Yesterday, I participated in a 90 minute hot yoga experience. I've done hot yoga a few times in the past, and I'm returning to it for a few reasons. The first reason is that I see it as an excellent means of acclimatizing for the hot and humid climate in Kona. I'm a big fan of heat acclimatization, and I've been pretty successful at preparing for hot races in the past. The difference with Kona is the humidity. That's an added challenge, but one that I'm excited about. I generally like heat and humidity. And so, I start doing hot yoga.
There are other advantages. I just did a hard half ironman, and was still feeling the after effects when I did the hot yoga. What a great way to stretch and let my muscles and ligaments recover! Yoga is an interesting approach to strengthening my core and improving flexibility. Doing the session reminded me of how challenging yoga is to do. Anything that involved standing on one leg was difficult for me to do. A clear advantage of doing hot yoga will be getting better at this. It will certainly translate to swimming, biking and running.
The other advantage is the detoxifying effects of working out in the hot and humid conditions. I could feel any toxins leaving my body. That amount of sweating is a great way to get rid of toxins. The challenge is staying hydrated during a 90 minute session. I learned that they discourage drinking too much too soon in the session. Which means that I'll need to start hydrating before the session. And, I'll need to hydrate adequately during the session.
The other challenge is that the hot yoga not overwhelm my system and keep me from completing my other key workouts. I was pretty washed out after the hot yoga session, though I was also recovering from a hard race. I'm feeling much better today, so hopefully doing hot yoga will just fit right into my regular training schedule.
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