Body Fat Changes with Yoga

[cleo_parker]

Hi!

I have a question about recent changes in the body fat % shown on my Aria 2.  I'm going to start by saying I visited the Aria 2 forum and it seems there are many questions about the accuracy of the body fat calculations, but my scales (I had an Aria for years and just got an Aria 2 in December 2019) have been pretty consistent, around 38% the entire time I've had them.  This seems kind of high, but it was consistent even across devices, so I didn't really question it.  BUT - just recently, my body fat has started dropping consistently, it's down to about 32% now.   With the pandemic I've stopped going to the gym and was doing short cardio videos most mornings and walking my dogs once or twice a day

Just recently, I swapped the cardio videos for 20 minute yoga ones.   If anything, I would have thought cutting back on cardio would raise body fat if it affected it at all, but seeing a consistent decline with this conversion to yoga (I do still walk the dog if weather permits) seems odd - has anyone else had something like this happen?  

My weight has remained consistent, and to be honest, it is very difficult for me to lose weight - I work very hard not to gain weight and my weight fluctuates in a narrow range.  Of course, I'm hoping this decline in body fat will lead to a decline in body weight, but for now, I'm just curious if there's a reason that more yoga would lead to body fat changes.

Thanks!

[Phoenix14]

If you want a very good "manual" calculation, calculator.net/body-fat-calculator can provide numbers to double check against your devices.

[cleo_parker]

Thanks, I will check that out. It's the sudden change that is really puzzling. It seems to be stabilizing now around 29%, but that's almost a 10point drop in maybe 6weeks time.

[MSwat]

In my experience, yoga like other body weight exercises, is a great body toning workout. It has helped me break a weight plateau more than once (And that is when I anyway have a hard time losing weight!). I see visible changes whenever I stick with yoga or body weight workouts Vs. only cardio. However, if the change was too sudden, you may need to investigate a bit. 

[cleo_parker]

That is interesting, as I think I noted, my weight is extremely hard to change because I have worked so hard for so long to keep it in a narrow range, so I'm not expecting much weight change, but I was curious why yoga seemed to affect body fat while other exercise has not.  I enjoy the yoga more, and I can do it every day whereas the cardio/strength I would have to take a break every few days because I'd get sore.  Has been surprisingly good for my knees, I think moving through all the range of motion is better for them than the more focused exercises I had been doing to strengthen around them.