Yoga has long been used to help people get into a meditative state, to bring clarity to the mind and to relax the body and spirit. The poses release tensions and stretch the muscles, loosen up the body and help you let go of stress. The atmosphere is calm and restorative. But a new fitness trend puts a twist on yoga by incorporating HIIT, (high-intensity interval training), into this age-old practice. Is fire yoga right for you?
Fire Yoga
Yoga is a truly old discipline, and this year it’s getting a modern makeover. So if you’ve always thought yoga was a little too relaxed, you’re going to love the new direction it’s taking now.
Fire yoga is not hot yoga. You can perform HIIT yoga in a room of any temperature because you don’t need a hot room to start sweating with fire yoga. This is a type of yoga that includes bursts of high-intensity training in-between various poses and restive phases. Developed at a fitness center in Oklahoma, fire yoga requires a 30-second burst of intense exercise that’s immediately followed by 30 seconds of rest and poses.
Fire yoga is designed to raise your heart rate. Like cardio, it can help you burn calories and you will probably sweat while you’re doing it. But you’ll also do some traditional yoga poses to help balance your body, build your muscles and help you maintain focus. Fire yoga helps you slim down by burning fat but also through strengthening your muscles. It can also help you improve endurance and increase muscle flexibility.
Hybrid Workouts
Fire yoga is just one craze in a year that’s going to be full of exercise crazes. Mashup exercises routines, or hybrid workouts, are popping up everywhere. Workouts that combine lots of different types of exercise are popular at all the trendy gyms and exercise studios, so it’s easy to sign up for a class in most places. Even if you don’t embrace fire yoga, you may find another hybrid workout that you love.
Explore fitness trends, even if they don’t sound quite like you. Trying new things and performing hybrid workouts is a good way to keep exercise from getting stale. Challenge yourself. Step outside of your comfort zone. The last thing you need is an exercise routine that you’re bored with. Keep trying new things and keep mixing it up, so that your workout time feels new and fresh, and continues to challenge you. With all of the options out there now, there’s no excuse for boredom!
Ready to Try It?
Feeling bold enough to try a little fire yoga and mix some high-intensity exercise into your meditative poses? Fire yoga is already starting to crop up at gyms and fitness centers all over the country. If it hasn’t yet made it to a gym near your, there are videos online of fire yoga classes so you can work out along with them or use them as templates to design your own fire yoga routine.
Fire yoga is shaping up to be one of the biggest fitness trends of the year, so it’s going to become pretty unavoidable. Give it a try, and you may find that high-intensity yoga is the perfect workout for you.