Bikram Yoga Not a Great Way to Lose Weight

Bikram yoga maybe a great form of exercise, experts agree, but it may not help weight loss.

Star athletes, actors and everyday New Yorkers have tested the mettle of Bikram Yoga, which makes one sweat but tremendously improves mental and physical strength as well.

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Many Madonnas, Jennifer Anistons and now Lady Gagas, who practice the hot yoga, do it because they believe they are burning up to a thousand calories an hour.

However, fitness expert Marcia Heaner believes this is highly unlikely.

"The more dehydrated you are, the higher your heart rate goes. When you sit in a sauna your heart rate rises high, too, but it's not because you're burning more fat or calories. It's because your heart is working extra hard trying to cool you off," the New York Daily News quoted her as telling MSNBC.

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"In fact, for some people, exercising in this type of environment isn't safe. And it certainly isn't a great way to lose weight," Heaner added.

Tamara Kuittinen of Lenox Hill Hospital believes that it provides intense workout but one has to be very careful.

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"The room is very warm and you're hot because you're exercising, so there is more fluid loss. You are getting an intense workout but you really need to be careful," she said.

True exercise bulimics have an eating disorder and use exercise to the extreme to purge themselves of calories, Kuittinen explains.

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"But Bikram yoga is a healthy form of exercise. Still, remember that even a healthy form of exercise can be corrupted and used in an unhealthy way," Kuittinen concluded.

Source-ANI