What are the benefits of Hot Yoga? Myths Debunked!
Is hot yoga good for you? Hot yoga has many benefits for our body but there are a lot of claims around how this style of yoga works and what it’s benefits for us actually are. Join the Kali team as here we try to sort out the myths from facts to share how we feel hot yoga can benefit your body and mind.
Hot Yoga Improves Flexibility
Fact. Albeit temporarily!
One of the great benefits of hot yoga is that it can provide a (temporary) increase in flexibility compared to practicing in a normal temperature room. When we are hot and sweaty it causes our blood vessels to vasodilate. What this means is that our blood vessels are more open as vasodilation increases circulation and our temperature. When our muscles are warmed like this their elasticity and flexibility is improved making injury much less likely compared with when our muscles are cold and our blood vessels are vasoconstricted. What this means is that during our practice we may find it easier to move our muscles and we can hold deeper stretches for longer. People with long term pain conditions such as osteoarthritis may also find benefit from this.
2. Hot Yoga Makes You Lose Weight
Myth. If you are looking for a quick weight loss fix hot yoga isn’t it!
There is a lot of hype that goes into the benefits of hot yoga for weight loss and while it can certainly help (as with any exercise) there are many other lifestyle factors you should also consider if weight loss is your goal.
Hot dynamic yoga flows lead to an increase in heart rate and could lead to more calories being burned during class although the speed at which these calories are burned will vary from person to person depending on their individual metabolic rate and other physiological components such as diet and genes. A lot of the hype for weight loss and hot yoga actually comes from losing water weight. When we practice face-paced hot yoga flows we will sweat and lose a lot of our water as our body mechanics get in gear to regulate our temperature. However, once we rehydrate we will replenish this water loss.
3. Hot Yoga is a Workout
Depends on the style of class.
In dynamic hot yoga flows your heart rate will be elevated along with your temperature. In these faster flowing hot yoga classes the heat can add an extra challenge to postures that we tend to find easier in normal temperature rooms. This would include binds or arm balances like bakasana (crow pose) where you are relying on the limbs of the body connecting with one another – which is much harder to accomplish if you are slimy with sweat! Additionally the added challenge of heat means that our heart rate will be elevated beyond normal which means we need to focus and pay more attention to the breath during our practice.
On the other end of the spectrum if you practice hot restorative and yin you will experience much slower paced movements that will not have a cardiovascular increase in heart rate. These classes are designed to guide you into a state of relaxation rather than a workout.
4. Hot Yoga Helps to Detoxify the Body
Myth! Sweating can provide a physical release of water but doesn’t do much to get rid of toxins, we’ll leave that job to the liver, kidneys and digestive tract!
Some of us get embarrassed when we sweat but in our hot yoga classes we actively encourage it! The biggest myth around sweating is that it helps us detoxify the body. While there is perhaps a physical feeling of letting go, releasing all that water in our sweat, sadly scientifically it does nothing to remove your toxins.
That being said sweat isn’t without its benefits. In fact, sweating lots in a hot yoga class is a sign that your body is effectively responding to your needs in the hotter environment. Sweat is our body’s way of regulating our temperature. When the water in our sweat evaporates it cools the surface of our skin preventing us from suffering from heat exhaustion or heat stroke.
5. Good for your circulation and skin
Fact – hello dewy glow!
Another benefit of this lovely bodily sweat is that you’ll be left with that rosy glow after class. Practicing yoga in a hot room helps oxygenated blood circulate more throughout the body which helps give your skin cells a healthy glow from the inside out. However, if you have oily skin this may cause some aggravation so be sure to effectively cleanse to help mitigate any breakouts.
Hot Yoga at Kali
If you’re new to hot yoga, want to try it and aren’t really sure what to expect, we invite you to read our quick wins guide to help you prepare and bring what you need for your first hot yoga class. The Kali Collective hold space for three types of hot yoga classes in our Glasgow studio; hot yin and restorative, Kali flow, and hot vinyasa. All our hot yoga classes are held in our Destroyer studio space, check out the timetable to see when, and we look forward to seeing you on the mat!