What a heated workout can – and cannot – do for you

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NEW YORK – For some people, sweating through an intensely hot workout class can border on a spiritual experience. For others, a toasty studio simply offers some relief from frigid weather.

Not all heated workouts are equally hot. Bikram yoga classes are typically 40 deg C, while other heated classes can range from a cosy 27 deg C to a scorching 50 deg C. And while hot yoga is perhaps the most familiar heated workout, hot pilates and hot high-intensity interval training classes are also popular.

Those who swear by these workouts claim that turning up the temperature can increase your flexibility, enhance your heart health or even help you sweat out supposed toxins.

Here is what exercising in the heat really can – and cannot – do for you.

Heat may improve your flexibility

Some small studies suggest that applying heat directly to your muscles, such as with a heating pad, can increase your flexibility and range of motion. Stretching in a heated room may have similar effects, though there is limited research in this area.

Your blood vessels expand in the heat, allowing them to deliver more oxygen and blood to your muscles and tendons. This may help loosen your muscles and make you more flexible, said exercise physiologist and assistant professor Kelsey Bourbeau at the University of Northern Iowa.

Hot workouts get your heart pumping

Even if you are not working out, just being in a hot environment, such as a hot tub or a sauna, speeds up your blood flow. Both heat and exercise make your cardiovascular system work harder, Prof Bourbeau said. Those stressors trigger changes that can improve your health, such as strengthening your heart and lowering your blood pressure.

But in one study – which was funded by a non-profit dedicated to promoting yoga’s health benefits – adults who did either hot yoga or cooler yoga three times a week for 12 weeks saw similar improvements in their vascular health. This suggested that exercising at either temperature was equally beneficial.

Since you will also sweat more than usual during heated exercise, the workout may feel more intense as your body fights to cool itself down. Your heart rate will also probably be higher than usual, but that does not necessarily mean your body used more energy during the workout, said exercise physiologist and associate professor Stacy Hunter at Texas State University.

Some research suggests that when endurance athletes like runners and cyclists consistently train in the heat, their bo...

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