excess fat in this area and reduce your waist-hip circumference.
In a study published in 2016, researchers found that engaging in a 12-week yoga intervention program helps women significantly reduce their abdominal circumference.
Aside from this, the group of women who engaged in this program also saw positive changes in:
A more recent study looking at the effects of yoga in women with abdominal obesity agreed with the findings above that such a routine can help participants reduce their BMI.
The researchers also stated that practicing yoga increases physical activity (calorie burn) and encourages better eating, a lifestyle change that reduces waist circumference (15).
Read more: Best Diet for Women Over 60: Embrace Health, Vitality, and Your Best Self
As explained in the benefits section, elevated stress levels may cause fat and weight gain due to increased cortisol secretion in the body as well as impaired self regulation.
When participating in chair yoga for weight loss for seniors, they reduce their stress levels, along with anyone who wants to try deep breathing and stretching.
You shouldn’t concentrate on chair yoga belly fat workouts to lose the tummy.
Spot reduction is a myth and thus working out one part of the body will not give you the desired results.
The answer depends on what your personal definition of “in shape” is, as well as how you’ve structure your chair yoga program.
Although most people do not perform chair yoga at a high enough intensity to significantly improve endurance and strength, you can design your plan to provide progressive overload and adequate volume in both domains.
On the other hand, perhaps being “in shape” does not involve improved strength and endurance for some, and is more focused on flexibility, energy levels, and mental health.
If so, low-intensity chair yoga can get you where you want to be.
For those whose primary goal is weight loss, chair yoga (and any other form of exercise) cannot undo a bad diet.
You will not lose weight if you consume more calories than you burn. Although research has shown that yoga can help reduce BMI and fat loss, exercise alone does not guarantee weight loss.
One study published in 2015 showed that weight loss protocols combining diet and exercise were more effective than those that employed just a hypocaloric diet or exercise alone (16).
A more recent study published in the Journal of Obesity & Metabolic Syndrome stated that an energy deficit is the most important factor in weight loss (17).
Regarding weight loss, your exercise routine will only be effective if you eat on a calorie deficit.
This is to say that while chair yoga can be a good strategy to help older adults lose weight, the progress may be slow or even impossible if their diet is not checked.
You can add resistance bands to continue growing your glute muscles as you practice.
Check out our article here to learn how to do each chair yoga glute exercise (18).
The amount of calories burned during a workout session depends on individual factors such as:
So, it is hard to give one umbrella answer to this question.
However, Harvard Health states that 30 minutes of chair yoga can help you burn between 100 and 200 calories in 30 minutes, depending on how much you weigh (19).
The optimal frequency of your chair yoga practice depends on your goals.
If you are using chair yoga as your primary form of exercise and you are otherwise generally sedentary, consider incorporating it into your routine at least 5 days per week for at least 30 minutes each session.
Since it is typically a very gentle exercise, you can do it daily without any issues. As always, it’s important to listen to your body and take rest days as needed.
For those who are active in other ways, such as those with active jobs or hobbies, or those who exercise regularly with other forms of higher intensity training, chair yoga can be used as a supplemental form of exercise at a frequency that works best in your schedule (use it as “active rest”).
Yes, it does. It might be on the gentler side of workouts but it still counts as exercise especially if the person engaging in the workout is a person who generally leads a sedentary lifestyle. As stated above, doing this exercise everyday will likely not cause any adverse effects. However, it’s crucial that you pay attention to what your body is telling you. If you are feeling constant aches and pains as a result of chair yoga, it’s important to take more rest days or modify your chair yoga sessions. Yes, it can. Research shows that selected yoga poses like Ardha Phalakasana, Warrior Pose, Chaturanga Dandasana, Purvottanasana, Setu Bandha Sarvangasana can help strengthen the core muscles (20, 21). Chair yoga exercises for weight loss are a component of reaching your goals. However, this practice can’t do the job alone. Chair yoga, like any other form of exercise, can help increase caloric expenditure, which plays a role in improving your chances at losing weight, but it can’t be done without a healthy, calorie deficit diet and other positive lifestyle factors.Frequently Asked Questions
Does chair yoga count as exercise?
Is it okay to do chair yoga everyday?
Can chair yoga strengthen your core?
Can you really lose weight doing chair yoga?
You can. This type of workout can help you lose weight and it is especially useful for older adults and persons with disabilities and mobility limitations who may be unable to engage in more high impact workout routines.
Combining the workout routine with a healthy calorie deficit diet can help boost the effects of the exercise leading to better results.
However, because of how low impact it is, the results may take longer to appear and thus if you can, try and supplement this workout with other forms of exercise like resistance training, walking, or cardio exercises.
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