haiku

On the water issue, I think it’s more that the last thing you need when you’re hot and exerting yourself and trying to focus on your pose is a liter of water sloshing around in your stomach. That’s why it’s important to drink water well in advance. If you haven’t had water earlier in the day, chugging it during class is “too late.” Of course, if you really need it, just ignore the teacher and drink it! But if you really are dehydrated, it might be good to sit down a bit.

I suspect most healthy people should be able to make it through 1.5 hours without additional water … I run 1 – 1.5 hours at a stretch and never carry water; if I drink more than 1/2 cup I don’t feel like running anymore. I think people tend to drink too little water during the day but too much during exercise.

For weight loss, rather than doing 30 minutes cardio a day I would do 45-60 minutes every other day, but ramp up the intensity & do intervals. If you’re doing it intensely enough, you shouldn’t feel like doing it every day. (Runners often alternate fast days, long days, and drill/weightlifting days). You can alternate cardio one day/ (yoga/weightlifting) on alternate days.

Without knowing your specific weightlifting goals, bikram yoga enough is plenty of strengthening for the average person wanting to lose weight; you’re just using your body weight instead of a machine or free weights. I’m just starting the yoga, but from the first classes & experience with pilates, I am sure if you do the postures consistently you will muscle very quickly. If your primary goal is for healthy bones and to tone up, I would consider dropping the weights altogether and concentrating your efforts on deepening your poses in yoga.