Celebrities across the country have adopted yoga to strengthen their bodies. A new form, Hot Yoga, helps celebrities like Kristin Cavallari stay in tiptop shape. Olympic athletes like freestyle skier Emily Cook also recommend hot yoga for injury prevention and increased flexibility.
Hot Yoga originated from a form of hatha yoga, which first began in Calcutta, India.
With two locations in Chapel Hill, Snap Fitness offers hot yoga every day of the week, sometimes twice a day.
Similar to regular yoga, hot yoga classes are 90-minute workouts at 105 degrees with 30 to 60 percent humidity. The humidity helps warm the muscles, allowing for a more-intense workout.
Typically, the first half of a hot yoga class is done standing, while the second half is done on a mat.
Overall, hot yoga helps reduce stress, trim unwanted body fat, improve muscle tone, develop good posture and stimulate and balance the endocrine system.
Hot yoga is even ideal for athletes. The added heat makes muscles more elastic, enabling the athlete to stretch deeper while more blood and oxygen travel to the muscles. Hot yoga also speeds up the breakdown of glucose and fatty acids and increases the heart rate.
For those who are sensitive to heat, Snap Fitness offers warm yoga classes with milder temperatures.
There are four different classes at Snap Fitness: Hot 26, Barkan, Hot Vinyasa and Sacred Music.
Hot 26, Barkan and Sacred Music feature 26 postures. Both Hot 26 and Barkan are designed for all levels.
Hot 26 postures are sequenced in a specific order to prepare the body to go deeper as the class progresses, while Barkan postures keep the body moving, decreasing tension and stimulating circulation.
For more of a challenge, Hot Vinyasa incorporates power yoga poses, with a focus on upper body strength.
Sacred Music is a silent Hot 26 class with only music and candlelight. The class is geared toward intermediate and advanced hot yoga goers who have completed at least 10 hot classes.
If you’re preparing to take a class, the instructors at Snap Fitness recommend bringing your own mat and towel, drinking plenty of water and coming to practice on an empty stomach. They recommend not eating a full meal within two hours before attending.
For more information on Snap Fitness, visit www.myyoganc.com.
Snap Fitness has two locations: one in Chapel Hill North off of Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard and one on Market Street in Suite 110.
Sources:
http://www.hotyogaatsunrise.com/
http://www.synergyhotyoga.com/yoga-for-athletes.html
Images:
http://snagwiremedia.com/delusciouslife/2008/03/31/yoga-hot.jpg
http://www.mindbodygreen.com/images/features/hot-yoga.jpg
http://www.zimbio.com/pictures/wqAFKs3798Z/Kristin+Cavallari+Leaving+Lululemon+Athletica/9bJ1eQsYy1h