Hot Yoga's Rewards As Cardiovascular Exercise
Hot yoga is a kind of exercise performed in a space heated to 80-105 degrees F and includes a number of different yoga poses to aid balance and rejuvenate your body. Many people turn to hot yoga with the idea of reducing extra pounds of fat, but some are unsure of whether hot yoga functions as a cardiovascular form of exercise. Of course, other types of cardio frequently involve large amounts of movement, so how can undertaking poses while staying in place do any kind of good? In case you mistakenly think hot yoga can't compete with the likes of running and other forms of cardio, read on.
Immediately when you step into a hot yoga practice room, the intense heat will start to warm your body. This can take some getting used to, but it will also allow you to more easily stretch your muscles during the poses. In addition, heat helps to raise your metabolic rate. When you are flexed in a difficult position, with muscles straining to hold yourself in place, you will soon find that your heart rate is shooting through the roof - possibly even higher than in other cardio exercises! This is what allows for weight loss and certainly qualifies hot yoga to stand with the rest.
The reason why people may assume that hot yoga is a farce in this respect is probably because some individuals have a misconception about what, exactly, causes weight loss. As mentioned previously, an increased heart rate gets blood circulating and makes your body work harder to lose weight, but some believe that sweating alone is what causes fat loss. While you can lose pounds "miraculously" after even a single hot yoga class, this is only due to losing water weight from your body and should be avoided. Staying hydrated throughout class is very important as you will sweat intensely, however, sweating in itself is not what causes long term results.
One other aspect of hot yoga to take into consideration is how easily you can or cannot reach an optimal heart rate. Individuals need only maintain 60-70% of their max heart rate to drop weight, so if you find that your heart rate is actually too high during hot yoga, you may want to train with other activities in warm weather to get acclimatized to the additional stress on your system. If you have a high heart rate during yoga then you will still benefit from an improved respiratory system and better endurance, but if fat loss is a primary goal then you may need to tone things down a bit.
Different people can gain various benefits from hot yoga and should adapt the exercise to their individual practice, as with any type of workout. If you'd like to delve even deeper into hot yoga, then becoming an instructor and assisting other students to get the most out of their workouts may be a great choice. Regardless of what you choose to pursue, whether individually or with others, avoid pushing too hard beyond what is safe during hot yoga and maintaining a calm mental state.
Very few vocations provide the satisfaction and flexibility of becoming a yoga teacher. Yoga teacher trainings offer the guidance and support essential to acquire your official yoga instructor training.