ARE HOT WORKOUTS SAFE?

ARE HOT WORKOUTS SAFE?

Here is an interesting article about hot workouts and are they safe?  What do you think?

Squeezing any physical activity into a hectic schedule is a great idea, but does a hot, humid environment make a difference? Turning up the heat isn't exactly a new idea—in fact, Bikram Choudhury decided to start practicing yoga in higher temps about three decades ago. Since then, the practice has expanded to more than 600 Bikram studios in the US alone. For the 90-minute class, an instructor runs through 26 postures in intense heat: 105 degrees and 40 percent humidity.

But in the past few years, hot workouts have gone from a niche experience for devoted yogis, to include a wide variety of barre, strength training, and cycling classes. So before you attempt to maintain a solid dumbbell grip with sweaty palms or start slip-n-sliding down a wet yoga mat, here's what you need to know.

WHAT HAPPENS WHEN YOU HEAT UP

Mimi Benz, founder of The Sweat Shoppe, an indoor cycling studio in North Hollywood, offers "warm" spin classes. Unlike Bikram, the temp in these classes never rises above 82 degrees. The difference, Benz says, is that training in these temps carries a relatively low risk compared to environments above 90 degrees.

As the body's internal temperature rises, the heart beats about 10 beats faster per minute with every one centigrade increase. Higher than 90 degrees—the heart beats even more rapidly. "Your heart has to work harder for blood to pump to the working muscles," says Santiago Lorenzo, M.D., a former Olympian and researcher who studies physiological changes in hot and cold weather. To regulate body temperature, the body sweats more in high heat, and consequently loses nutrients and minerals.

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