Does Hot Yoga Tone Muscles?

Eleven million Americans enjoy the health benefits of a regular yoga practice, according to the American Council on Exercise. Yoga increases flexibility, balance, relaxation, muscle strength and endurance. Fans of hot yoga, a popular adaptation of the ancient discipline, maintain its steamy studios give muscle toning an extra boost. Hot yoga will definitely cause you to break a sweat. But research shows that muscle toning, like inner peace, may be an inside job.

Hot yoga refers to the temperature of the studio during yoga class. The concept was pioneered by Bikram Choudhury, an Indian Hatha yoga teacher who developed a series of 26 postures performed in a fixed sequence in a hot studio. Bikram Yoga, and other hot yoga classes, take place in temperatures of around 105 degrees Fahrenheit and the Bikram sequence is a solid 90 minutes long. Practitioners of hot yoga claim it increases flexibility, range of motion, deep stretching, detoxification, mental clarity and cardiovascular activity. The American Council on Exercise warns that strenuous exercise, like hot yoga, in an overheated room can lead to heat exhaustion and dehydration, prematurely ending an exercise session. Good hydration is as important as good form when working muscles with hot yoga.

You can tone muscles using hot yoga or any regular yoga program. Building muscle strength creates denser muscle fiber and toned, defined muscles are the result. Standing postures like Warrior Pose and Triangle Pose use body weight to build leg muscles. Asanas that place weight on the arms and upper body work both small and large muscles. Hot yoga routines such as Bikram Yoga include poses like Supta Vajrasana and Cobra that rely on the upper arms and shoulders to support body weight. Tadasana -- Tree Pose, Tuladandsana -- Balancing Stick, and other standing poses in hot yoga sequences strengthen the legs. The room temperature isn't as important as the muscle groups you work with the poses in your routine.

Just working in a hot room may not boost the intensity of your workout -- at least as far as muscle activity goes. A study published in the "Journal of Applied Physiology" determined that room temperature may passively raise muscle temperature but it does not increase energy during dynamic exercise. Warming up does impact the quality of a yoga session by increasing the blood circulation to muscles and lowering the risk of injury. Gradually intensifying challenge in a yoga class warms up muscles as it prepares them for a deeper workout, according to certified yoga and fitness coach Leigh Crews. Moving from less strenuous to more demanding asanas encourages muscles to work harder. Cobra Pose primes back muscles for Camel Pose; Locust flows into Full Locust. The progressive sequence followed in many hot yoga classes is what optimizes muscle toning.

The secret to visibly toned muscles is building mass while reducing the layer of subcutaneous fat that hides them, according to the American Council on Exercise. Yoga can help you to appear "cut," or at least sleek and fit, if you work hard enough to turn a practice session into an aerobic activity. To burn fat while building muscle, you need to balance cardio with strength training. "Yoga Journal" points to a University of California at Davis study that showed dramatic gains in muscle tone, endurance, cardiovascular and lung capacity after several months of 90-minute yoga sessions four times a week. Performing consecutive Sun Salutations and other continuous sequences will raise your heart rate. The vigorous sequences featured in many hot yoga studios can turn your peaceful yoga session into a full, fat-burning, muscle-defining workout.