My "Hot Yoga" Bikram Experience - a trainer's perspective

Ok- after numerous inquires from clients over the years as to
my opinion of "Hot Yoga" (Bikram Yoga) I finally met Geri Lansky on Dec. 28th at the local studio by Whole Foods.



Here are my notes and thoughts of my experience.



As I was getting closer to the location I starting having the following feelings and thoughts which I rarely feel because I have been exercising for over 20 years and regualarly put myself out there to try new activities. Never the less, I thought it worthy enough to put down as notes in my phone so I can accurately describe my exeperience.



These are the words I wrote 20 minutes prior to class: fear, anxiety, what if I pass out from the 105 degree room temperature, embarrass myself, suck, do terrible, can't make the whole class, flash "my business", have to pee, run out of water, hurt myself, get called out by teacher, can't take the smell of body odor of all the participants, and the biggest FEAR OF UNKNOWN ENVIRONMENT.

I entered the front door and WOW the smell reminded me of the college football locker room I had to run through in college when it was raining outside and my cross country team had to run laps around the gym that included holding my breath as we ran through the locker room.

At the front desk of the yoga center, I did the whole sign waiver, pay, listen to directions from the teacher about the policies and procedures etc. then went to the locker room to leave my stuff that could not be taken into the room.

I went into the heated room about 20 minutes early to acclimate myself to the heat and wrap my mind around the fact that it will be a 90 minute class.

By the way here are some following rules you have to abide by when doing the Bikram (Hot Yoga).

• You must bring or rent a bath size towel, a bottle of water (no sugary drinks), and a mat.
• No talking while in the class
• You may only take a drink after she says "party" (which is after about 3 poses done twice each) and then ONLY in between postures not to disturb others.
• You are told to look at yourself in the mirror for all poses facing the mirror
• When feeling faint or unwell you are asked to "sit out" a pose on your own and not wait for the teacher to tell you to sit and rest.
• You may not leave to go to the bathroom and then re-enter the room.
• If you need to leave the room you are to ask the teacher to help you exit and you may be able to enter the room again depending on circumstances and if it's in between postures.
• Limit showers after the class to 2 minutes.
• If you are a beginner or haven't practiced in a while then you should stay in the back of the room (the back row).
• There are three rows and the front row are the advanced participants that you should watch if you need to see the correct form.
• You will get demoted if you stick yourself in the 1st row and clearly don't need to be there.

Are you getting a feeling of what my conclusion is for Bikram yoga.

• I feel like it is Militant Yoga.
• Not a bad thing, just different
• If your looking for a fluff class where you can make friends then Bikram yoga is not for you because unless you speak before the class or after the class there is not time. It's 90 minutes of actual class and you want to get there early to get a good spot. That leaves time to chat after class and frankly you are too exhausted, sweaty, and tired from the class that who wants to make small talk.
• There is also very minimal hands on correction of form from the teacher during poses.
• There is a script that the teacher follows and speaks loudly and the whole time.
• There were some kind words about don't be mean to yourself mentally if you can't do a pose, just get better by doing yoga everyday.
• I have never sweat that much in my 20 plus years of exercising and I personally didn't like the sweat constantly dripping and getting in my eyes. (p.s. i don't usually sweat a lot)
• It's the same 26 poses twice each every time, that's protocol, which is fine but I would get bored after a while.
• It's a huge time investment at 90 minutes class time, 15 minutes being early to pay, get spot, etc. not to mention travel time to and from class. If you did it 2 times per week that's 180 minutes or 3 hours a week. If someone has 5 other days of not doing jack squat then I feel they are really missing out on a balanced workout (pun intended).

A few days after my experience I can see why people like it. And I also see why our clients hire us as their trainers. Because like most fitness related activities you think you can do it on your own. Well, you might do a version of the exercise on your own but who is going to call you out when you aren't working hard enough or doing it correctly. I stretch but could always do more and hold it a little longer when it's really tight and I just want to quit.

Think about this: You can buy a book about how to work on your car but who wants to learn a new skill and have extra parts laying around. That's why people hire specialists to do things, that's what they do and when you hire someone they are going to teach you and make you do it right and get you the results you want. Sound like a sales pitch, it should because I believe everyone can benefit from hiring a qualified personal trainer like myself and my trainers.

Some words of wisdom: Most people workout to look good, feeling good comes a close second but still second. In order the look good you need muscle tone from doing more than the body is accustomed to doing and constantly changing the intensity and tempo of exercise (it's called the Overload Principle).

I reccommend weight training 2 x per week at minimum 20 minutes a session (and that's if you are efficient and have great form) and doing a variety of sprint cardio training (ask us about our Cardio Express medthod) along with stretching most days. One day a week of yoga will give compliment your regular training program.