Craving a reprieve from your slow flow yoga routine? While it’s hard to compete with a classic Vinyasa class, hot yoga allows us to dial up the intensity of our normal practice. Challenge your body and your mind as you crank the heat and break out your Yoga Design Lab mat for a sweat-filled hot yoga session. While all yoga offers us an opportunity to merge movement, breath, and mindfulness, hot yoga brings a wealth of physical and mental benefits to the experience. From increased cardiovascular health to a glowing complexion, hot yoga's well-being aspects are plentiful.
Ready to turn up the heat? Pull on your favorite sweat-wicking yoga crop top and prepare to perspire as we outline all of the advantages of hot yoga.
What is Hot Yoga?
Wondering just what exactly is hot yoga? Hot yoga and Bikram yoga are often used interchangeably. However, they are not the same thing. Bikram Yoga was created by a yogi named Bikram Choudhury in the 1970s in Japan when he noticed that increased heat challenged his student’s yoga practice. This specific style of class must be done in a room or studio heated to 105°F with 40 percent humidity. A typical Bikram class consists of 26 poses and two breathing exercises that are done in the same order every time. Due to allegations made against founder Choudhury, many studios and practitioners have chosen to distance themselves from the Bikram label. However, some studios still offer similar 90-minute classes featuring the same 26 poses, under a different name.
Hot yoga is exactly what it sounds like - your normal yoga practice, just gently heated! Depending on your studio, the room temperature can range from anywhere between 80 and 100°F. These classes will contain a variety of poses in any order and often will be set to music.
Is Hot Yoga Good for Weight Loss?
Many yogis are enticed to try hot yoga by the promise of torching calories. But does hot yoga help you lose weight? Since hot yoga environments are much hotter than traditional yoga studio settings your heart rate will be increased, which leads to more calories being burned throughout your session. Over time, both hot and Bikram yoga can lead to faster weight loss. A study from Colorado State University found that women could burn up to 330 calories during a typical 90-minute Bikram class.
Is Hot Yoga Actually Beneficial?
Still curious about what is the advantage of hot yoga? Even if weight loss isn’t your goal, hot yoga can offer a plethora of advantages:
Benefits of Hot Yoga
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Increased Flexibility - hot yoga can allow for a greater range of motion and improve flexibility over time. In hotter environments, your blood vessels expand allowing for greater circulation and easier movement.
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Burns Calories - due to sweltering temperatures hot yoga classes will boost your heart rate, aiding your body in torching those calories.
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Improved Skin Complexion - hello post-yoga glow! One of the most welcome benefits of hot yoga for skin is a dewy complexion. Thanks to all that sweat and increased circulation, more nutrients and oxygen are brought to your skin’s surface.
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Increases Bone Density - supporting your body weight during long poses can increase muscle strength and bone density, especially in older adults and pre-menopausal women. A small study of women who participated in Bikram classes was shown to experience increased bone density over five years.
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Reduces Stress - the mental benefits of hot yoga are many! From reduced stress to an enhanced mood, many hot yoga participants report feeling better after a weekly sweat sesh. The higher temperatures may also aid in decreasing our cortisol (stress hormone).
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Boosts Cardiovascular Health - some studies have shown that a hot yoga session can afford you the same cardiovascular benefits as a brisk walk. Engaging in physical activity in hotter temperatures is also believed to improve vascular function and blood flow.
Best Props for Hot Yoga
Before you book your next class, heed our top hot yoga advice: come prepared! There is nothing worse than showing up for your favorite Bikram or Hot class sans a yoga towel or water bottle. Due to the sweltering temperatures required for a hot yoga class, it’s also equally important to hydrate before, during, and after your class. Stick to water and other drinks high in electrolytes such as coconut water. We also suggest dressing in quick-drying layers, as it's not much fun to attempt bridge posture while wearing a soaking wet cotton T-shirt.
Check out Yoga Design Lab’s Hot Yoga props and essentials below:
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Yoga Hand Towel - for extra sweat security we love packing along this travel-sized microfiber hand towel to mop our brows or hands for extra stability during Bikram downward dogs.
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Combo Yoga Mat - this combo yoga mat and towel is our go-to pick for any Hot Yoga practice. Its unparalleled absorbency and grip allow you to maintain traction no matter how much you perspire during your heated flow!
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Water Bottle - hydration is the magic word in hot yoga! Keep your body happy with plenty of H20 when with your stunning stainless steel water bottle. Thanks to double-walled insulation your beverage of choice will stay chilled for hours.
Feel prepared to embrace the sweat? Leave a comment below and let us know if you’ve tried Hot Yoga!
A New York native, Isis-Maya spent most of her professional life working in TV production until a vacation whisked her away to Central America and her love of travel and yoga was born. Three months of sun salutations and surfing through Nicaragua and Costa Rica quickly turned into over two years. She fell in love, both with yoga and the beach lifestyle. Today she works as a wellness and lifestyle writer for various publications and resides in Mexico City. When she isn't working on yoga or fitness based blog posts you can find her at her local yoga studio or planning her next retreat.