As someone who goes to the gym almost every day and really cares about my health and wellness, repetitively going to the gym to do the same routine can become boring. Occasionally I go to a spin class which most definitely makes your legs burn and has you break a sweat or yoga class that my school offers. I tried yoga class and it was amazing, but I still didn’t feel like I was getting that high intensity sweat and hard workout that I wanted.
Then I discovered a hot yoga and barre studio within walking distance from my university. I tried a class and fell in love!
There are many benefits to hot yoga. The consistent heat throughout the whole workout (80-100 degrees) loosens the muscles and gets your blood flowing. You release toxins through your sweat and build strength through the different poses you perform. Since you are using your body weight as a form of resistance holding the poses, it can target both upper and lower body strength which I prefer to a spin class which mostly targets all lower body.
The heat and prolonged time a person holds challenging poses can help burn more calories in hot yoga than traditional yoga. In 2020 a study comparing traditional yoga to hot yoga found that hot yoga can improve fat metabolism. It also benefits reducing anxiety, personally it helped tremendously with the muscle tension in my neck from overuse injury cheerleading in high school and college. You also work your heart muscles and lungs through breathing exercises and boosting your heart rate throughout the class.
Overall, hot yoga has been a great fun new way for me to decompress from all of life’s stresses and focus on myself all while getting a healthy beneficial workout in.
A little PSA: Most studios give you a freezing cold towel that smells like essential oils at the end of class and it is the perfect little reward after spending 45 minutes working hard! So, no hate to the gym and classes in the gym but hot yoga might just be my newfound love.