The Best Exercises to Complement Bikram Yoga

Bikram yoga has been around longer than you may realize; stars were singing the praises of this intense form of exercise as far back as the 1970s. Performing two sets of 24 postures and two breathing exercises for 90 minutes in rooms heated to 104 degrees Fahrenheit at 40 percent humidity is physically challenging, to say the least. Bikram yoga asanas can improve the flexibility of your entire body and provide strength gains, especially for your legs and the muscles of your core. Finding complementary activities to balance your exercise regimen will improve your overall level of fitness.

  1. Know Your Goals

    • Because each pose is held for up to one minute, Bikram yoga emphasizes flexibility, static lower-body muscular strength and muscular endurance. The slow pace of the classes does not challenge your heart or lungs to an appreciable degree, and while upper-body flexibility is improved by Bikram yoga, no asanas in the standard sequence build strength through your arms, chest, shoulders or upper back. Assess your fitness goals: Are there sports you enjoy playing, do you just want a good workout, or would you like to compete in athletic events such as triathlons? Defining what you want out of your fitness regimen will determine which areas you will focus on to balance your Bikram yoga practice.

    Cardiovascular Exercises

    • The American College of Sports Medicine recommends that most adults accumulate the equivalent of 150 minutes of moderate-intensity cardiovascular physical activity weekly in order to gain and maintain health benefits. This activity can be anything you enjoy that repetitively and continuously engages your large muscle groups, such as walking, cycling, swimming or dancing. Your goals will determine what modes of cardiovascular activity you will choose; if you play tennis, for example, you might choose interval training, which improves your sprinting capacity. Alternating days of high-impact activities such as running with lower-impact activities such as walking improves your bone health and can minimize wear and tear on your joints.

    Strength-Training Exercises

    • Bikram yoga builds muscular endurance in the legs and lower back. Adding upper-body strength training can improve your athletic performance and your ability to engage in activities of daily living such as picking up kids and carrying groceries. Twice weekly on nonconsecutive days, perform at least two sets of eight to 10 repetitions of an exercise for each major muscle group in your upper body. An example might be pullups for your back and arms, overhead presses with weights for your shoulders, and pushups for your chest muscles. Additionally performing abdominal strength training such as crunches can help to protect the muscles of your lower back. This upper-body workout could be done in 15 minutes, and taking a Bikram class directly afterward would stretch those muscles beautifully.

    Proceed With Caution

    • Check with your physician before beginning or making changes to your physical activity regimen. Incorporating a wide variety of exercises into your regimen including twice weekly Bikram yoga classes can maximize your chances of living a fit, healthy life.