Just did first Bikram Yoga class

how hot was the group of chicks in your class?

there was one that was pretty hot, the others were nothing special. Surprised the class was half guys, most trying out their first week.

If you keep going, your body will adapt very quickly to these conditions. I had a similar experience my first time. After that my goal was to at least attempt all the poses without taking any breaks. After 3 classes I no longer needed to take breaks. After about 8 classes I could really exert myself throughout the whole series (and bikram classes have a standard series of poses, it's like the catholic mass, no matter where you go it should basically be the same). I really feel like the main obstacle when you first start is adapting to the heat and humidity, much more so than increasing strength. Once you adapt, you'll be able to do stretches much more deeply than you could at room temp. I've done power yoga and bikram (I'm a guy), and I think they're both great for runners. They both will improve flexibility and strength, bikram of course has more focus on flexibility.

...and a lot of the girls are hot.

I just went for my first run post-yoga class, and holy cow I felt good. Though it was an easy day I felt great and was picking it up by feel. I thought I was gonna be really sore and slow because the hot yoga took it out of me so much the other day, but I felt the best I have this week.

Don't feel bad, how many of them can run 1:18 half marathon?

Yoga, but particularly Bikram Yoga, is a tremendous exercise for the whole body and will promote your longevity more than any other activity. Keeps the body flexible, which becomes increasingly important as you age, but also activates the internal organs and glands which no other exercise does as effectively. Hope you stay with it for life - it may one day (in the distant future) even replace running as your primary exercise.

yung4evr wrote:

activates the internal organs and glands which no other exercise does as effectively

What the f*** are you talking about?

Open your mind, educate yourself, read, and clean up your language.

Just did my second session last night, second night in a row. I was really surprised at how much better I did. Whereas the first day I had to sit and rest many times during the standing exercises, my second time I didn't have to rest once. I could feel a deeper level in some of the stretches which were really nice. This morning I feel looser than I've ever felt before, I can already feel my range of motion improving just by waking and walking. This is really cool.

Are you trying to talk yourself into liking this preachy crap??

Prediction - you are not doing bikram yoga in a month.

My second session went really well and I walked out liking the class, and today I woke up looking forward to my third this afternoon.

My flexibility has always been absolutely horrible, and am coming to understand it underlies some of the reasons I failed as a runner back in high school and college, not realizing my potential. When I was learning about the sport I read a quote from Bryan Berryhill that I think hurt more than helped - The 98% rule: 98% of your training should be running. But that's not true. You need strength, flexibility and focus in addition to a strong cardio system. Bikram helps bring those three together into a routine. Plus I've woken up these last few days feeling like I've taken some weird caffeinated pain killer.

While I can't imagine keeping up this Bikram schedule for an extended period of time, I was thinking of getting an unlimited membership for one month and doing it every day (I'm currently on the cheap week-long trial). Commit to doing it everyday for a month as a sort of boot camp. It's expensive but just for a month. Afterwards I'll decide where to go from there.

I do it once a week. I would like to do it more, and hopefully will at some point, but with work, running, kids, etc it is hard to justify. If I could get up at 6am I would, but the earliest class they have is 8am (great for people who work).

I could go at noon I suppose, but a 90 minutes class + shower at lunch is kind of pushing the envelope in terms of an "acceptable" lunch.

It is basically a cult. 90 mins everyday and the cost is unbelievable! Why exactly is it so expensive?

Oh yeah the best bit is that if you were sore the first time you have to go EVERYDAY apparently otherwise you are not doing it right. How would you have time to run aswell?

The teachers are not tined and fit the are usually flabby like most of the participants.

ohhhhyeah wrote:

The teachers are not tined and fit the are usually flabby like most of the participants.

Not in my class. I am the only guy and there are about 30 hot-ass women wearing next to nothing. Our instructor is an older woman - 55 maybe - but toned as hell and rather attractive for an old bag.

I love it.

ohhhhyeah wrote:

It is basically a cult. 90 mins everyday and the cost is unbelievable! Why exactly is it so expensive?

Oh yeah the best bit is that if you were sore the first time you have to go EVERYDAY apparently otherwise you are not doing it right. How would you have time to run aswell?

The teachers are not tined and fit the are usually flabby like most of the participants.

The classes are expensive because it costs a lot to keep a room so heated for so long, but if i go often it comes down to < $5/class which is pretty awesome. The classes are long, but I don't have a girlfriend and can do long runs and still bone on the weekends. Right now I'm running before work or during lunch. The last two teachers have been foreign and hot.

I did Bikram for a few months, but realized that with a full-time job and being a very amateur sort of runner, I was going to have to choose between yoga and running. The studio was half an hour away, classes were 90 min long, plus another 30 min to cool down, change and shower. That was three hours out of my day that had to be done at a specific time, not even counting running, and eventually I decided it wasn't worth it.

If I were independently wealthy and I could spend the entire day exercising and doing leisure activities, I'd add it back in. I found that for my level of time and commitment, it was better to go to a gym close to some running trails where I could do a short dynamic stretching and lifting program on my own schedule.

Yogi every 7 days wrote:

I could go at noon I suppose, but a 90 minutes class + shower at lunch is kind of pushing the envelope in terms of an "acceptable" lunch.

Two hours is only "pushing the envelope" of unacceptable? Jeez, I wanna work with you.

yetanotherchick wrote:

I did Bikram for a few months, but realized that with a full-time job and being a very amateur sort of runner, I was going to have to choose between yoga and running. The studio was half an hour away, classes were 90 min long, plus another 30 min to cool down, change and shower. That was three hours out of my day that had to be done at a specific time, not even counting running, and eventually I decided it wasn't worth it.

If I were independently wealthy and I could spend the entire day exercising and doing leisure activities, I'd add it back in. I found that for my level of time and commitment, it was better to go to a gym close to some running trails where I could do a short dynamic stretching and lifting program on my own schedule.

Well said, not to mention that Bikram is a total racket! That guy has a fleet of Rolls Royces and is laughing all the way to the bank and back.

Did my third class last night in as many nights. It was incredible, I started feeling the stretches like I hadn't thought of them before. I had a really good instructor too (whose father must have been a drill sargent) who motivated me to go further into the postures. Halfway through I had a weird kind of breakthrough and began a really good execution of the postures.

Afterwards, the instructor called me aside and said how impressive I was, it looked like I had been doing it a month. She especially commented on my near perfect Awkward Pose, which I 100% attribute to my runners' legs, but didn't say. I was able to hold a really good conversation with this expert because my post-class calmness allowed me to focus very well. It was not unlike a light dose of magic mushrooms.