Can Yoga Get You in Shape? How Long It Really Takes to See Results

From building muscle to losing weight, the mind-body practice of yoga can help you get in shape. But the time it takes for that yoga-induced fitness to start showing depends on your starting point, your personal goals, and the details of your particular yoga practice.

What Does Yoga Do for Your Body?

“Yoga can be a great way to build strength, mobility, and general fitness,” says Paul Warloski, yoga instructor and head coach of Simple Endurance Coaching in Wisconsin.

However, some yoga styles are better for certain fitness benefits than others. More vigorous forms of yoga like ashtanga and vinyasa get you sweaty while challenging your strength, balance, and endurance. Meanwhile, slower-paced forms like yin and restorative yoga can be great for relaxing your muscles, reducing stress, and improving flexibility.

While individual responses vary, most yoga styles can also help reduce stress and support your mental and emotional well-being, according to a systematic review published in the International Journal of Yoga.

Yoga and Flexibility

Improved flexibility is one of the main benefits of practicing yoga. Many yoga poses stretch your muscles and improve your range of motion, increasing your flexibility over time, according to Cleveland Clinic.

Many practitioners feel more limber by the end of a single yoga session. However, it may take longer to notice lasting improvements in flexibility. “I'd say [it takes] about eight weeks,” says yoga instructor and certified personal trainer Stephanie Thomas.

While all types of yoga will improve flexibility, Thomas likes yin yoga in particular, because it encourages you to hold poses for extended periods of time. If flexibility is your goal, aim to do at least four yoga sessions a week, each lasting at least 20 minutes, she says.

Yoga and Strength

The current physical activity guidelines from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) recommend strength training twice a week for optimal health. While gentler, more restorative forms of yoga won't necessarily count toward that quota, more strenuous practices that emphasize strength-building poses can help support this goal.

“More advanced styles of yoga like power yoga and ashtanga work your muscles more than gentler styles,” says Thomas. Hatha yoga, while typically slower, may also help build strength, according to a study published in Scientific Reports in 2025.

Yoga poses primarily challenge your muscles by having you hold your body in a fixed position, creating what’s known as isometric contractions, according to Mayo Clinic. This type of exercise creates muscle tension without changing a muscle's length or visibly moving a joint.

“In my classes, I tend to hold the warrior and crescent lunge poses for 10 to 15 breaths precisely to build isometric strength,” says Warloski.

While isometric exercises won't help you improve speed or athletic performance, they can enhance joint stability. The greater your stability, the better your joints are able to stay in place during daily activities and exercise, preventing potential pain and injury.

Strength gains take time. “Like any program, yoga generally takes four to eight weeks to bring significant results if you're consistent with three days a week of practice,” says Warloski. “I have yoga clients tell me they feel looser within a few classes, but to really see strength benefits, you need some time.”

Great strength-building yoga poses include plank, chaturanga (yoga push-up), navasana (boat pose), utkatasana (chair pose), utthita parsvakonasana (extended side angle), and any of the three warrior poses, says Meggan Berg, a certified personal trainer and yoga instructor at Life Time in Virginia.

You may notice that challenging yoga poses start to feel easier within a few weeks. But according to Len Kravitz, PhD, CSCS,, an exercise science professor at the University of New Mexico in Albuquerque, short-term adaptations in strength within the first few weeks are actually a result of neural adaptations in your body, meaning your body is learning to work smarter as you push harder. Dr. Kravitz explains that it usually takes about 16 workouts for real strength adaptations to kick in.

Yoga and Cardiovascular Health

Getting in shape can also mean improving your cardiovascular health. HHS recommends getting a minimum of 150 minutes of moderate aerobic activity or 75 minutes of vigorous aerobic activity per week. More intense forms of yoga like vinyasa can count toward the time quota for moderate aerobic activity.

There’s limited evidence that higher-intensity cardio yoga interval training can improve cardiorespiratory fitness in as little as four weeks, but the time it will take for you to see results depends on your body, the specific type of yoga you choose, and how often and intensely you move your body.

As with strength training, if you prefer gentler, restorative forms of yoga, they can still contribute to good health, but you should supplement your yoga practice with other types of aerobic exercise to make sure you meet the HHS guidelines. Walking, swimming, and cycling can all help you improve your cardiorespiratory fitness when you're not in the yoga studio, according to Johns Hopkins Medicine.

Yoga and Weight Loss

For those focused on losing weight with help from a yoga practice, it’s important to know that calorie burn varies dramatically from person to person and across the various styles of yoga, depending on their intensities.

It’s estimated that a person generally burns between 240 and 336 calories during an hour of hatha yoga, depending on their body weight, according to Harvard Health Publishing. More intense yoga styles that elevate your heart rate like ashtanga, vinyasa, and power yoga may burn more.

While creating a calorie deficit by burning more calories than you consume is central to weight loss success, practicing yoga can help encourage other lifestyle changes that support the process as well. For instance, maintaining a consistent yoga practice is associated with healthier, intuitive eating behaviors and a better ability to cope with stress, both of which can support long-term weight loss and maintenance goals, as well as contribute to a better overall quality of life.

Aiming to lose weight with yoga alone will take longer than if you incorporate cardiovascular training and weight lifting into your weekly routine, says Thomas. These modalities tend to burn more calories overall, according to Harvard Health Publishing, and may offer the variety you need to keep your exercise routine feeling fresh and interesting. With that said, healthy, sustainable weight loss is slow and steady, pacing around 1 to 2 pounds per week, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.