How Many Men Do Yoga? What the Numbers Mean for New Teachers

How many men do yoga? In the United States, 10.3% of men practised yoga in 2022, against 23.3% of women, according to CDC's National Center for Health Statistics. Men are still the minority in most classes, but a growing one, and that gap is a real opening for new male teachers.

We teach in that room every week, so the question of how many men do yoga is not abstract for us. If you are thinking about becoming a teacher, the numbers tell you who is likely to walk through your door. They also show where the data runs out, which matters just as much.

Mr. Ian Terry (E-RYT 500) and the YogaFX teaching team wrote this guide from the front of the class. It sets out the three main sources, a comparison table, the limits of each survey, and what the figures mean if you want to teach.

How Many Men Do Yoga? The Short Answer

The cleanest figure comes from the National Health Interview Survey, a household survey run by the US government. In 2022, the age-adjusted share of adults who practised yoga in the previous 12 months was 16.9%. Women (23.3%) were more than twice as likely as men (10.3%) to practise, as the CDC's National Center for Health Statistics reports in its Data Brief 501.

So how many men do yoga in a typical year? The percentage of men who do yoga is roughly one in ten, and that is the figure behind most men in yoga statistics online. It also means that most men in any room are guests in a space that women outnumber them in. For a new teacher, that is useful to know before the first class.

Two details are easy to miss. First, the survey asked whether people practised yoga "as part of a class or on your own". So the figure includes home practice, not just studio visits. Second, one session in twelve months counts. That makes 10.3% a measure of reach, not of regular habit.

• Men: 10.3% practised yoga in the past 12 months (CDC, 2022).
• Women: 23.3% practised in the same period.
• All adults: 16.9%, age-adjusted.
• By age (all adults): 21.3% of ages 18 to 44, 14.1% of ages 45 to 64, and 8.0% of those 65 and older.

The age figures are for adults of both sexes, so they do not show how many men of each age practise. We flag that now because they are easy to misquote as male-only numbers. They are not.

Three Sources, Three Different Questions

Most articles on how many men do yoga mix up surveys that measured different things. Before you quote a figure to a student or a studio owner, check what it counted. The table below lines up the three sources we trust and shows how they differ.

Notice the gap between 72% and 70% for women. The Yoga Alliance's summary of the 2016 Yoga in America study gives 72%, while Harvard Health's write-up of the same survey says 70%. Both describe the same survey, so we treat the split as roughly 70 to 72 percent women and 28 to 30 percent men. The difference is rounding, not a different finding.

Share versus rate: a worked example

Here is the mistake we see most. The 2016 Yoga in America study says men were 28% of practitioners. That does not mean 28% of men do yoga. The study counted 36.7 million US practitioners, up from 20.4 million four years earlier. Our own arithmetic puts 28% of 36.7 million at about 10.3 million men, which matches the roughly 10 million Harvard Health reports.

The CDC figure answers a different question. It asks what share of all men practise, and the answer is about one in ten. So the two numbers agree. One counts men among practitioners, and the other counts practitioners among men.

How Many Men Do Yoga? The Numbers at a Glance

If you only remember one graphic on how many men do yoga, make it this one. It puts the main figures in one place. Every number comes from the three sources above, and the caption names each one.

The last card is worth a second look. Interest in trying yoga is much wider than actual practice. That is the gap a teacher can work in, because it suggests many people are curious before they ever walk into a studio.

What the Data on How Many Men Do Yoga Cannot Tell You

Good teachers know the edges of their evidence. These surveys are useful, but none of them answers every question a new teacher has. Here is what the data leaves out.

• Hot yoga specifically. The CDC question covers all yoga. No figure here says how many men attend heated classes.
• Frequency. A man who tried one class and a man who practises four times a week both count once.
• Method. The summary pages for the 2016 study do not give the sample size or sampling method. Treat its percentages as estimates.
• Other countries. Every figure above is for the United States. A class in Bali, London or Sydney may look quite different.
• Age by sex. The CDC brief shows age groups for all adults, not for men alone.

We also publish a longer report on men in the hot room that adds data from the training side. It is a separate analysis with its own limits, so read the two together rather than treating either as final.

The honest summary of how many men do yoga is simple. About one man in ten does yoga in a given year in the US, men are roughly 28% of practitioners, and the male group has grown. Anything more precise needs a better survey than the ones we have.

Why the Gap Exists and Why It Matters to Teachers

If interest is wide but practice is lower among men, something sits in between. Harvard Health's write-up of the same survey offers one clue: people often see yoga as exclusive, "designed primarily for young women or for those who are already flexible, athletic, or spiritual." That is a perception problem, not a physical one.

We read the numbers this way. A man who thinks he is too stiff will not book a class to find out. A man who has never seen another man in a studio photo will wonder if the room is for him. So the first job of a teacher is to make the door look open.

• Show real men in your images. Photos of mixed classes tell a new student that he will not be alone.
• Say it out loud. A line such as "stiff hamstrings are normal here" removes the flexibility barrier before it starts.
• Cue the effort. Clear, physical language, such as pressing the heel down or locking the knee, often lands better than abstract cues.
• Keep ego out of the room. Remind everyone that depth is not the goal, because comparison is what makes some students quit.

None of this means men need a different class. The same Hot 26&2 sequence suits everyone. What changes is how you talk about it, who you picture in the room, and how you welcome the man who arrives late and nervous.

If you want more on that, our teacher's guide to hot yoga for men covers what we see in male students, and men only hot yoga looks at whether a separate class is worth running.

What the Numbers on How Many Men Do Yoga Mean for New Teachers

Now to the question behind the question. Why would a trainee care how many men do yoga at all? Because the figures describe your future classroom and your future income.

1. Demand is real, and it is growing

The count of American men doing yoga grew from about 4 million to about 10 million in the four years to 2016, and one in ten men practised in 2022. That is a large pool, yet most of those men are not in a class this week. As a result, a teacher who welcomes them well has room to build a following.

2. Your classes will be mixed, so teach for the whole room

With women at roughly 70 to 72 percent of practitioners in the 2016 study, most rooms will lean female. But the men in them will be there for different reasons, from sport recovery to stress. Teach to the person, not the category. The same goes for male yoga teachers, who still make up a minority of the people leading classes.

3. Be careful what you promise

Hot yoga is hard exercise. A 2014 University of Wisconsin study led by Porcari measured a 90-minute hot class at around 80 percent of maximum heart rate, with an average of about 460 calories for men. A 2013 study by Tracy and Hart reported about a 20 percent gain in strength of the back of the body, along with flexibility gains, in people who practised in a heated room.

Research suggests these are real effects. But the studies are small, and they do not guarantee results for any one man. Please tell students to consult a healthcare professional before starting a heated practice, especially if they have a heart condition, high blood pressure or a long break from exercise.

4. The career case needs honest numbers too

A larger male audience does not turn into a salary on its own. Income depends on how many classes you teach, where, and for whom. Our realistic yoga teacher salary breakdown shows what teachers actually earn, so you can plan before you commit to a training.

Use the numbers on how many men do yoga to decide who you want to serve. Do not use them as a promise of full classes.

How to Check Any Claim About How Many Men Do Yoga

You will meet other figures online. Some are accurate, and some are repeated so often that nobody checks them. Before you quote a number to a student, a studio owner or your own social feed, run it through five quick checks.

• Find the original. A figure on a blog should link to a survey, a government brief or a named study. If it links only to another blog, keep looking.
• Read the question. "Practised in the past 12 months" and "practises weekly" are very different measures.
• Check the denominator. Is the percent out of all men, or out of all practitioners? This is the share-versus-rate mistake from earlier.
• Check the country and the year. A 2016 US figure says little about a 2026 studio in another country.
• Watch the age line. Age numbers for all adults are not numbers for men.

A teacher who can explain these checks earns trust fast. It is the same habit we ask of trainees when they learn a script or cite a study: say what you know, say how you know it, and say what you do not know.

So when someone asks you how many men do yoga, you can answer in one breath: about one in ten in the US, around 28 percent of practitioners, and growing. Then you can add the limits. That answer is short, sourced and honest, and it is the kind that holds up when a curious student looks it up later.

Turning the Numbers Into a Teaching Plan

Data is only useful if it changes what you do on Monday. Here is how a new teacher can use the figures above without overreaching.

• Week one: Look at your own class list. Count the men, then count how many came back for a second class. That small local number tells you more than a national survey.
• Week two: Ask new male students one question at the door: what made you hesitate? Write down the answers, because they are your best content ideas.
• Week three: Change one thing, such as a welcome line, a photo or a cue, and see if the second-visit count moves.
• Week four: Share what you learned with your teaching group, so everyone benefits.

This is the loop we encourage in our training. It treats the national figures as a starting map, and your own room as the place where you check it. Because every class is a small experiment, you do not need a perfect survey to get better.

What Trainees Say About Learning to Teach

These are not reviews from a men-only survey, so we do not claim they speak for men. They come from trainees of all backgrounds, and they show what the learning feels like from the inside. The quotes are word for word from our review store.

"I wasn't sure if I wanted to teach before and now I'm just positive that I do."

Amanda, YouTube review, 2019

"It's an actual transformation."

A trainee in our YouTube review, 2023 (a graduate who had completed several other yoga teacher trainings first)

"I'm thanking you for your motivation, inspiration, your kindness, your love, your heart, everything."

Rani, YouTube review, 2023

You can watch Amanda's full video review below. She talks about gaining the confidence to stand in front of a room, which is the barrier many new male and female trainees describe.

Where YogaFX Training Fits

YogaFX was founded in 2017. More than 1,500 students from over 80 countries have graduated from our training. Mr. Ian Terry has over 12,000 teaching hours and trained for five years, from 2014 to 2019, with the founder of the Bikram Hot 26&2 method.

Our six-day hybrid training combines online study with an intensive in Bali. It leads to a Yoga Alliance RYT 200-Hour credential and a Bikram Hot 26&2 200-Hour International Yoga Certification. The next batch checks in on Sunday 24 January 2027 and ends on Friday 29 January 2027.

If you want to test your own practice first, our free Bikram Yoga Pose Personalizer matches postures to your fitness and any sore areas. When you are ready to look at the training itself, read our guide to hot yoga teacher training in Bali.

FAQ: How Many Men Do Yoga?

How many men do yoga in the US?

About 10.3% of American men practised yoga in 2022, according to the CDC's National Health Interview Survey. Women were more than twice as likely, at 23.3%. The figure covers any yoga in the past 12 months, including home practice, so it measures reach rather than regular weekly habit.

What percentage of men do yoga?

In the United States, 10.3% of men practised yoga in 2022. The 2016 Yoga in America study found a different thing: men made up 28% of all practitioners. Those two numbers agree, because one is a share of men and the other is a share of practitioners.

Do many men do yoga?

Not as many as women, but the number is large and was growing. Harvard Health reported American men doing yoga rising from about 4 million to about 10 million between the 2016 survey and its predecessor four years earlier. Most classes still lean female, so men are a sizeable minority.

Who does more yoga, men or women?

Women do. The CDC found 23.3% of women and 10.3% of men practised in 2022, and the 2016 study put women at roughly 70 to 72 percent of practitioners. Men are the smaller group, yet they have been the faster-growing one in the data we reviewed.

Is hot yoga popular with men?

No survey we found separates hot yoga by sex, so we cannot give a number. Research suggests a hot class is demanding exercise, with one study measuring about 460 calories for men in 90 minutes. Check with a doctor first, and tell your teacher about any injury.

Still have questions? Ask Mr. Ian and the YogaFX team on WhatsApp and we will reply to your question personally.