Benefits of Hot Yoga

Hot yoga offers a wide variety of benefits for both your mind and body. It can help you burn calories, build bone density, boost your cardiovascular fitness, and improve your flexibility. It may also help ease depression and reduce stress.

Research on one form of Sacramento hot yoga, Bikram yoga, suggests it improves balance, lower body strength and range of motion for both the upper and lower body, and might even help improve arterial stiffness and metabolic measures like glucose tolerance and cholesterol levels, as well as bone density and perceived stress.



Increased Calorie Burn

Performing yoga moves in an environment that has been heated to a much higher temperature than normal can increase the heart rate and lead to more calories being burned through the course of the workout. This can assist with a faster progression of weight loss over time.

Improves flexibility The heat allows you to stretch a little further and achieve a greater range of motion. A 2013 study of Bikram yoga found that after 8 weeks, yoga participants had greater flexibility in their low back, shoulders, and hamstrings than the control group.

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 2014 study of women who participated in Bikram yoga over a 5-year period found that premenopausal women had increased bone density in their neck, hips, and lower back.

This lead the authors of the study to believe that Bikram yoga may be an effective option for reducing the risk of osteoporosis in women.

Increased Flexibility

“Temperatures are usually up to 105 degrees Fahrenheit,” says Numbers, and the humidity is way up there, too, at around 40 to 60 percent.

The warmer room will make it easier for your muscles to stretch. The steamy temps “allow you to increase their range of motion and stretch deeper within each pose,” since heat makes muscles more pliable, says Numbers. 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.