Going to try bikram yoga - do I go to the gym before or after?

[EvilYoda]

Typically I go straight to the gym after work and lift and then do cardio. I don't know how much bikram yoga burns you out, so I'm afraid that my glycogen and energy levels will be too depleted to do a good workout if I go to yoga class first.

The reason I'm asking is because there's a 6:15PM and an 8PM class...the 8PM class has me getting home at like 10PM and I also wouldn't have a good time to eat dinner. I guess I could theoretically get home around 5:45PM or 6PM, cook dinner, lift and head to class, but that's a tight schedule.

Anybody else incorporate yoga into their routine? The two big studios around here both have a great intro program, so I'm going to give it a try for about 2 months and then go from there.

 

[wwswimming]

there's a big difference between Bikram Yoga & yoga.

you may be experiencing the effects of heat prostration afterwards.

i suggest bring 2 bottles of chilled water, drinking one & pouring the other over
your head during the class. also, to not attempt the same extension & power
that you would during a room temp class. that is, to take it easy & enjoy
the sweat.

one time that i went to a Bikram class, the room was warmer than 120 - felt
like 140 F. i did half the class in the hallway. the instructor had a natural
gas heater the size of a normal fridge in the room, heating, the whole time.
it wasn't a large room - it was a normal size living room, it was a house that
had been bought by a cult-ish group in San Diego & they just happened to have
yoga classes.

afterwards a group of us went to lunch, including the instructor. one of the
other students said, "so & so just fainted". the instructor said, "it's good for you."

enlightment through heat prostration ... no thanks.

i like the response of the Ashtanga yoga instructor when i asked her why
we didn't have heaters in the Ashtanga class. she said, "in Ashtanga yoga
we generate our own heat."

both Bikram style & Ashtanga are forms of hatha yoga.

 

[BeauJangles]

Originally posted by: EvilYoda
Typically I go straight to the gym after work and lift and then do cardio. I don't know how much bikram yoga burns you out, so I'm afraid that my glycogen and energy levels will be too depleted to do a good workout if I go to yoga class first.

The reason I'm asking is because there's a 6:15PM and an 8PM class...the 8PM class has me getting home at like 10PM and I also wouldn't have a good time to eat dinner. I guess I could theoretically get home around 5:45PM or 6PM, cook dinner, lift and head to class, but that's a tight schedule.

Anybody else incorporate yoga into their routine? The two big studios around here both have a great intro program, so I'm going to give it a try for about 2 months and then go from there.

I'd go after you lift.

The heat will make you tired and dehydrated and the stretching involved in Yoga, IMO, opens the door to injury if you lift afterward.

 

[SociallyChallenged]

I would definitely do something like this after lifting. Usually lifting should go before anything, but something like this may leave you with heat exhaustion or dehydration if you're not careful. Hydrate heavily before and afterwards and if you start to feel nauseous, stop. I've never really encouraged "hot room" exercises, which is why I never joined the wrestling team. Be careful and be smart.

 

[EvilYoda]

Cool, thanks for the responses. wwswimming, yours was particularly helpful. I'm aware of how much of a drain it'll be physically and just the dehydration alone would probably mean I shouldn't do it before lifting.

I think I'm going to try to move my workouts to my lunch hour (the office is cool with using your lunch "hour" to do whatever and then just eat at your desk while you work) on yoga days so that I can make the 6:15 class and not get home too late. I'm going to shoot for 3 days a week, so I'm thinking Tuesday, Thursday and Sunday.

Do you think it would be "bad" to do Bikram Yoga on an off-lifting day? Would it interfere too much with my muscle recovery?

 

[presidentender]

Originally posted by: EvilYoda
Do you think it would be "bad" to do Bikram Yoga on an off-lifting day? Would it interfere too much with my muscle recovery?

Probably not, unless you try to stretch far enough that you're tearing muscle fibers. Do be sure to drink plenty of water before and afterward, though.

 

[EvilYoda]

Originally posted by: presidentender

Originally posted by: EvilYoda
Do you think it would be "bad" to do Bikram Yoga on an off-lifting day? Would it interfere too much with my muscle recovery?

Probably not, unless you try to stretch far enough that you're tearing muscle fibers. Do be sure to drink plenty of water before and afterward, though.

Yeah, I'll probably bring my Nalgene bottle and a bottle of G2.

 

[wwswimming]

one of the things about heat prostration is, you can have it, and not
know it, till it's too late. the one time i got a clinical case was hiking
at the Pinnacles, we went on a 4-5 hour hike.

i told my GF that i wasn't feeling so good - after the hike. she started
to believe me when i puked all over the inside of her tent. eventually on
the drive home i began to cool off. by the time i felt cool - mug root beer
helped - my temp was down to 102 F.

one option is to do half the Bikram class, then leave, and see how you
feel a few hours later.

also, it's a mis-conception to think that a full yoga class is somehow
not a full work-out. admittedly, it depends on the instructor. my experience
is that a full 1 1/2 hours of ashtanga yoga (which a co-worker at NGC referred
to as "yoga as practiced by the US marines") is comparable to swimming
2250 yards, in terms of how much you relax, how you feel afterwards.

 

[EvilYoda]

Well I'm excited, that's all I can say. I'll take it easy and I'll be careful, but it should be fun

 

[wwswimming]

Originally posted by: EvilYoda
Well I'm excited, that's all I can say. I'll take it easy and I'll be careful, but it should be fun

would you say this if the class was all guys ?

in the normal coed class (80% women), how embarassed will you be
if the old flag starts flying at half mast ?

one additional note - one of the 26 Bikram postures is called the Wind Removal pose.

P.S. if you're doing the upside down splits, and you notice that someone
has pads hanging out like wings on both sides of their leotard, it's OK
to glance - but not stare.

 

[EvilYoda]

Originally posted by: wwswimming

Originally posted by: EvilYoda
Well I'm excited, that's all I can say. I'll take it easy and I'll be careful, but it should be fun

would you say this if the class was all guys ?

in the normal coed class (80% women), how embarassed will you be
if the old flag starts flying at half mast ?

one additional note - one of the 26 Bikram postures is called the Wind Removal pose.

P.S. if you're doing the upside down splits, and you notice that someone
has pads hanging out like wings on both sides of their leotard, it's OK
to glance - but not stare.

Oddly enough, I'm fine in those situations. But hey, if it happens...it happens. Maybe someone'll see something they like ^_^

*think of baseball, think of baseball!*

 

[EvilYoda]

About to go to bed, thought I'd update! The class was 90 minutes long, started at about 100 degrees, 33% humidity. I made it to about minute 70 before I decided that I had to leave the room for a bit - I was tingly in my arms and face (it really felt like I was on drugs ) and had less control than I liked so I walked out, sat down for about 5 minutes and went back in. It was still a great experience even if I didn't make it all the way through. As for the women in the class, there were a few that were good looking but I did well on concentrating on the positions and even though you're not supposed to even notice who else is in the room, I still had to look to others for instruction. Having done that a few times, I quickly realized that I was in better shape than many of the other people in the class, both physically and in terms of executing the movements. Everybody gets a benefit no matter how well they do, so that realization was more so just a lift for me. Up until I thought I'd pass out, at least.

There was a woman who was attending her second class - and then went into the next one for her third of the day! I really just don't think that's right

Overall, it was a great experience and I'll be going back this weekend probably. I initially wanted to do 3 days a week, but I don't think that'll happen. I did shoulders over lunch today and I'm fairly certain that I can't get a solid workout in the same day I have a yoga class. One pose has you reaching back with your arms and my left shoulder cramped up so badly I was about to cry. It's still uncomfortable now, but it'll be fine by morning.

One last thing - the sweat. holy shit, the sweat. I honestly don't know if I've ever sweat that much in so little time my entire life. It felt pretty good. ^_^

 

[JavaMomma]

I used to do bikram yoga, was a good workout, I think some of the instructors are kind of full of it... where I was going they discouraged cross training - claimed bikram yoga is all you need, blah, bs... anyways, it's still good. I wish they had a bikram express (50 minutes, 18 postures or something)... Also, after more then a year of doing it, I kind of got bored of the same 26 postures, hate that pre-scripted dialog that some of the teachers repeat every night.

To answer your question, I think I would work out first... would take to much intensity out of the workout. I think the only physical activity I did after a bikram yoga was the odd run (7.5-10km) and even then I'd take an hour or so to rehydrated in between.

 

[SociallyChallenged]

Originally posted by: JavaMomma
I used to do bikram yoga, was a good workout, I think some of the instructors are kind of full of it... where I was going they discouraged cross training - claimed bikram yoga is all you need, blah, bs... anyways, it's still good. I wish they had a bikram express (50 minutes, 18 postures or something)... Also, after more then a year of doing it, I kind of got bored of the same 26 postures, hate that pre-scripted dialog that some of the teachers repeat every night.

To answer your question, I think I would work out first... would take to much intensity out of the workout. I think the only physical activity I did after a bikram yoga was the odd run (7.5-10km) and even then I'd take an hour or so to rehydrated in between.

Good first-hand advice, but I just wanted to point something out. You can't really hydrate yourself in an hour. The water doesn't flood all the cells that quickly. I would stress doing nothing afterwards and continually hydrating until going to bed, maybe even after you go to bed when you get up.

 

[EvilYoda]

My friend and I went back to his apartment (right down the street) to change and then we grabbed dinner. I sucked down a large nalgene bottle plus a bottle of G2 on top of water later on, so I think I did okay.

This morning, my shoulder is still fucked up, but I've had this type of pain before...just gotta rest it. Today is a complete rest day - no cardio, no yoga, no weights. It'll be weird getting home at 6PM, it almost never happens.