Over the last few years hot yoga has grown in popularity, transforming from a single practice called Bikram Yoga dating back to the 1970s into a worldwide fitness trend. The idea is simple. You do yoga, but in a warm and humid environment. This is designed to make you sweat a lot, detoxifies your skin and burnsmore calories than in a dry heat environment. In fact, it was created to replicate the heat and humidity of India, the birthplace of yoga. But unlike traditional yoga, which can be practisedpretty much anywhere, hot yoga requires strict control over the temperature and humidity of the environment. So today, we’re going to explain how you can create the ideal conditions for hot yoga.
Why Are Humidity And Temperature Important In Hot Yoga
Unlike traditional yoga, which can be practisedpretty much anywhere, hot yoga requires strict control over the temperature and humidity of the environment. Typically, a hot yoga studio needs to be able to maintain a temperature of around 35°C to 42°C, with a relative humidity (RH) of at least 40% at all times. The humidity level is particularly important, because at 40% RH any perspiration won’t evaporate as quickly, so the body isn’t being cooled by the evaporation process, increasing the amount of healthy sweating. Increasing the heat keeps the body warm, which makes stretching more effective and prevents injuries. By getting the balance just right, you can get a fantastic and effective workout.
The Relationship Between Humidity And Temperature
The relationship between humidity and temperature is quite complicated, and there isn’t quite enough time to explain it all in detail in one blog post. But if we boil it down to basics, the most important thing to know is that when air from outside is heated, it’s relative humidity falls. This means that if you’re pumping fresh air into a hot yoga studio that’s been heated to the required temperature, then it won’t have the moisture needed to create that nice humid environment. Instead, you need to add in extra moisture to restore the balance and get the RH up to 40%. For a commercial studio, this means a lot of water that needs to be evaporated as well, which is why hot yoga studios need to have an industrial humidifier solution in place. A domestic humidifier simply isn’t up to the task.
Choosing The Right Humidifier Solution
Fortunately, there are lots of humidification solutions out there that can create the ideal climate for hot yoga. From humidifiers that use heat to generate steam through to high-pressure nozzle systems that spray cold water into the air as a fine mist, so that it evaporates instantly. Combine these with a range of heating solutions (including gas, electric, warm air or even infra-red radiant panels), and you can manage and tweak your environment to the degree. The only thing to bear in mind when choosing a solution is to make sure it suits the size of your studio, the nature of the building, the utilities available and space available for the humidification equipment. Often the best solution is an all-in-one unit, which is specifically designed for hot yoga studios to combine heating, humidification and air filtration, with an extra option for heat recovery. But of course, that’s just one option – and with our specialist design service, you can have a bespoke solution created to suit your needs.
Whatever solution you go for, we recommend you get in touchwith a specialist in the field who can help you develop a specification for the required temperature and humidity levels while taking into account all of the design issues that can crop up. We’ve even written a guide – ‘Hot Studio Design: Humidity and Heat’,to help you choose the right solution for your studio. To request your copy, just email info@humiditysolutions.co.uk.