Episode 50
ACE Study on Bikram Yoga
To be completely honest neither Catherine Cowey nor I are fans of Bikram yoga or hot yoga in general. Nonetheless, we did our best to discuss Bikram yoga and this study as objectively as possible. In this episode we reviewed an ACE (American Council on Exercise) study, which examines the effect of Bikram yoga on core temperature, heart rate and rate of perceived exertion of 20 Bikram practitioners.
HIghlights:
There was a steady increase in core temp. At 60 minutes the average of the total reached above 100 and then kept going up during the last 30 minutes.
Heart rates were high considering this kind of low impact exercise, but their HR averages were at 92% max for the guys and 85% for women. This is high.
Sweat is great for cooling us down if the sweat evaporates which it does not in the high humidity of a Bikram class. The evaporation of sweat is the key for cooling. Sweating is not detoxification!
The study concludes that because of the elevated core temps, elevated heart rate, and RPE (8/10) a 90 minute Bikram yoga class poses a risk of heat related illness.
Read our review of this study over at Yoga Research and Beyond