WEBVTT - BrainStuff Classics: Does Hot Yoga Need to Be So Hot?

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<v Speaker 1>Welcome to brain Stuff production of I Heart Radio. Hey

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<v Speaker 1>brain Stuff, I'm more in vogue. Bomb in today's episode

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<v Speaker 1>is another classic from our archives. One of the things

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<v Speaker 1>that a lot of us are missing these days are

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<v Speaker 1>gyms and fitness classes unfettered by the social distancing rules

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<v Speaker 1>and masks that are keeping us all safer until we

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<v Speaker 1>can get vaccinated. But when it is safe to be

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<v Speaker 1>indoors again, is hot yoga one of the things that

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<v Speaker 1>we should get back to, or is regular temperature yoga

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<v Speaker 1>just as good. Hey there, brain Stuff, Lauren boga bomb here.

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<v Speaker 1>Some like their yoga hot a hundred and five degrees

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<v Speaker 1>fahrenheit or forty degrees celsius to be exact, but according

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<v Speaker 1>to a study published in the journal Experimental Physiology, heat

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<v Speaker 1>might have nothing to do with the style's health benefits.

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<v Speaker 1>Yoga is an ancient Indian practice. It dates back thousands

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<v Speaker 1>of years. As William J. Brad describes in the Science

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<v Speaker 1>of Yoga The Risks of Rewards, Its roots lay in

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<v Speaker 1>quote an obscure cult steeped in magic and eroticism, but

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<v Speaker 1>the practice has evolved over time, reaching the West in

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<v Speaker 1>the mid nineteenth century and exploding in America during the

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<v Speaker 1>nineteen sixties. Today, you'll find everything from spiritual yoga practices

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<v Speaker 1>that invoke Hindu traditions to secularized models that target everyone

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<v Speaker 1>from pro wrestling fans to death metal heads. And then

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<v Speaker 1>there's hot yoga, most notably Bickram Yoga, founded by Calcutta

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<v Speaker 1>born Bickram Chottery in the nineteen seventies. Bickram Yoga centers

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<v Speaker 1>around twenty six poses or asanas performed in a precisely

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<v Speaker 1>heated forty to six humidity studio for around ninety minutes

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<v Speaker 1>of sweaty action. The official Bickram Yoga website claims that

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<v Speaker 1>the heat helps you practice your postures optimally. But while

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<v Speaker 1>critics have previously raised concerns over elevated body temperatures, no

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<v Speaker 1>study has actually isolated the effects of heat in the practice.

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<v Speaker 1>That's according to the authors of the aforementioned study, carried

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<v Speaker 1>out at Texas State University and the University of Texas

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<v Speaker 1>at Austin. They brought in eighty study participants, ages forty

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<v Speaker 1>to sixty, all of whom had lived sedentary lifestyles for

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<v Speaker 1>at least six months following health screenings. They randomized the

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<v Speaker 1>participants into three groups. A thermonutral group, a heated group,

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<v Speaker 1>and a control group for twelve weeks. The heated group

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<v Speaker 1>attended three Bikram yoga classes a week in a traditional

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<v Speaker 1>hot room, while the thermonutral group attended the same number

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<v Speaker 1>of classes only under you guessed at room temperature conditions

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<v Speaker 1>that's seventy three degrees farenheit or about twenty three degrees celsius.

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<v Speaker 1>The control group did nothing. In the end, a fifty

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<v Speaker 1>of the eighty two subjects completed the interventions and returned

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<v Speaker 1>for follow up testing nineteen hot, fourteen thermo neutral, and

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<v Speaker 1>nineteen control. The researchers compared their findings and determined the

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<v Speaker 1>Bickram yoga can reduce changes in blood vessel lining linked

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<v Speaker 1>to heart disease, and that it can possibly delay the

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<v Speaker 1>buildup of arterial plaque, which can lead to heart attack

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<v Speaker 1>or stroke. But here's the kicker. The benefits were present

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<v Speaker 1>in both the heat and room temperature groups, indicating that

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<v Speaker 1>heated rooms that Bickram calls torture chambers don't actually make

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<v Speaker 1>a difference. That be said, many yoga practitioners do like

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<v Speaker 1>it hot and sweaty, even amid legal scandals surrounding its founder,

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<v Speaker 1>Big Room Yoga boasts studios around the world, and that's

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<v Speaker 1>in addition to various other non affiliated hot yoga styles.

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<v Speaker 1>If these latest findings hold true, however, that hot room

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<v Speaker 1>might be no more essential to the practice than an

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<v Speaker 1>iPod shuffle full of the traditional Kurton music or cannibal corpse,

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<v Speaker 1>take your pick. Today's episode was written by Robert Lamb

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<v Speaker 1>and produced by Tristan McNeil and Tyler Klang. For more

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<v Speaker 1>on this and lots of other hot topics, visit how

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<v Speaker 1>stuff works dot com. Rain Stuff is production of iHeart Radio.

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<v Speaker 1>For more podcasts my heart Radio, visit the iHeart Radio app,

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