grrlAthlete

I've recently been reviewing information about the idea behind hot yoga.

I personally think this is just a marketing tool. Make people sweat and make them feel like they have worked harder than they really have.

I also find it difficult to discuss this topic with hot yoga advocates as they believe in strange ideas like sweating out 'toxins' When I ask what these toxins are I get a blank stare.

Sweating is meant to cool our bodies off. It's not meant for 'detox' whatever that means.

Anyway, I have some major issues with the idea of working out in a heated environment. This is not a recommended practice by any exercise physiologist I have ever met or any exercise physiology research I have ever read.

In fact working out in hot environment just presents the risk of heat stroke and severe dehydration.

I am continuing my research into all of this to give you all more information about this whole "hot exercising" trend.

John

I personally have done hot yoga for years off and on. Usually in the winter, LOL.

I don't really agree with the claims that it "detoxes" the body or whatever.

The way it was explained to be by my teachers is that working out in a hot/warm room is beneficial to helping your muscles relax and allows to go deeper into your poses with less chance of injury and in turn increasing your practice.

The hot yoga I practice is only done in the 80-90 degrees F and NOT the 105+ that Bikram(trademarked name) yoga recommends. I did a Bikram class twice and felt the heat to be detrimental rather than helpful

Now my opinion is just that, my opinion but I did find myself able to relax more in the warm (not hot) room and can no longer stand to do yoga in an air conditioned (freezing) gym

I also heard from one of my teachers that part of the heat is from tradition as india isn't known for it's cool temperatures.

Again, just my opinion and what I've been told from a couple of teachers. I never really heard about the toxin thing except during the Bikram class and agree a lot of his claims are a marketing gimmick. He claims to cure everything from gout, to cellulite, to diabetes in his hot rooms. I just found it helped me relax more is all.

Hi, thanks for the input.

I'm sure there is a temperature that feels better than not...an air conditioned room might not feel the best...and yoga is probably not a strenuous enough exercise to increase your core temperature itself so the idea of a warm room is introduced.

From a purely physiological standpoint it takes a good solid 15-20 mins of strenuous activity to warm up tendons and muscles where they will actually be more flexible/stretchable (if stretchable is actually a word! ha)

The mental side of things is completely different. If you felt that a warm (but not hot room) helped you relax, well then there is just no arguing that it helped for you.

The one thing that yoga seems to stress is the mind body connection. Although I believe that all exercise promotes a mind body link, yoga seems to be rooted in this at some level, which is great and we all could use a bit of this somewhat meditative focused time.

The Bikram stuff just seems to be so commercialized now, he seems to be doing a disservice for yoga, claiming it can fix all of our problems. A simple review of his claims compared to scientific research shows much of the suggested benefits are simply unsubstantiated (and in the case of sweating out toxins flately untrue and physiologically impossible)

I have reviewed much of the scientific literature on yoga and it does seem to have some benefit for relaxing and stress relief.

I would like to see more well done research to validate the effects of yoga.

John

OK John Barban...you are ridiculous. You claim Bikram yoga is phony and overrated. Have you ever taken Bikram yoga before? Yes you can't be a pussy to do it. It takes effort and your heart rate goes up and you sweat. Its called working out you Douchbag. I've been doing Bikram yoga everyday for 2 years and I feel immortal...bulletproof...mentally and physically. Go to yogacup.com and see for yourself what it can do. You are a meat head john sorry to say. I hate when people talk about things and give there input when the have never experienced it for themselves. Go take a class Johnny boy. dont be a pussy. 70 year old woman do it. Obviously it works. its huge. It feels amazing!! The only people that complain about it are the whiners and pussys. Grow a pair johnny boy...you do such a disservice to the yoga that I love so much and that i know works..i hope the public dont buy into your crap