zdoc501

Hi Gaby!

I think the soreness was just a matter of getting used to it. Now 7 weeks in, my legs get a little tired, but not really sore. I think part of it was also my kettle-bell routine which is also pretty challenging, but is great for endurance and core and leg strength.

I think I’ve made quite a bit of progress in the poses and now I can do most of the class. In the beginning I’d get so exhausted I would end up sitting down through half the class or more. Now I just sit for a few minutes.

Unfortunately I haven’t lost much weight, but that is likely because my diet is just not up to par. It’s hard for me to skip the junk-food. I do think the hot yoga at least does stop me from gaining weight despite a bad diet.

Thanks again, I’ll keep everyone posted about my progress.

Hello Everyone, I’m new to hot yoga, having started 2 weeks ago today and completed my 9th Bikram class this morning. I’ve lost about 2-3 pounds, which doesn’t sound like much but pretty good considering that my diet is just not that good yet. Some points, and questions:

I took in a HRM to check the number of calories burned. For me it was 973. I’m a 250 lb (113.6 kg) male probably about 40 pounds overweight, 42 years old and 5’9” (176cm I think) I used a polar FT7 with chest strap. Also, I sat out about 10-15 minutes of the class.

Don’t know how accurate that number is, but anyway, it felt like a real workout. For comparison, I did a 10 minute kettle bell workout later that day and burned 135 calories, which is more per minute than Bikram’s but there’s no way I can do it for more than 10-15 minutes.

Hope that’s useful to somebody.

Then this afternoon, there was a hot Vinyasa class in my local gym so I decided to give it a try. I had worked out a lot already today so mostly I just sat and watched. It seemed to me that the poses are more complicated and the pace is faster and it works the upper body a little more than does Bikram’s yoga. The room was warm but not nearly as warm as Bikram’s and there wasn’t much humidity.

That said, I liked both classes a lot and plan to continue, probably doing Bikram’s 4-5 days a week and Vinyasa 1-2, possibly 3 if I have time.

How do others here compare Bikram with other forms of yoga? Any advantages/disadvantages? Also, does anyone do yoga as their sole exercise, or do you supplement it with something else? I hope to do kettle bells a couple of days a week and maybe ride my bike. I’ve been weight lifting for several years and plan to continue but probably cut back a bit.

Thanks again and hope to post again soon. 🙂