Sweet young things the world over are flocking to yoga studios to detox and stretch their bodies in a sweatbath called Hot Yoga, or Bikram Yoga. But is Hot Yoga TOO hot for seniors?

Far from the slow relaxing movements you might expect from the yoga you know, Hot Yoga, otherwise known as Bikram Yoga, is a kind of ‘extreme yoga’ developed by Indian Yoga Champion Bikram Choudhury in the early 1970s in the home of experimental everything, California.

It is based on a classic yoga form called Hatha Yoga, only the 26 poses are done in a room heated to 40 degrees with 60% humidity! Also unlike the yoga you know, Bikram is happy to make you hurt and teachers encourage you to “work through the pain” rather than readjust to a no-pain position.

Attach the promise of weight loss to almost anything and success is guaranteed.

The method is widely promoted as a comprehensive workout that will increase muscular strength and endurance, improve cardiovascular fitness, loosen you up and, yes, create weight loss. The addition of the extreme heat apparently makes the body more supple and allows the body to stretch further in each pose. Heat also opens the pores and allows you to release more toxins because you will be sweating a whole lot more!

Bikram’s website outlines more health benefits:

• The breathing method used helps to relax the body and compress the digestive organs
• Strengthen bones
• Massage the lymph system to further eliminate toxins
• Increased blood circulation flushes the lungs
• And the endocrine system is ‘perfected’

Devotees of the practice do not claim any major diseases can be cured but they do report that ymptoms of major diseases will disappear while you maintain the practice and return if you stop.

The healing benefits of yoga have studied under stringent double-blind conditions; it is an effective treatment for conditions such as carpal tunnel syndrome, hypertension, anxiety and depression, and increasing physical strength, flexibility and an overall sense of wellbeing.

Bikram yoga has attracted critics for their “no pain no gain” focus and for the risks that the extreme heat might present to the very young, older people and pregnant women. Some studies state that all exercise should be stopped when the ambient temperature rises to just 32 degrees. The high humidity further increases the risk of heat stress.

Overstretching hot hyperflexible muscles is a real risk, with injuries common for beginners.

Consider also that wearing less clothing is more comfortable in the hot humid studio but might be less emotionally comfortable for you.

The discipline’s promise of a new body and a new life with 90 days of continuous practice might be appealing, but for older people who are on prescription medications, not acclimated to hot humid weather and are usually sedentary are probably better sticking to traditional yoga forms.