Bikram yoga was founded by Bikram Choudhury, who was born in Calcutta in 1946 and started practicing yoga at four years old under Bishnu Ghosh. At 17, Choudhury suffered a knee injury that led European doctors to believe that he would never walk again, but yoga healed his knee and inspired him to found Bikram Yoga and take it to communities around the world.
Some of the benefits students of Bikram yoga enjoy include enhanced flexibility, successful recovery from injury (due to deep stretching), and the endless flushing of toxins due to increased perspiration.
After practicing Bikram yoga three times per week for eight weeks, a 2013 study of healthy adults found that deadlift strength and flexibility improved, and participants lost a small amount of body fat. However, they found no improvements on cardiovascular measures. The same researcher found that women burned 330 calories and men 460 per 90-minute session, roughly the equivalent of walking briskly at about 3.5 miles per hour for 90 minutes.
Excessive sweating caused by the hot and humid conditions of a Bikram yoga room can result in dehydration. There is also a risk of hyperthermia: overheating of the human body. Symptoms include nausea, dizziness, fainting, and potentially heat stroke. A strong focus on hydration before and after class, combined with listening to one's body and resting during class when necessary, reduces these risks.
Various conditions such as multiple sclerosis, epilepsy, and some cardiac complications can cause unique sensitivities to heat. Those struggling with these conditions are encouraged to check with their doctors before beginning hot yoga. Additionally, those who take medications for depression, nervousness, or insomnia may also wish to check with a doctor to determine if the heat will exacerbate any medical conditions.
According to an article in the Huffington Post, The health benefits of the additional heat are "largely perceptual", because "People think the degree of sweat is the quality of the workout, but that's not reality. It doesn't correlate to burning more calories." A small study by the American Council of Exercise found "no difference in the increase in core temperature or heart rate between the two 60-minute sessions."
In Bikram's Beginning Yoga Class (First Edition), Choudhury claims he conducted medical studies at the Tokyo University Medical School validating the medical benefits of his 26 postures. During one of the lawsuits, defendants demanded copies of the "medical" studies and Choudhury claimed he could not find them. In Bikram's Beginning Yoga Class (Second Edition), Choudhury removed all references to medical studies.
Watch the full Exercise step by step in the below video
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