Theres a place in my town that specializes in Hot Yoga or Bikram Yoga, I'm tempted to try out a few classes. I've heard things that the sessions can be pretty brutal as the room is heated to over 100 degrees F. My main motivation for looking into Yoga is to improve flexibility. I've always been on the stiffer side and regular stretching seems to only go so far for me. Anyone else have any success stories with this? I heard the heat in Hot Yoga allows you to get deeper into the poses. Any advice is welcome!!
Yoga (depending on type/school) will help flexibility, but hot yoga DEFINITELY allows you to go deeper than normal. Bikram is good, but its always the same poses. (Little variety-nothing wrong with that though). (as opposed to a flow type class, which could be different each time)
I'm new to the whole yoga thing. (Did a basic class in college but that's all) when you say flow type, hot yoga etc, are there different types of yoga as there are different types of martial art styles?
Yes, there's lots of different styles...and like martial arts they're all the same but different There's also the same kind of arguments between the different styles. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Yoga_styles EDIT: I'd recommend ashtanga myself. Lot's of stretching and you develop a lot of strength (relatively speaking). It's kinda like doing body weight exercises but you move from one position to the next. [ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hu9Sq1RvuoA"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hu9Sq1RvuoA[/ame]
There are a few good things about hot yoga besides generally being the only male in a room with some smokin' hot babes . The heat does help you get deeper and relax more. It also increases the strain. It will increase your mental endurance because of that but also because you may find it a little harder to breathe whilst the air is so hot and your body is so hot. I'll bet if you do hot yoga for a month your endurance in sparring will improve. Come to think of it it might not be a bad idea to train or spar in one of those hot yoga rooms
Put on five layers of clothing, shut your bathroom door and turn your shower on to full heat and power. Stay in there for about twenty minutes and you start to get an idea what hot yoga is like. Even better if you have a sauna suit.
It's not all hot babes though. There's a ton of grannies whose flexibility and 'energy' will scare the hell out of you. This is a family forum so I'll keep my yoga stories to myself! Back on topic - Like the advice given to people new to MAs...It's maybe better to check out a few styles and see what suits you. Hatha is quite popular too. But I think it's a bit slower and bit more about the meditation/spirituality/relaxation side than ashtanga and Bikram. I'm not an expert at all, but that's the impression I get from looking at various styles. I'd avoid the classes in the McGyms though, unless the teacher is really qualified. Go to a proper centre, like the one you have found. As for 'success stories'...I did an ashtanga course, then went to a few classes. It really did help me get more flexible, improved my posture and helped me relax in a very short time. My back problems pretty much disappeared, which was cool. It was tough though, my flexibility is terrible and classes were pure torture.
One more thing! Certain types of yoga can aggravate knee issues compared to something like Pilates. Don't know if you have knee issues but if you do be careful and go very, very slowly.
Except for the five layers of clothing, and the shower, the twenty minutes part, the sauna suit, youve nailed it! Thats like saying "IF you want to do Judo, just put on white pajamas, and tape your wrists and finger joints, then throw yourself down the stairwell, ..but bow to the stairs when youre done"
I gave that as an exercise to get an idea of the heat and humidity of a Bikram class. The high temperature is a shock for a lot of beginners. I didn't say anywhere it was a substitute.
Our Bujinkan club rents from a a yoga centre, nothing like a bikram or ashtanga session then straight into a class, especaily for the bikram they seal the room and put the heating on full blast an hour before.
be careful when you do yoga. yes, any yoga will help you with flexibility and strength. i've never done hot yoga myself, but i already sweat a ton when i do regular yoga. lol. one thing to watch out for is the potential for injury. it's a little secret in the yoga community as to how many people get hurt doing the practice. some teachers introduce poses that may not be helpful to all members of the class and some teachers are better than others helping beginner students.. watch out for neck stands, hand stands and just general over-extension during poses, at least until you build up some strength and flexibility. don't hesitate to go into child pose if you don't think you can handle a pose. ask for aids if you're doing something that you seemingly can't handle (straps, blocks, rugs, etc.) good luck.
lol boris. before i say what i'm about to say, i just first want to mention that i'm very happily married and would never, ever do anything to harm my wife, kids or marriage. but i'm a heterosexual man, and i love going to yoga because of the babes. it's like 90/10 split women to men. wish i would've known about this when i was single. i don't stare or anything like that. not a pervert and i don't want to freak any of the women out. but come on, you're surrounded by women and sometimes their butts are like just sticking up in your face! i hope the women feel the same about me. i mean i'm not out of shape. other than the balding and the beard, i hope they appreciate an in shape 42-yr-old in their class. "hey, did you see the old guy coming to class? he's hot". <--in your dreams dude...
I wouldn't say it's much of a secret anymore, it's being discussed in the yoga community a lot. Yoga is quite popular these days and not just regarded as something 'hippies' do....and a lot of the problems are a result of the popularity and the unscrupulous 'gurus' that have jumped on the latest fitness bandwagon to make a quick buck who don't really know what they are doing. There is people in the community that think the 'true meaning' of yoga has been lost in a lot of clubs, instead of it being a way of self improvement / personal development people are competing with other students in the classes and this is adding to the rate of injuries. Anyway...This is all too serious...I think a lot of the people just felt sorry for me. I am sure they were mumbling: "That poor guy! What kind of horrific accident must he have been in to leave him in such a bad way!" I am that stiff. I was sweating buckets and had to keep taking breaks!
Hahaha. Funny enough, thats one of the reasons I tell my more "macho" friends who think yoga is just for women. I tell them its a hard workout, its good for you, and beautiful women do it, theres no reason NOT to try it. But in reality, once the sweat starts pouring, Its to hard to focus on anyone but yourself, the beautiful surroundings fade away, as you try to keep up, and not fall on your face.
absolutely right. when you're in the pose just trying to hold it for 5 seconds, there's not really opportunity to focus on anything but not falling on your face.
There are really nice and most informative post. I am agree with some guys here. Personally i realized that yoga is very good part for flexibility. I have already tried it and found it very effective.
