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Hot (or Bikram) yoga anyone? (Read 297 times)


Running Chick

    i do the bikram yoga once a week.  i believe it is helpful for my running (been running 40+ years).  i usually don't do the hot yoga in the summer, but am wondering what folks' experiences are with this yoga as a form of 'cross training'.  thoughts?

      Although I haven't done much yoga recently, I can say I find it the only cross training that I like doing.    A couple of years ago I signed up for 6 months of YOGA (in West Boylston) and at after about a month, I thought I was wasting my time.    But somewhere around the 3rd month, I noticed I was a lot more limber and felt better and was sleeping better too.

       

      I went to the HOT yoga classes a few times but I found they left me too exhausted - I did get a better overall stretch but the extra heat was too much for me.   I enjoyed YEN Yoga a lot because its long stretching types of poses and you hold them for a long time (3 to 5 minute) and I felt that really stretched me out for running.  YEN Yoga (in my opinion) is the best for running....

       

      I can't honestly say if my running was better because of yoga but it seemed to be.    Either way, the longer I did my Yoga the more I got out of it....

       

      BTW - I am going to sign back up and start going again in July (when my new year of Company benefits kick is - cause they'll pay for it for me)....

      Champions are made when no one is watching

        I have done a lot of yoga, and especially Bikram.  I believe you need to go more than once a week to get much benefit out of Bikram.  Otherwise, it will just exhaust you and NOT help your running.  I find that I can not handle running the mileage I think I need for marathon training and still go to hot yoga.  I have a "day job", and I just can't do it all.  When I am injured, hot yoga is the one thing that actually makes me feel like I've gotten a workout equivalent to about a 10 mile run.  It does the trick for cardio (HR gets quite high), strengthening and working on flexibility.   In a perfect world, I would run 30 miles a week and go to 2 Bikram classes a week.

        Out there running since dinosaurs roamed the earth

         

          I agree.  I am probably the most inflexible person in the world and my wife talked me into the 1 month introductory Bikram yoga.

           

          I definitely improved my flexibility (went two times most weeks) but found that 90 minutes of yoga in a room that is over 100 degrees was just too exhausting for me.

           

          If they would offer a 45-60 minute program and not be quite so hot, I would become a regular but I didn't want to sacrifice the quantity of quality of my running program for it.

          2018 Goals

          Figure out the achilles thing...... and THEN try to get running regularly again.

          No racing goals 

           

          SprinklesRunner


          Whippet

            I don't like the Bikram instructors here in NYC - too militant and sometimes rude. I get that it is part of the deal, but I want to enjoy my classes.  I used to go quite often and found it great when injured, but I frequently overstretch my hamstrings and wind up so sore it messes with my quality workouts.  In short: I stick with spin classes, usually intense like Flywheel or Soulcycle.

            13.1: 1:45 | 26.2: 3:55


            Running Rev'd

              I really like hot/Bikram yoga, but it is hard to fit it in with running. I've found even one class a week seems to help with any aches, pains, or imbalances from my running, once I get past the soreness. A studio here in Nashville close to my house offers a 60 & 75 minute "Hot 26" class that includes all 26 of the Bikram poses. Those classes are much more manageable for my schedule and the instructors are very friendly and encouraging.

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              Nasreddin Hoja


                I was doing Bikram for about 4-5 times a week and A Vinyasa Flow and Pilates class once each per week.  For me, it was a phase.  I worked out a lot of kinks so I can now run. I would like to have continued, but the time overhead is enormous, and I had to choose either running or Yoga.  A Yoga class eats about 3 hours and a Bikram class esp, you can't fly out of it early.

                 

                I thought this thread would be about the huge Solstice Bikram Yoga class in Times Square today.

                 

                  I have been doing yoga for about 8 years; I used to do it religiously 3x/week, running was more secondary. That has since reversed; increasing running frequency & mileage has sacrificed the yoga, reduced to once a week or maybe twice. I have typically done an intense 75 min Vinyasa class, usually a tougher workout than any of my runs. It has been difficult to have the energy for that, with the increased running. I still plan to keep the yoga as my cross-training, and think it has probably helped keep me relatively injury free. I also credit it for significantly improving my chronic back issues. Hard to prove any of that; I think doing a lot of yoga has mostly made me better at yoga. (I can impress people with some cool poses!) I must say I have only ever done it for the workout, never gotten into the touchy-feely side, and actually get pretty annoyed by instructors who get too into that part.

                   

                  I have never tried Bikram, mainly because I only take the classes offered at my gym (already included in the membership), and that is not one of them. Prefer not to pay somewhere else. My general aversion however is that I believe it is the exact same routine every time, and I do prefer some variety. I agree that Yin yoga (I believe it is Yin, not Yen) may be the best for running. Many LRS's offer a "Yoga for runners". Mine does although I've never tried it (again, my cheapness), but I am interested to try it to find out which poses/flows they think are best for runners.

                   

                  Regarding the NY Solstice yoga - reminds me that every solstice, my gym has a special class where you "celebrate" it via 108 sun salutations. I try to avoid that one, although accidentally did it once when they replaced my regular class with it.

                  Dave


                  Running Chick

                    thank you so much, everyone.  i really appreciate it!!!!!  love.

                    JoyceH


                      I have done Bikram yoga when injured. A couple years ago I couldn't run for 3 months. Bikram yoga and swimming were my life savers that gave me quality workouts. Nothing can replace running but at least I felt like I was getting some satisfying workouts and raising my heart rate. I do agree with some of the previous posts that this class is just too exhausting and too long to incorporate into a training program especially if aiming for a marathon. I work full time and will peak out at 50-60 miles per week (I'm in my 40s)  this summer for a fall marathon. I would love to have the luxury to do Bikram yoga but it's just a huge time commitment with driving there, doing the yoga, cleaning up and getting back home. Plus it didn't really make me immune to running injuries when I did try to do both the yoga and running.

                       

                      Everyone is different and that is just my take on Bikram yoga. It's great stuff but a huge time and energy commitment. That being said I'm trying to do a little bit of  other styles of yoga  here and there to help prevent running injuries. I've been doing the Yoga for Runners DVD by Thom Birch but am looking for other DVDs to supplement that.

                      Lyerin


                        I just started doing Bikram yoga recently.  I am really enjoying it and am not finding it too exhausting, but I'm not running really long distances yet.

                         

                        Right now I'm going to "regular" yoga 2 x a week and Bikram 4 x a week.

                         

                        Yoga has helped me to stretch out my hip flexor and piriformis muscle on my right so that I'm running pretty much pain free right now, which is awesome.

                        PaulyGram


                        Fast is better than long

                          I am a big believer in Bikram Yoga as well. I see longer muscles and better control of breathing.

                           

                          Karen's note about it being taxing is the 2-3 time I have heard others say this, and I'll add this...

                           

                          It's awesome for:

                          • Recovering from injury
                          • Trying to gain flexibility (imo, this helps keep injuries away)
                          • Base training; sometimes if you do it during your specific training it's too much and detracts from the specific training

                           

                          I have done a lot of yoga, and especially Bikram.  I believe you need to go more than once a week to get much benefit out of Bikram.  Otherwise, it will just exhaust you and NOT help your running.  I find that I can not handle running the mileage I think I need for marathon training and still go to hot yoga.  I have a "day job", and I just can't do it all.  When I am injured, hot yoga is the one thing that actually makes me feel like I've gotten a workout equivalent to about a 10 mile run.  It does the trick for cardio (HR gets quite high), strengthening and working on flexibility.   In a perfect world, I would run 30 miles a week and go to 2 Bikram classes a week.

                          2017 Goals: Give up goals; they're stoopid

                           

                          Give a man a fire and he'll be warm the rest of the night;
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                          What in the Jehu?


                          Oh roo roooo!

                            DaveP, I agree, I think it's "yin" yoga rather than "yen" also.  I did a few classes this summer and found it challenging in its own way--relaxing into a pose that may be on the edge of uncomfortable for 3-5 minutes is hard in a different way from how running or other active exercise can be hard.

                             

                            Yoga classes are, for me, too expensive, especially if I was going to do it regularly enough to get some benefit.  What I have found, though, is that there are a lot of really good DVDs available.  Look for reviews of any that you buy, or better yet, see if you can check the DVD out from your local library or thru Netflix before deciding to buy.  Gaiam has a number of good instructors (Rodney Yee, Patricia Walden and others) and Lilias Folan is great, too.  (My opinion--I've also found that one person's favorite instructor can be another person's worst nightmare.)  If you like the instructor's style, if the difficulty level is appropriate, and if there is enough detail given that you can follow along w/a reasonable expectation of doing the poses correctly, then you've got many of the benefits of a class w/o the expense.

                             

                            That's not going to work for hot yoga, obviously, unless you have a really warm house, but it's definitely a very affordable way to be able to do pretty much any other form of yoga daily.  I used to practice daily and have gotten out of the habit for the past year or so due to schedule changes w/my job.  I'm starting a new job Monday and looking forward to getting back into doing yoga at least a few times a week, as I can feel the difference from NOT doing it for so long.

                              "If you have the fire, run..." -John Climacus

                              SillyC


                                I went to this conference once in Switzerland, in the middle of the summer.  It was a geology conference.  So, European scientists, and then they took off to the mountains for a vigorous hike then came back to these sweltering rooms.  I swore those conference rooms were the stinkiest places I had ever been.  And I'm a dirty hippy.

                                 

                                Then I went to Bikram.

                                 

                                I kept thinking that inhaling all that ammonia could not possibly be good for my lungs.

                                 

                                Wasn't for me.

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