How many men do yoga? About 10.3% of US men practised yoga in 2022, up from 8.6% in 2017, according to the CDC. Women remain well ahead at 23.3%. Inside one Bali hot yoga academy, men made up 19.2% of teacher training applicants between 2021 and 2025. Here is what those numbers mean.
This page was written by the YogaFX team, led by Mr. Ian Terry, E-RYT 500, who has more than 12,000 teaching hours. So, to answer how many men do yoga, we combine published national surveys with our own enrolment forms. We also say plainly where the numbers are weak, because that is what makes a statistic useful.
How Many Men Do Yoga? What the National Surveys Say
The best national answer comes from the US National Health Interview Survey. The CDC's National Center for Health Statistics runs it, and it asks adults whether they used yoga in the past 12 months. Two of its data briefs give us a clean before-and-after for men.
The US figures for 2017 and 2022
- 2017: 8.6% of men used yoga, against 19.8% of women (NCHS Data Brief 325).
- 2022: 10.3% of men used yoga, against 23.3% of women (NCHS Data Brief 501).
That is a rise of 1.7 percentage points in five years, or about a fifth in relative terms. It is real growth. However, it is also slow growth, because women's use of yoga rose over the same period too.
So the short answer to how many men do yoga is about one in ten. Women sit at more than two in ten. Both groups are moving up, so the gap has barely closed.
How many men do yoga regularly? Why one number never tells the whole story
A survey percentage depends on how the question is asked, so it needs care. "Past 12 months" counts a man who tried two classes in the same way as a man who practises five times a week. So the share of men who practise regularly is lower than 10.3%. We haven't found a clean national figure for that, and we wouldn't trust one that claims to be exact.
| Group | Year | Share who used yoga | What the number counts |
|---|---|---|---|
| US men (NHIS) | 2017 | 8.6% | Adults 18 and over who used yoga in the past 12 months, age-adjusted |
| US men (NHIS) | 2022 | 10.3% | The same question and the same adjustment, five years later |
| US women (NHIS) | 2017 | 19.8% | The comparison group in the same brief |
| US women (NHIS) | 2022 | 23.3% | The comparison group in the later brief |
| Men at YogaFX (internal) | 2021 to 2025 | 19.2% | Men as a share of teacher training applicants. This is not participation in the general population |
Notice the last row. It looks similar to the others, but it answers a different question. We return to it below. For wider context on the practice itself, see our guides on whether Bikram yoga is still popular and the current state of Bikram yoga.
How Many Men Do Yoga: The Numbers at a Glance
Why Men Are Still the Minority in the Room
Surveys count people, but they can't explain them. Whatever the exact answer to how many men do yoga, the reasons behind it are harder to measure. Teachers can only offer observations, so we label them that way. Here is what we see, and what our own forms support.
What our enrolment forms hint at
- Confidence. Only 41% of the men who apply rate their own fitness as good, against 55% of the women. A man who doubts his condition may stay away from a 90-minute class in a heated room.
- Image. Many men picture yoga as flexible, slow and aesthetic. A fixed sequence judged by effort rather than appearance can change that picture quickly.
- Habit. 83% of the men who apply already practise Hot 26&2. Once a man has tried one class, the barrier is mostly gone, because he knows what to expect.
That third point matters most. The gap is less about whether men like the practice. Instead, it is about whether they walk through the door the first time. That means the first class matters more than any statistic.
The men we actually meet
Among the men Mr. Ian teaches in Bali are business owners, army veterans, office workers and long-distance lorry drivers. Their jobs differ, but their pattern does not: long hours of sitting, driving or physical strain, high stress, and a wish to protect the body for later life.
Inside One Academy: What Our Enrolment Forms Show
To see how many men do yoga at the serious end of the practice, we counted. Everyone who applies to a YogaFX teacher training completes an enrolment form. Between 2019 and 2025 the male share of applicants moved in a step, not a slope.
How many men do yoga at YogaFX? The male share, year by year
| Year | Men | All applicants | Male share | If one more applicant had been a man |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2019 | 1 | 9 | 11% | 20% (+9 points) |
| 2021 | 1 | 14 | 7% | 13% (+6 points) |
| 2022 | 10 | 36 | 28% | 30% (+2 points) |
| 2023 | 12 | 52 | 23% | 25% (+1 point) |
| 2024 | 17 | 68 | 25% | 26% (+1 point) |
| 2025 | 4 | 30 | 13% | 16% (+3 points) |
The last column is the honest part. In 2019 and 2021 a single extra man would have moved the share by six to nine points. By 2022 the sample was large enough that one person moved it by only two. That is why we trust the step up in 2022 more than any single year's decimal.
How to read the 2025 dip
The share fell to 13% in 2025, from 25% the year before. With 30 applicants, four men is a small group, so the drop may be noise. It is still nearly double the 2021 level. As a result, we would call it a pause, not a reversal, and we will keep watching.
These figures describe one specialist academy teaching one sequence. They do not describe hot yoga practitioners everywhere. For the full reasons table and method notes, read our companion report on men in yoga and what the enrolment forms show.
The profile of a male applicant
- The median age is 44, and 68% are 40 or over.
- 83% already practise the Hot 26&2 sequence before they apply.
- 19% disclose a medical condition or medication, most often high blood pressure.
- Only 41% rate their own fitness as good.
This is not a twenty-something athlete trying a trend. It is a man in midlife who knows the heat, wants more of it, and wants to be taught well. Our guide to hot yoga for men covers what that first class feels like.
What the Research Says Men Get From the Hot Room
Knowing how many men do yoga is only half the question. The other half is what happens after they walk in. The research on Bikram-style practice is small, but it points in a consistent direction.
Strength, heart rate and calories
A 2013 study by Tracy and Hart followed healthy young adults through a Bikram yoga programme. They reported gains in strength, flexibility and body composition. The study was small and short, so treat it as a signal, not a promise.
Researchers at the University of Wisconsin, led by Porcari in 2014, measured the load of a single class. Men burned about 460 calories in 90 minutes, with heart rates near 80% of maximum. Women burned about 333. That means the class is an aerobic session, not a gentle stretch.
Mood and the mind
A 2023 randomised trial led by Nyer at Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School tested heated yoga for depression. After eight weeks, 59.3% of the yoga group had cut their symptoms by half or more, against 6.3% on a waiting list. That research suggests heated yoga may help some people with low mood.
Read next to our enrolment profile, the pattern fits. For example, a man of 44 who sits or drives for a living, rates his fitness as average and watches his blood pressure wants one scheduled hour and a half that covers strength, conditioning and mobility.
Health note: this is general information, not medical advice. Men with heart disease, high blood pressure or any other condition should speak to a healthcare professional before starting heated practice.
What Students Say About Their First Steps
Hesitation is the common thread behind the percentage of men who do yoga, and behind the women beside them. Two YogaFX students describe it in their own words, because they put it better than we can.
I wasn't sure if I could handle it. However the teachers, the participants all helped a lot.
Agnieszka, Google review, 2022
Ari, a graduate from Bali, said in his video review that he could not believe he now held a certificate, and that his father had come to support him (translated and shortened, YouTube review, 2019).
When I first spoke to Ian I knew it was the right program. I made the right choice.
Samantha, YouTube review, 2019 (shortened)
If You Are Weighing Up a Teacher Training
Now that you know how many men do yoga, and who they are, the next question is personal. If you're a man thinking about training, the person beside you is probably not who you imagine. Expect a room of mixed ages, many already practising, and a few men nervous about their fitness. You'll fit in.
Mr. Ian trained for five years, from 2014 to 2019, with the founder of the Bikram Hot 26&2 method. He has taught more than 12,000 hours and has more than 1,500 graduates from over 80 countries. You can read his background on our teacher page.
So how many men do yoga? About one in ten across the US, and roughly one in five at our academy. If you want to join them, here is the plan.
The next MasterClass runs from Sunday 24 January to Friday 29 January 2027 at Soham Wellness Center in Seminyak, Bali. It is a six-day hybrid course, with online study before the intensive. Graduates leave with a Yoga Alliance RYT 200-Hour certificate and a Bikram Hot 26&2 200-Hour International Yoga Certification. Dates and formats are set out in our guide to the six-day Bikram yoga teacher training.
What We Can and Cannot Say About Hot Yoga
National surveys don't separate heated practice from the rest of yoga. So nobody can say how many men do yoga in a hot room specifically. Any article that gives you that number is estimating. We would rather tell you what we know and what we don't.
| Question | What we can say | What we cannot say |
|---|---|---|
| Do more men practise yoga than before? | Yes. Men's use rose from 8.6% to 10.3% between 2017 and 2022 in the CDC data. | Whether the rise continued after 2022. |
| Is the male share of hot yoga rising? | At one academy, the share of male applicants stepped up in 2022 and held for three years. | That the same pattern holds across all hot yoga studios. |
| Who is the typical man in the room? | Among our applicants, a man of 44 who already practises. | That every studio sees the same profile. |
| Why do men come? | Our forms show more men than women want to improve their own postures. | A single cause for the trend. |
This kind of honesty is part of how we work. Because teachers earn trust through accuracy, we state the weak points before a reader finds them.
A Practical Guide for a Man's First Hot Class
If the numbers have convinced you to try a class, a few habits make the first one easier. They are general tips, not medical advice.
- Drink water through the day. Don't arrive thirsty, because the heat will find it out quickly.
- Eat light. A heavy meal in the two to three hours before class often feels uncomfortable in a heated room.
- Tell the teacher about any condition. That includes high blood pressure, since 19% of the men who apply to us disclose a condition or medication.
- Stay in the room. Resting on your mat is fine. Leaving early because you feel behind is the most common mistake.
- Bring a large towel and expect to sweat. It's normal, and nobody is watching.
Most first-timers report the same arc. The first class feels like survival. By the third or fourth, the room feels familiar, and the sequence becomes something you can measure. That is the appeal for many men: the same 26 postures and 2 breathing exercises every time, so progress is easy to see.
Related reading
- Yoga Gifts for Men: 8 Real Picks for a Hot 26&2 Regular
- Men Only Hot Yoga: 5 Honest Reasons Mixed Rooms Win
FAQ
What percentage of men do yoga?
About 10.3% of US men used yoga in the past 12 months in 2022, up from 8.6% in 2017, according to CDC National Health Interview Survey data. Women were at 23.3% in 2022. These figures count anyone who tried yoga once, not only regular practitioners.
How many men do yoga compared with women?
In the US, 10.3% of men used yoga in 2022 compared with 23.3% of women, so women use it at more than twice the male rate. Both rates rose between 2017 and 2022, which means the gap has stayed wide even as men's participation grows slowly.
Are more men taking up hot yoga?
Our own data says yes, with caveats. Men were 7% of YogaFX teacher training applicants in 2021 and 28% in 2022, then held near a quarter through 2024. The 2025 figure was 13%. These numbers come from one academy and a small sample.
How old is the average man who trains to teach hot yoga?
At our Bali teacher training, the median male applicant is 44, and 68% are 40 or over. Most already practise the Hot 26&2 sequence, with 83% reporting an existing practice. Midlife, not youth, defines the male applicant.
How often should men do hot yoga?
Most Bikram yoga trials used about three classes a week. YogaFX suggests building up gradually and resting when you need to. Men with heart disease or high blood pressure should see a healthcare professional first, because a 90-minute class in a heated room is a real load.
Still have questions? Message Mr. Ian and the YogaFX team on WhatsApp and we will answer them personally.