Does Hot Yoga Work?

Hot yoga classes can be steamy places, with high humidity and temperatures exceeding 100 degrees Fahrenheit. Advocates claim that the heated rooms help cleanse the body and facilitate deeper stretches, but science hasn’t yet validated these claims. Some yogis love the extra sweating and challenge involved with hot yoga, but it comes down to personal preference. Hot yoga is not safe for all individuals, however. Pregnant women and people with certain health conditions should avoid hot yoga classes.

  1. The Case for Flexibility

    • Hot yoga warms your body, including your skin and internal organs. You might feel more flexible in a heated room due to warmed and relaxed muscles, but that doesn’t mean you should immediately plunge into deep stretches that you wouldn’t normally perform. A false sense of flexibility could lead to pulled muscles, strained ligaments or damaged cartilage, according to U.S. News and World Report. Some hot yoga classes, including Bikram yoga classes, rely on a regular series of 26 poses that are repeated twice during each class, according to Bikram Yoga of Ashland. This can be an effective way to measure your improvement over time, and the second repetition of a pose can help you challenge yourself to stretch a bit more deeply than the first time around.

    Effects on Your Heart

    • Hot yoga’s intense temperatures create more work for your heart, as it works hard to keep your body cool and safe. If you’re in robust health, this might not be a problem and the workout can safely challenge your endurance, according to U.S. News and World Report. The heart’s extra efforts also increase circulation throughout your body. However, dehydration and increased blood pressure could create possible strains on the heart.

    Muscle Strength and Balance

    • Like other types of yoga, hot yoga can help you get stronger and feel more balanced in poses. Whether you’re in a traditional Bikram class or a flowing vinyasa class, you’ll combine standing and seated poses that strengthen your quads, core, hamstrings, back, shoulders, arms and other areas of the body. Over time, you’ll notice a more toned frame. Balancing in heated temperatures can be quite challenging, so you might also notice an improved sense of balance.

    Dubious Detoxification

    • Proponents of hot yoga believe that performing yoga in heated environments helps to detoxify the body by opening your pores and letting toxins escape. However, scientific research has not yet proven these claims. Although you might enjoy the sensation of extra sweating and the endorphins released thanks to hot yoga’s cardiovascular components, there’s not yet proof that you are detoxifying your body’s systems.

    Not for Everyone

    • Talk with your doctor before beginning a hot yoga regimen to make sure that it's safe for your body, especially if you have conditions such as osteoporosis or rheumatoid arthritis. People who have a high sensitivity for heat should ask their doctors before beginning hot yoga, according to U.S. News and World Report. If you tend to get dizzy, dehydrated or fatigued easily, hot yoga might not be the best option.