11 Fitness Secrets No One Told You – The Weather Channel

Myth: Exercising in Heat Burns More Calories

Sorry summer runners, outside dripping with sweat. That heat isn’t doing much for you, except making your morning jog feel like a slog.

Proponents of Bikram yoga — a 26-pose yoga practice performed over 90 minutes in a room heated to 104 degrees — say heat helps “detoxify” the body, leading to improved health and weight loss. Other, less-specific forms of hot yoga often advertise the same.

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But there’s not much science to back this up, so a team of Colorado State researchers measured the progress of sedentary young adults with no yoga experience who took three Bikram classes a week for eight weeks.

In the end, participants showed some small increases in strength and muscle control, but just a slight drop in body weight, according to the study’s abstract.

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A follow-up with more-experienced yogis found that Bikram burned about as many calories as walking briskly — information that might come as a huge shock to those who heard that one class can burn 1,000 calories, lead investigator Brian L. Tracy told Time.com. Men burned an average of 460 calories in 90 minutes while women torched 330. “I think the heat and the difficulty of the postures combine to alter your perception of the intensity of the exercise,” Tracy explained to Time.

For more fitness fallacies you’re likely falling for, read on. Your body will thank you.

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