Hey there viewers! Yoga has been practiced for generations as a source of spiritual development.
But these days, we tend to use it more as a form of exercise. The focus is centered around
the postures involved. As an exercise, yoga is known for helping sculpt long, lean muscles,
increase flexibility and better your mental and physical health. But there are a few different
forms under the general yoga umbrella, with one of the most popular ones being - hot yoga.
This style was developed from traditional Asanas by Bikram Choudhury in the early 1970’s. His fixed
regimen consisted of 24 yoga poses and 2 breathing exercises. The Asanas and breathing exercises
are performed in a room heated to 105 degrees Fahrenheit. The relative humidity of the room
is maintained at 40%. Doing so can deliver a lot of health benefits for your body. And in today’s
video, we will tell you what they are. From increased bone density, better breathing, improved
flexibility, stronger body to nicer skin and more, watch till the end to learn about all of them.
Improves Flexibility: It’s thanks to the heated room, that hot yoga can provide
more calorie burning and flexibility than standard yoga at room temperature.
A study found that a 90 minute hot yoga session produced moderate metabolic responses,
robust heart rate responses, and a substantially elevated core temperature.
Increasing one’s body temperature also increases metabolism.
The warmer room makes it easier for your muscles to stretch. The steamy
temperature allows you to increase the range of motion and stretch deeper within each pose,
since heat makes muscles more pliable. Unlike stretching it out in a standard cool yoga studio,
the heat will have you feeling like a pro and extending further than you thought you
could. As far as flexibility goes, the term warm up before a workout helps explain it. When your
muscles get heated, they stretch more easily and you are less likely to experience injury.
Do you stretch and warm up before exercising? Have you ever been injured because you didn’t warm up?
Tell us quickly down below in the comments section!
Builds bone density: Supporting your weight during a yoga pose can help build bone density.
This is especially important for older adults and premenopausal women,
as bone density declines as you age.
A study of women who participated in hot yoga over a 5-year period found that premenopausal women
had increased bone density in their neck, hips, and lower back. This leads researchers to believe
that hot yoga may be an effective option for reducing the risk of osteoporosis in women.
Helps You Lose Weight: Thanks to being really hot and physically intense, hot yoga can help
you burn a whole lot of calories. A single 90-minute session burns up to 1000 calories,
which is just as good as any cardiovascular exercise. The various poses and muscle
contractions really make your heart pump. And that translates to some serious weight loss.
Furthermore, the poses cause your digestive system to be more efficient and increase
your metabolic rate. A higher metabolism means that you can burn more calories
and keep them from turning into body fat.
Better Balance: A study looked at the impact of hot yoga on the steadiness
and balance of young adults. The results were powerful, with certain subjects seeing a 228%
increase in the length of time they could balance successfully.
It was concluded that a short term hot yoga program, in this case eight weeks,
can improve your balance significantly, as well as help with leg strength and muscle control.
Good For Your Heart: The extra heat and humidity make yoga poses more challenging for your heart.
This is a bonus if you want to kick your heart health up a notch. A study found an association
between spending prolonged periods of time in a heated environment, like a sauna, reduced risk of
hypertension. This is important, considering high blood pressure is associated with heart disease.
Detoxifies Your Body: One of the biggest benefits of hot Yoga is that the heat helps
to detoxify your body. The high heat causes you to sweat like nothing else.
Sweating is great for you because you aren’t only leaking water when you sweat.
You also sweat out a long list of toxins, chemicals, and other unwanted compounds
that shouldn’t be in your body. The next time, instead of doing one of those juice
cleanses when you want to rid your body of unwanted things, you could do some hot yoga.
Better Breathing: Practicing hot yoga regularly can help you learn proper breathing techniques.
The increased heat that comes with this Yoga makes it harder to breathe.
This forces you to use proper breathing techniques to keep going without collapsing or feeling dizzy.
Proper breathing is also useful in everyday life, especially when it comes to things like
walking up the stairs or sports. Proper breathing techniques allow you to take in as much oxygen
as you can manage. Getting enough oxygen means that you won’t get winded during exercise.
It also means that your muscles get more oxygen, allowing them to work harder for longer.
Also, hot yoga is pretty intense. So, it also works out your respiratory system.
Just like any other part of your body, the more you train something the better it gets at its
job. In this case, hot yoga trains your respiratory system to be more efficient,
work less for increased input, and helps you breathe better in general.
The specialized breathing techniques used can even help prevent shortness of breath,
asthma, emphysema, bronchitis, and other respiratory conditions.
Strengthens Your Body: Hot yoga really pushes your body to the limits.
This is because the difficult poses work various areas of your body like your abs and glutes.
By adding humidity to the workout, overtime, your body will become stronger as your level
of endurance will increase. You might not be a pro right away, but overtime,
your body will become a powerhouse and executing difficult poses will become easier.
Good For Your Skin: The steaminess of a hot yoga studio is much like a hot sauna at the spa. Steam
is known to help open up your pores and cleanse your skin. Although you'll be sweating during a
hot yoga session, it's actually good for your skin to be exposed to some steam, moderately of course.
Don't forget to clean your face with your favourite cleanser once you're home to
get rid of any excess buildup. And voila, your skin will be pore-free and glowing in no time.
Reduces blood sugar levels: While any type of exercise can help burn energy
and reduce circulating levels of sugar in your bloodstream,
hot yoga may be an especially helpful tool for people at higher risk for type 2 diabetes.
A study found that a short-term hot yoga program improved glucose tolerance in older
adults with obesity, but it had less of an effect on young, lean adults.
Apart from hot yoga, there are other ways to lower your blood sugar levels as well.
Learn more about these by watching “Lower Your Blood Sugar With These 10 Natural Tips”
Now, back to Reasons Why You Should Do Hot Yoga Regularly
Prevents Back Pain: Multiple yoga poses have shown to actually prevent and reduce back pain.
The heat from a hot yoga session, in addition to various yoga poses, allows your muscles to relax
and stretch. So, not only can you treat pain and discomfort, but also prevent it. Yoga poses like
the Sphinx and Thread the Needle are known for targeting the spine area in order to ease tension.
Helps Heal Old Injuries: Hot yoga can help reduce the pain of old injuries.
Most pain is caused by weakness and inflexibility. Since hot yoga makes
you stronger and more flexible, it can help to alleviate various forms of pain.
This yoga also uses something called the tourniquet effect, which blocks off blood
supply from a certain area. Upon release of the specific pose, the blood that is rich in
nutrients and oxygen flows to damaged areas. This helps heal old injuries and deal with scar tissue.
Reduces Stress: Many people turn to yoga as a natural way to deal with stress.
A study of stressed, physically inactive adults found that a 16-week program of
hot yoga significantly reduced the participants’ stress levels.
At the same time, it improved their health-related quality of life, as well as their self-efficacy,
or the belief that you have control over your behavior and social environment.
Yoga is well known to help you relax and improve your mood. It may also be a helpful
therapy for reducing symptoms of depression. Additionally, a study focused on yoga as a
treatment for depression concluded that it is an effective way to reduce depressive symptoms.
Helps You Maintain A Healthy Lifestyle: The best thing about hot yoga is that it can lead
to good overall health. Being able to exercise, meditate, and relax your body simultaneously
can help you maintain a healthy lifestyle. Hot yoga can also help you stay active and
physically and mentally healthy, which is the key to maintaining a balanced and wholesome life.
While hot yoga is very good for your body, you can get in even better shape
by combining it with regular exercise. Learn more about the best ones by:
Watching: 10 Exercises That Will Blast Away Body Cellulite In Just 2 Weeks
Or
Finding Out About Resistance Band Exercises That Change Your Body In 4 weeks
These 2 videos will definitely help you pick the best exercises to achieve a
great body. So go ahead and pick one, or watch both of them for maximum benefits.
Have you tried hot yoga? Did that work out for you? Let us know in the comments section below!