Would you work out in a 105 degree room? How about 110? Hot workouts are all the rage in gyms across the country, especially in New York and Los Angeles, where some gyms are adding heat to just about every class.

You’ve probably heard of Bikram yoga, or some of the other hot yoga styles that have been popping up over the past few decades. But now, you can take classes in Pilates, the Bar Method, cycling, martial arts and more — all while roasting in a room that’s 100 degrees or even hotter.

Devotees of these classes love them because they leave every workout dripping with sweat. They see quick weight loss results, and think that all the sweat is helping them detox. But are they really doing that much good? Or are these benefits outweighed by the possible risks of exercising in extreme heat?

Experts have debated the safety of Bikram and other hot yoga styles for years. Bikram is practiced in a 105 degree room, with at least 40 percent humidity. First of all, doing intense exercise at temperatures that high puts you at risk for severe dehydration, or even heat exhaustion and heat stroke. In order to remain properly hydrated during a Bikram class, you would have to drink 4 ounces of water every 15 minutes. However, hardly any students drink that much water during class. Most of the weight loss experienced by people who work out in the heat is just water weight. And that’s not the kind of weight you want to lose. It isn’t uncommon for students to faint during hot yoga classes – I don’t know about you, but that scares me. Read More »

"Cheers to spending an extra 40 minutes on a Spin bike this week!"

Let’s all have a “come to Jesus” (or in my case, Moses) moment here and get real for a minute. Have you ever really thought about how many calories you consume in a single night of fun?

We all know that drinking adds extra calories. I mean, how many times have we heard someone tell us “If you want to lose weight, cut out alcohol”? But let’s face it, for a lot of us, that is pretty much asking us to give up going to college.

So what do we do? We make up for our weekend activities by making cuts in our week day diets.  But much like we underestimate how many shoes we have in our closest when debating a new purchase of totally adorable must-have-them-now sparkly pumps, we also tend to underestimate how much we’re actually drinking/eating on the weekends. We factor in our estimated calories in a very sober state, often forgetting what happens when we transition from sober to, well, not so much.

– Are you thinking about all those extra beers you drank when everyone decided to play flip-cup?

– Do you think about the gallon of Gatorade you chugged after you downed nearly a bottle of tequila?

– Do you even remember the small pizza you ate when you got home…in bed… as your roommates force-fed you water?

Yes, we’ve all been there and we all know what it’s like to drink/eat more than we anticipated and then be frustrated when it shows in the scale the following week. So here is some drink for thought: If you don’t want to pack on the extra pounds in college, you gotta be realistic about how much you’re really going to drink/eat on your nights out and make up for those extra calories somewhere else during the week.

Let me break it all down for ya and offer some healthy ways to offset that “MOST EPIC SATURDAY NIGHT, EVER!”

I’m always looking for a new, interesting way to work out and keep me coming back for more. That being said, I’m also pretty picky. I don’t want to invest in something if I’m not sure that I’ll like it, and in the summer, I need something to help keep me accountable.

There have been so many times that I’ve said, “Oh, I can skip going to the gym today – I’m going to go on a run! And then go swimming!” But what really happens is…. I go to the air-conditioned mall. And eat Panda Express.

So, when one of my girls suggested we take a Bikram yoga class together, I was super excited. Having each other to go with make things fun, and we’d have to pay for the classes, so we’d stay accountable. Sounds like exactly what I’m looking for. Or it did before I actually took a class. Now, I’m just torn.

Love it:

- Weight loss. After a class, you’ve already sweated off some inches. A lot of inches. If those few dehydration-induced losses aren’t enough, the body supposedly burns fat more effectively when it’s warm. The extreme heat increases your metabolic rate, helps to detoxify, and supposedly helps you to stretch more than you would be able to in a normal climate.

- Easy to learn. There are only 26 easy-to-learn asanas. In my class, each pose was done twice and held for 30 seconds each, which was especially nice for me, because I’d never done yoga before with the exception of “Yoga Booty Ballet.” It was easy to follow and I didn’t get lost, but I have a feeling that since it was so easy and monotonous, it could get boring after awhile. Read More »