Getting Your Cardio Training Using Hot Yoga
Posted by yogateachertrainings on Thursday, September 1, 2011
Under: Yoga Teacher Training
Hot yoga is a type of workout executed inside a room warmed to 80-105 degrees F and features a number of various yoga poses to aid balance and revitalize your body. Many people turn to hot yoga with the idea of reducing extra pounds of fat, but some are skeptical of whether hot yoga functions as a cardiovascular form of exercise. After all, other types of cardio frequently entail high degrees of movement, so how can performing poses while staying in place do any kind of good? In case you wrongly believe hot yoga can't compete with the likes of running and other types 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.
Hot yoga offers many benefits to different people, and should be adapted to the individual practicing it as in any form of exercise. If you'd really like to get into the details of hot yoga, then taking the step to becoming an instructor and helping other students get the most out of their practice may be a viable option. No matter your choice, always focus on maintaining a calm mental state during hot yoga rather than pushing yourself beyond what is safe.
If you have at any time thought about becoming a yoga teacher, you can get on track with your yoga teacher trainings by becoming a member of a good course which focuses on yoga instructor certification.
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.
Hot yoga offers many benefits to different people, and should be adapted to the individual practicing it as in any form of exercise. If you'd really like to get into the details of hot yoga, then taking the step to becoming an instructor and helping other students get the most out of their practice may be a viable option. No matter your choice, always focus on maintaining a calm mental state during hot yoga rather than pushing yourself beyond what is safe.
If you have at any time thought about becoming a yoga teacher, you can get on track with your yoga teacher trainings by becoming a member of a good course which focuses on yoga instructor certification.